It broke me

TEN X WINWIN Choreography : lovely (Billie Eilish, Khalid) (ring and portrait remix)

On April 8, 2019, WinWin(dark clothes) and Ten(light clothes) released a choreography video on the official WayV YouTube channel. In the video, WinWin and Ten danced to original choreography set to “Lovely”, by Billie Eilish and Khalid. A day before it was my 20th birthday, so I was even more depressed than any day before and then at night, while I was trying to fall asleep I received a notification from WayV YouTube channel. After seeing WinWin and Ten performance I was full-on emotions. Confused and calm. “Lovely” somehow triggered all my feelings and emotions and I wasn’t the one who thought so.

The reason why it spawned so much discussion is not hidden somewhere deep, it is a combination of all of what this work consists of.

You can interpret it the way you see it – it has that sense that you see. I saw a lot of theories about what it supposed to mean, what symbols are there and what characters Ten and WinWin are showing.
project and the result was an amazing dance performance video. It is no surprise that Khalid, who sang 'Lovely' with Billie Eilish, thinks so too. On Twitter, one fan showed this video to Khalid and this is how he responded to the tweet:

Not only is this aesthetically pleasing – Ten and WinWin personally planned out the story, chose the song, choreographed, planned the video's concept, setting and outfits themselves as part of their Rainbow V Season 1. It's so nice to see two people bounce off each other creatively like that and then come up with this. Ten's intention to bring out WinWin's acting worked too. Ten and WinWin are the main dancers of the group, so there is no doubt that they would stun in this dance cover. Ten's slightly weaker and looser execution compared to the stiffer and powerful movements of WinWin (because his posture is something I envy). It keeps making me think about the characters and stories they might be portraying.

The song itself is about depression, I consider it to be the strongest Billie Ailish song.

Thought I found a way

But you never go away

So I guess I gotta stay now

Oh, I hope some day I'll make it out of here

Even if it takes all night or a hundred years

Need a place to hide, but I can't find one near

Wanna feel alive, outside I can fight my fear

Isn't it lovely, all alone?

Heart made of glass, my mind of stone

Tear me to pieces, skin to bone

Hello, welcome home

Walkin'out of town

Lookin' for a better place (lookin' for a better place)

Something's on my mind

Always in my headspace

There are a lot of theories about the sense of performance, my own opinion is more common. In the video, Ten is decked out in all-white while WinWin is in all-black. The two symbolize yin and yang — life and death — respectively. This can be seen not only in the colors they wore but by where they stood. Ten stands in front of a tree that is full of leaves while WinWin stands in front of a tree devoid of leaves. At the start, there is a mirror between them. This shows how, as life and death, they are just a mirror of each other. One cannot exist without the other. Throughout the dance, they are in perfect harmony. Some parts have them dancing the same steps, however, we can see at some points that they try to overpower one another. In the end, they both stop overpowering one another and accept that they are an end to each other.

I just remember some of the theories about this choreography (I took them from various comments on Youtube):

1. Ten is the side that wants to escape depression and anxiety and fights with it but it keeps defeating him as he falls down and slowly learns to live with it and in the end, it embraces him as a part of him. Most beautiful performance ever.
2. It is insanely beautiful and makes me cry so hard I have to start it over.. I look at this as I am the person in white and my abusive father is the person in black... The control he has and how hard I try to run away from it even as an adult living 2,000 miles away from him. These men did an amazing job making a piece of art that can be interpreted in so many ways, its unbelievable.

3. So what I think is that Ten wants to escape a dark place or hates something about himself, so he wants to get free. WinWin is like the darker version of him that he wants to escape from. WinWin keeps him down and is the sad thing Ten sees when he looks in the mirror. WinWin is, in a way, Ten. this is shown because Ten is looking in the mirror and WinWin mirrors his moves, and every time after WinWin brings Ten back down after trying to escape, they dance together with the same moves. this shows the sad harmony that happens when Ten sees himself, so that's why he wants to escape. in the end, Ten finally realizes that he can't escape what he sees of himself, so he accepts WinWin and understands that there is no way out, sadly. this is why they embrace at the end.

4. I think that Ten and WinWin are the same people, represented by mirrored movements shown here: 0:15. Ten represents the lighter side, the "angel" if you will. WinWin represents the darker side, the "demon." Throughout the dance, both are actively fighting each other. Ten seems to be winning in the beginning as he chokes out WinWin: 0:35. But, WinWin gains control: 0:41. After, the two continue to work in unison, but it's shown that WinWin still has the upper hand: 0:50. They then go their separate ways. Ten seems to be influencing their person to do good things which are slowly weakening WinWin. This is shown by WinWin bending: 1:00 and by choking himself: 1:03. But, all is fine and they begin working in unison again, but this time, they do their things: 1:24. 

But, the fight is over when WinWin seemingly shoots Ten and gains control: 1:33. Ten gives up and gives in, accepting that his time as an "angel" is over. Their person becomes completely evil, void of all goodness. This is showcased at the end: 1:47. Ten's side of the tree is completely dead, while WinWin's side still thrives.

“Good and evil usually co-exist in one thought. However, if you live life with compassion and a kind heart, you will be repayed in the same way.” — WinWin