[Interview] Rino Nakasone: "SHINee are Like My Babies"

SHINee with their dance choreographer, Rino Nakasone

If you put more attention to a K-Pop dance you might hear her name or at least notice her! Who is she? She is Rino Nakasone, a success K-Pop dance choreographer.

In order to reach her dream, to dance with Michael Jackson, Rino left her native country, Japan and dared move to Los Angeles. This tough and great girl who was born in Okinawa, Japan never regretted her decision till this very day.

Then her talent was recognized by SM Entertainment, the Korean entertainment company that houses some of K-Pop's biggest names such as Super Junior, Girls' Generation and SHINee. Rino was found on Youtube.

"Thanks to Youtube," Rino laughed.

The first dance Rino choreographed for SM Entertainment was Korean boy band SHINee's debut song, 'Replay'. She recalled the first time she met the five young lads.

SHINee with their dance choreographer, Rino Nakasone

"Oh my god, they're so cute," Rino raved, "That was like three years ago. They're like my 'babies'. They were so fresh and ready to learn. They were also respectful and hard workers."

She also named the SM Entertainment idols whom she shared a stronger bond with.

"They're people I talk about dance the most with, like SHINee's Taemin, Girls' Generation's Hyo-Yeon and f(x)'s Amber," Rino said.

If Taemin, Hyoyeon, Super Junior's Eunhyuk and TVXQ's Yunho -- generally believed to be the best dancers from each team, battled out on the dance floor, who would win?

Rino first protested "It's not fair" and explained that she would have to see the four do the same choreography before she could rate them.

Out of all her choreographies for SM artistes, Rino listed SHINee's 'Love Like Oxygen', TVXQ's 'Maximum', which she co-created with Jaewon from SM Entertainment, and Girls' Generation's 'Genie' her favourites.

Rino also revealed that her inspirations for a dance comes from the music itself and that she usually begins her creation of the dance after listening to the songs for "about a hundred times".

"The main thing is to show the song in the best way," Rino added.

Rino Nakasone

Before she found success as a K-Pop dance choreographer, Rino had toured with American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani as one-quarter of Harajuku Girls in 2004, contested in the third season of America's Best Dance Crew and worked with various international artistes including Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber.

Reminiscing her days with Gwen, Rino gushed, "She [Gwen Stefani] was looking for Japanese girls for her solo project and I pounced on the chance. I [took on the moniker] 'Music' and that was one of the best experiences in my life and dance career!"

She added that she "learnt a lot" from Gwen -- "a hardworking person who treats everyone with respect," she stressed -- and it was the experiences with Gwen that gave her chances to be on award shows which she had always dreamt to be on.

During the interview, the 32-year-old admitted that she is a dreamer.

"Someone who imagines it in her head," Rino clarified, before adding, "I imagined that this [dancing in LA] is possible; but imagining it is not enough. You got to take action."

Those were definitely inspiring words, not only for aspiring professional dancer wannabes, but also anyone with a dream.

What is dance to her then?

"I love it. It's the way I can express myself and I feel right when I perform. It makes me who I am," Rino smiled.

news source: xin.msn

photo source: Rino Nakasone facebook and xin.msn

author: yuiayumisakurai @Taemin Forever

What a delightful interview right? I love the way she endure the time and struggle to reach her dream. Someone who imagines it in her head is possible; but imagining it is not enough. You got to take action! Well ladies! You should make your own prestige! Like Albert Einstein said, imagination is more important than knowledge but one action is more important than a million imaginations ^^v