Rino Nakasone

In this Okinawan name, the surname is Nakasone.
Rino Nakasone
仲宗根 梨乃
Rino Nakasone teaching the choreography for "Mr. Taxi" at a dance class in Los Angeles in October 2012
Born (1979-06-11) June 11, 1979 (age 45)
Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Other names
  • Rino Nakasone-Razalan
  • Music
Occupations
  • Dancer
  • choreographer
  • singer
Spouse
LeeJ Razalan
​
(m. 2007⁠–⁠2012)​
Musical career
Websiterinonakasone.com

Rino Nakasone (仲宗根 梨乃, Nakasone Rino, born June 11, 1979) is a Japanese dancer, choreographer, artistic director and actor. Nakasone and her dance crew, Beat Freaks, participated in the third season of America's Best Dance Crew, where they finished in second place. Nakasone has worked as a choreographer in South Korea and Japan, working with groups such as Shinee, Girls' Generation, TVXQ, f(x), Red Velvet, and SMAP.

Early life and career

Rino Nakasone was born in Naha, capital of Okinawa Prefecture on June 11, 1979. She became interested in dance after watching music videos by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson and mimicking their moves. At the age of nineteen, she went to Los Angeles to study dance.[1] Just after her visa expired, she got a job as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson.

In 2004, she was chosen by Britney Spears as a backup dancer for Spears' Onyx Hotel Tour.[2] After touring with Spears, she toured with Gwen Stefani as "Music", one of the Harajuku Girls, earning praise for her dance performance.[1] She also danced for other musicians, such as Justin Bieber,[2] and taught dance at performing arts centers. She joined an all-female dance group, Beat Freaks, which competed and was runner-up in America's Best Dance Crew in 2009.[3]

Nakasone started her career as a choreographer in 2008 with South Korean boy band Shinee's debut song, "Replay".[4] In 2009, she worked with SM Entertainment's dance team to create the choreography for Girls' Generation's "Genie".[1] She has choreographed for other SM Entertainment artists, including Super Junior and BoA, as well as Japanese groups AKB48 and SMAP.[2] She has directed concerts for BoA, Girls' Generation, Shinee, Taemin, SuperM and NCT 127.[5]

In 2010, she appeared in the dance multimedia production "Siren Assassins" as Queen Jade.[6] That same year, she joined The Pussycat Dolls after four of the original members left the group.[7][8] She performed in two musicals in 2015, The Wiz and Asterisk, both in Japan.[2]

List of choreographies

Shinee

Girls' Generation

Super Junior

BoA

Kangta

  • "Love Frequency" (with Maryss From Paris)[4]

f(x)

TVXQ

Red Velvet

NCT 127

  • "Chain" (with Jumi Lite)[12]

AKB48

Personal life

Rino Nakasone married LeeJ Razalan, the manager of Beat Freaks and a fellow dancer, in 2007.[4] On May 6, 2012, Rino announced that she and LeeJ had decided to go separate ways and would take their five years of marriage as a "special learning experience" while continuing to remain friends.[13]

Awards

Huading Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2015 Rino Nakasone-Razalan Global Best Dancer-Actor Won[14]

Bibliography

  • ART BOOK「Rinosophy」2023

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Japanese Woman Behind K-Pop Bands' Moves". The Chosun Ilbo. September 5, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Hernon, Matthew (April 7, 2015). "Rino Nakasone Choreographs Her Dream Career". Tokyo Weekender. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  3. ^ Méndez, Blanca. "The 12 Coolest People in K-pop Right Now". MTV Iggy. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "少女時代、美脚ダンスの振り付け担当は日本人ダンサー・仲宗根梨乃". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). October 20, 2010. Archived from the original on October 23, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2015. English translation at Soshified.com
  5. ^ Dongre, Divyansha (May 22, 2022). "Meet Rino Nakasone: The Dance Expert Behind Your Favorite K-pop Moves". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  6. ^ Phillips, Jevon (March 18, 2010). "'America's Best Dance Crew': Darrin Henson, choreography and style". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "Rino Nakasone, choreographer to the stars, is a Pussycat Doll". Korea JoongAng Daily. May 27, 2010. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  8. ^ Lee, Andrew C. (May 27, 2010). "Rino Nakasone joins the Pussycat Dolls". Asia Pacific Arts. University of Southern California. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  9. ^ Choi Jun-yong (January 1, 2013). "소녀시대, 신곡 공개 동시 음원차트 1~10위 싹쓸이 '올킬'". Asia Economy Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  10. ^ Nguyen, Mai (November 19, 2012). "Dancing Across the World: an interview with choreographer Rino Nakasone". Asia Pacific Arts. University of Southern California. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  11. ^ Seong, Jin-hee (February 7, 2017). "레드벨벳, 신곡 '루키 Rookie' 퍼포먼스로 상큼발랄함+여성美 발산!". The Star (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  12. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  13. ^ Nakasone, Rino (May 5, 2012). "LeeJ and I have decided to go separate ways". Facebook. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  14. ^ Hsia, Heidi (January 19, 2015). "Raymond Lam wins Best Drama Actor". Cinema Online. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on August 2, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.