Here’s What’s “Gnarly,” According to KATSEYE Performance Director Grant Gilmore

If there’s one word on every dancer’s lips lately, it’s “gnarly.” The song by the same name, performed by international K-pop girl group KATSEYE, has captured the attention of K-pop fans and dancers alike as re-creations of the choreography have flooded social media.

Grant Gilmore and Sohey Sugihara are KATSEYE’s performance directors. Their choreography for “Gnarly,” featured in sections of the music video, evokes a collage of emotions: It’s simultaneously funny, flirty, intense, and strange. The movements are sharp and decisive, interspersed with flashes of the bizarre. In Gilmore’s words: “The song was so jarring, I wanted the choreography to be just as jarring.”

Dance Spirit caught up with Gilmore to talk about crafting the video’s quirky movement, working with KATSEYE, and what it means to be gnarly.

How He Got the Gig

Gilmore, now 26, taught himself to dance in his computer room as a child, using YouTube videos. “It’s very early–Gen Z of me,” he says. After his mother noticed his knack for dance, he began to take classes in Houston and attend competitions at age 14. The convention circuit launched Gilmore into his performance career, which he built for seven years (and during which he toured with the likes of Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, and Sam Smith) before turning his focus to creating, choreographing, and teaching. Two years ago, HYBE America, the U.S. subsidiary of the South Korean entertainment company HYBE Corporation, hired Gilmore to work on a project: a new girl group that would eventually become KATSEYE.

Crafting Gnarly Movement

Choreographing to “Gnarly” was a delight for Gilmore because the song intersects with his personal taste in music. “I felt very aligned with it from the beginning,” he says. When he heard “Gnarly,” he was immediately inspired to make the choreography feel cinematic, and he wanted each section to have its own iconic moment.

Viewers initially had mixed responses to the music video. “I wasn’t expecting there to be so much backlash when the song first came out,” Gilmore says. He takes pride in the fact that his work with Sugihara helped audiences see what “Gnarly” is really about: “Once they saw the full choreography [on social media], it really resonated with them.”

On Working With KATSEYE

Gilmore met the now-members of KATSEYE as contestants on “Dream Academy,” HYBE x GEFFEN’s competition reality show about assembling a global K-pop girl group. “I first knew them as these young girls who just worked so hard and they had a dream,” he says. “They’ve matured so much.” Gilmore adds that his work relationship with KATSEYE has also developed over the years, allowing him to create tailored movement that feels good to the artists. “I like a symbiotic relationship with them, and to make sure they feel comfortable. Through that we’ve gotten really close, and we’ve also created a cool harmony that is reflected in their performances.”

So What Does It Mean to Be Gnarly?

“What’s gnarly for me is not being scared to explore every single side of yourself,” says Gilmore. He gives himself permission to like the things he likes—crochet, country music, and Eastern European food, for example—without worrying about whether or not they fit together. “If you love something, just love it. You don’t have to be this aesthetic,” he says.

The Future Is Gnarly

Gilmore is loving his work with KATSEYE for the time being, and he wants to continue to help its members grow. “I’m just enjoying my current moment,” he says. In the future, Gilmore sees himself using his experience as performance director to transition into creative direction. “My job is more than just choreographing—it’s also very visual.”

After the success of “Gnarly,” Gilmore says he wants to continue to create dances that challenge the status quo and inject freshness into pop culture. “I think that’s why ‘Gnarly’ has been such a special era for me,” he says. “It’s one of the first times where I did something in a professional environment that has influenced culture on a bigger scale. We set a new standard for what a girl group can do.”

Gilmore’s Top Tip for Aspiring Dancers

Gilmore’s most important advice for young dancers is to stay true to themselves while being intentional about what they present to the world. There’s a sweet spot at the intersection between being authentic and resonating with other people: “When those two things align, people can’t help but acknowledge you,” he says.

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