Returning to the Stage of My First Performance in Hometown Gwangju
"I Will Keep Moving Without Forgetting My Roots"
"We live to move, and we will keep moving without forgetting our roots. Because we are 'Neuron'"
J-Hope of the group 'BTS' released the final episode of the documentary series 'HOPE ON THE STREET' at midnight on the 12th on the online video service (OTT) TVING and the global online video service Prime Video.
The video was organically produced alongside the special album of the same name. The finale mainly features stories connected to the album's last track, the title song "NEURON (with Gaeko, Yoonmirae)".
J-Hope especially visited his hometown Gwangju to trace back his roots. Visiting the 5·18 Memorial Culture Center where he performed as a child, J-Hope said, "This place is the 'root of my roots.' After debuting, many opportunities came, but this is where I started." Now a global star touring the world, J-Hope returned to the place where he had his first performance as part of a dance crew, dancing to connect his past and present as one.
Next, J-Hope visited the crew 'Neuron' that he was part of during his street dancer days. He reminisced about the days when he learned dance by watching over the shoulders of the older crew members because he couldn't afford dance class fees. The crew members said, "J-Hope still has a strong passion for dance. He has a clear identity, so he will grow even more in the future." Especially, they gifted J-Hope an album containing memories from their crew days, adding an emotional touch.
J-Hope concluded the documentary series by freestyling to 'Neuron' together with the crew members. He introduced the song by saying, "I tried to fully capture the emotions of the moment we met and the unforgettable feelings of that encounter."
'HOPE ON THE STREET' is a dance documentary series capturing J-Hope traveling to places such as Osaka in Japan, Paris in France, New York in the United States, and Seoul and Gwangju in Korea, spending time communicating through 'dance' with dancers active there. J-Hope planned this to rediscover his artistic roots in street dance.
Through the documentary series, J-Hope challenged various dance genres such as popping, house, hip hop, and locking. It was praised as a project that solidified his identity as a street dancer, different from BTS's J-Hope. Forbes in the United States introduced the documentary series by saying, "It shows how J-Hope's inspiration continuously influences his evolving role as a musician, dancer, and creator."
Reflecting on the completion of the documentary series, J-Hope said, "By experiencing and feeling it myself, I accepted that what I did was not easy and realized its importance." He added, "Ultimately, I wanted to look back on myself and gain another learning. I think I gained that part through this filming."
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