BTOB: When Sign Language Inspired This Boy Band

English translation: Ixone Sáenz Paraíso

BTOB is the most popular boy band (male vocal group) in South Korea. In 2017, they presented their latest musical album with some phrases incorporated in South Korean Sign Language into their choreography in a television musical program. The result impressed the fans of the band and had received a significant media attention.

The BTOB boy band during a performance (photo: CC BY-SA 2.0 by Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, via Wikipedia)

The idea of introducing sign language into their choreography came from the boy band itself. In order to accomplish this, they counted on a choreographer named Doobu, who in turn investigated how some lyrics were signed in Sign Language such as "I miss you", "passed by" and "one year". He modified these signs to make it look like they were part of the dance and the fans loved it.

The South Korean sign language choreography served to present the new BTOB album at the music program M!Countdown, the most popular TV program in South Korea. This TV program is broadcast live in more than 10 countries around the world. After the performance of BTOB, the TV channel uploaded the video to YouTube and has already reached more than 3 million views:

People who do not know sign languages will find it difficult to appreciate the signs since the dance and Sign Language are merged perfectly in the choreography. For example, here you can clearly see how the band's singers sign "a year has passed":

Even more spectacular was the video that the band recorded with one of their deaf fans on the occasion of the Day of People with Disabilities in South Korea, in which they perform the same song and all the members of the band sing some parts in sign language. In just 5 days it has reached more than two million views on Facebook and YouTube and now it has 5 million views. It is impossible for someone not to appreciate the beauty of Sign Language in this video: