Rikimaru Chikada

Rikimaru Chikada
Born
近田力丸

(1993-11-02) 2 November 1993 (age 30)
Hyōgo, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Other namesLiwan, Riki
EducationKyoto University of Foreign Studies Department of Brazilian and Portuguese Studies
Known forChoreography, Dance

Rikimaru Chikada (近田力丸, Chikada Rikimaru, born November 2, 1993) is a Japanese singer, dancer, and choreographer, currently based in China. He was a member of the international boy group Into1 after finishing third place in the Chinese survival competition show Produce Camp 2021. He is also the leader of Japanese-Chinese boy group WARPS UP.

Early life and family

Rikimaru Chikada was born on 2 November 1993 in Hyōgo, Japan. His mother is a jazz dancer and runs a dance studio. His father is a professional baseball player and coach. His younger sister, Yumeri Chikada, is also a dancer and choreographer. He attended high school at Itami Kita High School and graduated from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, majoring in Portuguese (Department of Brazilian and Portuguese Studies).

Rikimaru started dancing at the age of 4, started teaching dance at the age of 13, and became a choreographer at the age of 19. Rikimaru's commercial choreography debut is BoA's LookBook Dance Break in 2015. .[1]

Career

1997–2015: Career beginnings

Rikimaru started learning dance at age 4. At age 9, he and his mother appeared and danced in the Japanese variety show named "Gakkō e Ikō". In 2007, Rikimaru and his sister Yumeri formed the dance group named Respect.[2] From 2007 to 2008, Respect participated in many dance competitions in Japan and won awards such as 4th Dance Olympics Champion, MOVE MIX BEST G Class Champion, 9th COMBOX Champion, National Super Kids Dance Contest Kyushu Tournament Champion, 2nd K-palette cup Runner-up, Dance Attack Tokyo Tournament Runner-up, Shikoku Tournament Special prize, Kobe Rokko Island 1st Dance Championship Special prize, etc...[2]

In addition, Rikimaru also won some individual awards including KIDS MIX 2007 Best Dancer Award and ALL KANKUU Dance Contest Excellent Performance Award 2007.[2]

From 2012 to 2015, Rikimaru went to Los Angeles (USA) to learn choreography, choreographing skills and interact with many dancers. During his time in LA, he joined ImmaBEAST, an America's champion teen dance group, one of the top hip-hop dance groups in the USA.

2015–2020: Debut as a choreographer and WARPs UP

He began choreographing at 19, working on the team of renowned choreographer Rino Nakasone before earning his first credit on a project with BoA's "Look Book". He has choreographed for many artists such as BoA, SHINee, Taemin, Red Velvet, NCT127, etc.[3]

In 2016, Rikimaru was invited to be a judge of the Dance Vision contest in China. In 2018, Rikimaru and his sister Yumeri led the team and won Dance Vision Vol. 6. In the same year, his choreography won the runner-up award of the World Of Dance Junior (Osaka Station). From 2016 to 2018, Rikimaru was a dance choreographer and special guest coach at dance studio “1M Studio Dance” in Korea.[4]

In 2019, he made his debut as the leader of Japanese-Chinese boy group WARPs Up, under the Avex Trax record label. He also choreographed the group's dances.[5]

2021–present: Produce Camp 2021 and INTO1

In 2021, Rikimaru, as an Avex Trax trainee, participated in Produce Camp 2021, a reality competition show to create an international boy band formation produced by Tencent Video. He stayed within the top ranks from the beginning to the end of the show. On 24 April 2021, Rikimaru ranked third during the final episode with 16,591,943 votes, securing him a spot as an official member of the project boy group INTO1.[6]

In August 2021, Rikimaru was hospitalized due to a back injury, he took a hiatus from promotional activities while he recovers. During his hiatus he returned to Japan. In May 2022, Rikimaru returned to his activities in INTO1. The group officially disbanded on April 24, 2023, after expiration of their contract.

Endorsements

Alongside Rikimaru's activities with Into1, he has become a brand ambassador and spokesperson for some brands. He has also featured on the cover of many magazines such as Yizhou Magazine, RAYLI, Purple Pearl and more.

Year Role Brand Ref.
2021 Asia Pacific Ambassador Sitrana [7]
Brand Essence Ambassador Elixir [8]
Asian Region Lip Specialty Ambassador Celvoke [9]
Brand Ambassador Nescafé

Discography

See also: Into1 § Discography

Singles

Year Title Album Ref.
2022 UP and Down
无限想象 		Non Album Single
Daisy
Monster
2023 TALKIN'BOUT

Production credits

Year Artist English Title Lyrics Music Choreography Ref.
2022 Rikimaru Chikada UP and Down
无限想象 		Yes Yes Yes
Daisy Yes Yes Yes
Monster Yes Yes Yes

Notable choreography

Personal works

No MV/Stage Artist Note References
1 Famous Taemin MV, Taemin Arena Tour 2019 [10]
2 Eclipse Taemin Arena Tour 2019 [11]
3 Into the Rhythm Taemin Arena Tour 2019
4 One Shot Two Shot BoA MV [12]
5 ABOAB SHINee Concert SHINee World 2017 [13]
6 Tell me your name
7 JOJO
8 Nothing to lose
9 Kitchen Beat NCT127 NCT 127 Arena Tour NEO CITY: JAPAN [1]
10 I wanna I wanna Banana Lemon 3 versions [14]
11 Girls gone wild
12 SugarBaby
13 Ever After Tokyo Girl's Style [15]
14 2016 Crazy World Show Lo R&B
15 Cloud9 WARPs UP [16]
16 Supernova

Collaborative choreographies

No MV/Stage Artist Note Team References
1 Lookbook BoA Dance Break [17]
2 Mars Taemin Taemin Arena Tour 2019 Rino Nakasone [18][11]
3 Slave Taemin Arena Tour 2019 Rino Nakasone team
4 Tiger Taemin Arena Tour 2019 Rino Nakasone team
5 Kiminoseide SHINee Concert SHINee World The Best 2018, Japan Rino Nakasone [19][20]
6 Evil Concert SHINee World The Best 2018, Japan Rino Nakasone team
7 Stranger Concert SHINee World The Best 2018, Japan Rino Nakasone team
8 Love like oxygen Concert SHINee World The Best 2018, Japan Rino Nakasone team
9 Your name/Replay Musical version

Concert SHINee World The Best 2018, Japan

Rino Nakasone team
10 Every time Rino Nakasone team
11 Work you out Dancers performance Rino Nakasone team
12 GENTLEMEN Rino Nakasone, Maika
13 Rookie Red Velvet Intro [12]
14 One Hundred Degrees WARPs UP [21]

Filmography

See also: Into1 § Filmography

Television series

Year Name Notes Reference
2011-2012 Sekai 1 no SHOW taimu 〜 gyara wo kime runoha anata 〜 [19]
Sutadorafuto kaigi
PON!
24 jikan terebidansu koushien
Toku dane
Hirunandesu
2021 Produce Camp 2021 Contestant
Finished third 		[22]

Music video appearances

Year Name Artist Role Reference
2016 LookBook BoA Dancer [23]
2015 Make That Sh*t Work Willdabeast, T-Pain ft. Juicy J Dancer
2015 You Will (Dance Video) Kento Mori Dancer [24]

References

  1. ^ a b "『☆7/28☆Rikimaru Chikada WORK SHOP☆』". Prism Dance Studio公式ブログ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  2. ^ a b c "Respect経歴" ["Respect" dance group]. プロダクション尾木 (in Japanese). 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  3. ^ "Riki missed the show due to a back injury, and cheered for his brother in front of the screen".
  4. ^ "Rikimaru Chikada – 1Million Dance Studio – Clothes – 1 Million Outfits". 1Million Outfits. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  5. ^ "Rikimaru – Profile | WARPs UP(ワープスアップ)オフィシャルサイト". Rikimaru – Profile | WARPs UP(ワープスアップ)オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  6. ^ ""CHUANG 2021" Final Rankings, Group Name INTO1". CPOP HOME. 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  7. ^ "欢迎@INTO1-力丸 成为sitrana施萃娜亚太区乳霜品牌大使，粉丝宝宝们猜对没~｜trans-title=Welcome INTO1 Liwan to become the brand ambassador of Sitrana Shi Cuina Asia-Pacific cream". Sina Weibo (in Chinese). Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  8. ^ "很高兴成为ELIXIR怡丽丝尔 品牌精华大使｜trans-title=Excited to be an ambassador for ELIXIR brand essence". Sina Weibo (in Chinese). Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  9. ^ "力丸 亲签明信片和独家心动瞬间即将掉落，速速集合！｜trans-title=INTO1 Liwan Celvoke lip makeup spokesperson Into1 Liwan Auto-signed postcards and exclusive exciting moments are about to drop, gather quickly!". Sina Weibo (in Chinese). Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  10. ^ "テミン(SHINee)、新曲「Famous」ミュージックビデオFull Ver.で緊縛や流血" [Taemin (SHINee), new song "Famous" MV]. BARKS (in Japanese). 26 July 2019. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  11. ^ a b USA, SHINee (2019-08-22). "Taemin Bio". SHINee USA. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  12. ^ a b Bulhões, Gabriela (2021-04-20). "Conheça o Rikimaru, coreógrafo japonês apaixonado por funk" [Meet Rikimaru, a Japanese choreographer passionate about funk]. KondZilla (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  13. ^ "lovesick" [Rino Nakasone Official Blog]. 仲宗根梨乃 公式ブログ (in Japanese). 24 September 2017. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  14. ^ Fatima (2018-03-25). "INTERVIEW | Go Wild with the Girls of BananaLemon". OH! Press. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  15. ^ "Dance Workshop com Rikimaru - Fortaleza/CE". www.sympla.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  16. ^ admin (2020-12-23). "Japanese-Chinese Male Dance Collective WARPs UP Announce New Song 'Cloud 9'". Bionic Buzz. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  17. ^ "Revista KoreaIN - Conectando Culturas" [WORKSHOP and FANMEETING by choreographer RIKIMARU in Brazil]. Revista KoreaIN - Conectando Culturas (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  18. ^ "Taemin: X™️ Concert & "Famous" 3rd JP Mini Album 8/28 Release!". 10 June 2019.
  19. ^ a b "Rikimaru Chikada WORK SHOP".
  20. ^ "lovesick" [Rino Nakasone Official Site]. 仲宗根梨乃 公式ブログ (in Japanese). 24 September 2017. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  21. ^ "Chinese-Japanese Group WARPs UP Release New MV for Trilingual Song "One Hundred degrees"". A-to-J Connections. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  22. ^ "CHUANG 2021 Debuts Their New Boy Group, "INTO1"". Daily Cpop. 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  23. ^ "LookBook - Official MV - BoA". YouTube.
  24. ^ "Kento Mori - You Will (Dance Video)". YouTube.