Skilled dancers set aside gender to battle head-to-head over directing ability.
On the morning of the 18th at the Elliena Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Mnet held a press conference for its new survival show 'Street World Fighter: Directors' War'. The press conference was attended by producer Choi Jeong-nam and choreographers Nain, Renan, Bada, Back Kooyoung, Baby Zoo, Simeez, Ingyoo, Minjun Jeong, Kasper and Hash.
'Street World Fighter: Directors' War' is an extension of Mnet's dance series that sparked a "dance syndrome" in Korea beginning with 'Street Woman Fighter.' While previous series highlighted competition among world-class "dancers," this edition places "performance directors"—who plan and complete stages—at the forefront to fight with their heads and prove themselves with their bodies in an intense "work war."
On the day, producer Choi Jeong-nam said, "Previous series focused on crew-centered dance team quality and highlighted each individual dancer. This time, the keyword is the work war, where choreographers create a single work and compete with that work. Because the program reflects the process of directors creating works under the director credit, we prepared it under the title 'Directors' War.' By showing the process and results—each person's music, concept, choreography and changes in movement using the dancers—we can present a richer program that captures choreographers' thinking compared with previous dancer series."
When asked why he selected the current 10 choreographers, he said, "My main concern was whether each person could create a single work with their own ideas. Simeez, who in the past played the youngest role, has grown so much since that program ended that he has been directing well, and Ingyoo is a choreographer I met through past dance series who I thought could be newly spotlighted. I thought viewers would want to see the works of those who could put their own ideas into creating a single work, so we invited the current 10 choreographers."
Regarding the fact that this is the first mixed-gender survival in the 'Swf' series, he hinted, "Previously the series was divided into female and male crews, but this time the keyword is directing. Directing focuses on works that embody a person's ideas rather than gender competition, so a female choreographer won't necessarily go only for feminine performances, nor will a male choreographer bring only masculine choreography. Both aspects will be revealed within this program, making it more interesting."
He added, "While we were confident that directors' thoughts would produce impressive works, we worried about how to show the process leading up to those works. We wanted to give each choreographer their own space to consider concepts, hold meetings and think through everything, capturing the process of making the work. The program shows well what happened inside that process until the work emerged. The enjoyment of watching the work will clearly come from that process within the program."
Back Kooyoung, Simeez, Bada, Nain and Ingyoo, after appearing as crews in earlier street dance survival series, now take on a new challenge as directors. Back Kooyoung said, "Because it's a competition under our own names rather than crew names, the responsibility for overall quality feels immense. I'm working harder to create the work with even more effort."
In particular, Back Kooyoung, who recently showed a strict side as a dance master on the idol survival show 'Boys Planet 2,' when asked about returning as a survival participant again, said, "Coming back as a participant makes me feel sorry for the 'Boys Planet' contestants every day. I too am living through brutal days to survive, and I regret that I couldn't empathize with them. But having been both a teacher and a participant, I think sometimes being a strict teacher who pushes myself is necessary, so I'm working hard."
Simeez said, "Because I have Team LACHICA and artists I manage, I feel a bit more responsibility than when I appeared on 'Swf.' So I tried to be as cautious as possible when making choices for each mission."
Bada confessed, "There was a lot of pressure because of the name recognition that comes with being a winning crew, but I tried to nurture that as responsibility." Asked why she returned to a survival show after leading BEBE to victory in 'Swf 2,' she replied, "I was so grateful for the opportunity that brought the name of the winning crew. I wanted to take on a thrilling challenge rather than remain in that status, so I desperately wanted to try. I'm very happy to participate with such a good opportunity. Because we're coming out under our team name, the pressure is huge. As the leader of a winning crew, I feel responsible. I think I can show a different side of myself, so I'm taking on the challenge with a pleasant sense of responsibility and working hard."
Nain, a member of Turns—the winning team of 'Street Dance Girls Fighter'—said, "When I appeared in the 'Street Dance Girls Fighter' series I was too young, so I felt pressure to show how much I've grown, but fighting under my own name made me feel more responsible." Ingyoo added, "If in past series I worried about what kind of dance to show, this time I considered why this scene exists. I worked hard with the heavy responsibility of returning opportunities my team received back to the team."
Conversely, Baby Zoo, newly introduced to the public through 'Street World Fighter: Directors' War,' when asked about his unique strength, said, "I think I'm a director who can unify everyone into one." Hash described herself as "a director who awakens dancers' potential," and Minjun Jeong expressed confidence, calling himself "a director who can persuade and narrow the gap between the audience and the director through empathy."
Renan answered, "a director who doesn't miss a single detail," and Kasper raised expectations by calling himself a "hexagonal director." Particularly, Renan, the only Japanese participant, said, "'Street World Fighter: Directors' War' will be broadcast overseas. As someone who came from abroad, even if language poses some challenges, if I work hard there are many people who want to be active in Korea. I tried hard to be a small hope and dream for those people, so please look forward to it."
Producer Choi Jeong-nam boasted about the show's scale, saying, "Because choreographers have to create works, each mission involves many dancers. Choreographers need dancers to realize the concepts they envision, so this will probably feature the most dancers ever. We are about halfway through missions, and it feels like nearly 950 to almost 1,000 domestic and international dancers are all participating together. Each mission feels like a mega crew. The number of dancers will be spectacular. Many people participate in every mission, and more dancers will collaborate on works going forward."
He said, "The premiere airing today includes a mission where each person performs their signature in a new concept. After that, missions will include directing K-pop artists that correspond to choreographers' main jobs, directing videos by super kids dancers, collaborating with global brands, and various missions that will let choreographers' thoughts and perspectives become works." Regarding reports that famous sports stars such as Oh Seung-hwan, Lee Sang-hwa and Aileen Gu would appear, he said, "Those missions haven't been filmed yet, so I hope viewers see them accurately through the broadcast. We asked them to appear because we are preparing missions that relate sports and the program, and we requested their participation to proceed together," adding, "I can't say more than that," which aroused curiosity.
Asked about the benefits awarded to the winning director, he said, "There will be a single winner. The winner will be given the opportunity to direct the opening at the global awards show MAMA and will receive production support funds. Also, because the director's survival journey is so grueling, we plan to provide a refresh trip so they can recover."
However, young directors with relatively low public recognition could be at a disadvantage. Asked whether a voting system was set up to compensate, producer Choi Jeong-nam said, "We debated this internally because some choreographers are widely known while others are newly showing themselves. For this program, we planned to conduct the first round of voting anonymously. While past voting methods judged which crew performed better, this time we are voting on whether a work is outstanding as a work." He also repeatedly apologized over credibility concerns raised by editing that made it appear Kiera Harper appeared in the teaser, saying, "We take previous incidents seriously. We'll carefully review details during program production to ensure such incidents do not occur."
Simeez pointed out the show's viewing points, saying, "When directors work, you can't know everything by just judging the result. This program reveals the process of producing a work, which I thought was a merit. Each director's coping ability will differ. Beyond choreography production, they encounter many obstacles. In those aspects, quick thinking and improvisation will differ, and those will be the entertaining points."
Bada previewed a different charm from previous series, saying, "If past seasons were about physical clashes, this one moves to a battle of wits," and Ingyoo expressed confidence, saying, "It will be the most dopamine-inducing program of the second half of 2026."
Meanwhile, 'Street World Fighter: Directors' War' premieres today (the 18th) at 10 p.m.
[Photo] OSEN reporter Choi Gyu-han
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