Their
motto is: “dance like drumming, drum like dancing.” Founded by Yako Miyamoto,
the first Japanese cast-member of Stomp,
the COBU dance troupe puts on an amazing live show combining Taiko drumming
with tap and hip hop dancing. If they were not already extensively touring
through South Korea, they probably soon will be. That is because reigning K-Pop
diva of divas BoA plays a member of the COBU ensemble for her English language
film debut. She learned her steps well. Viewers will come for the Taiko dancing
and stay for the Taiko dancing when Duane Adler’s Make Your Move (trailer here) opens today nationwide.
Let’s
admit right from the start the screenplay from Adler, the Step Up scribe is pretty clunky. Whenever you hear the sound of
grinding metal it is really just the dialogue. However, for dance movies that is
just par for the course. What counts are the moves, which are hot, particularly
the Taiko sequences choreographed by Miyamoto. The more traditional Dirty Dancing-esque numbers
choreographed by Napoleon and Tabitha Dumo also smoke thanks to the agile footwork
of BoA and Dancing with the Stars’
Derek Hough.
BoA
plays Aya, the Japanese-born Korean leader of COBU, whose visa will expire in a
matter of days. She needs confirmed gigs and a sponsor to stay in the country.
Unfortunately her only volunteer so far is Michael Griffiths, her brother Kaz’s
creepy majority partner in OTO, a swanky new Brooklyn dance club. He would be
happy to feature COBU, but he requires exclusivity. Aya would rather be
deported than be beholden to a stalker like him.
Kaz
used to be partners in the underground hipster club Static with Nick, but they
split on bad terms. Their feud threatens to get deadly when each sends thugs to
disrupt each others’ businesses. It is an inconvenient time for Donny leave New
Orleans in violation of his parole, hoping to land a dancing gig in his foster
brother Nick’s club. However, when Donny sees Aya launch into an unsanctioned impromptu
performance in Static, all bets are off. Yes, it is West Side Story in BKLN, but when they are dancing, it all sort of
works.
Although
BoA is clearly still a bit uncomfortable with English, the camera absolutely loves
her. Frankly, she handles her dramatic responsibilities rather well, thanks to
a naturally warm screen presence. Hough is a different story, but at least he
can dance. (Yet bafflingly, he sports a spit of peach-fizz so ridiculous
looking, even the other characters bust on him for it.)
It
is also nice to see Miyamoto get some screen time as Kaori, a COBU troupe
member. She even gets to start the big climatic dance number with Hough, before
BoA and the rest of COBU come in. It’s a show-stopper alright. Although he never
shows any moves, Will Yun Lee also brings some professionalism to the
proceedings as big brother Kaz.
