Whether you’re a budding Grandmaster or a complete novice, you probably know that chess is a board game that requires tactics, strategy, and an ability to anticipate your opponent’s moves. It’s played around the world and has been for hundreds of years, with the pieces likely being familiar even to those who have never played the game before. Subsequently, when dance company Moon Dance performed a routine inspired by chess, it’s little surprise that the video soon became universally acclaimed.
The routine – titled simply ‘Chess’ – was originally performed by Mongolian representatives Moon Dance at the World DanceSport Federation World Championship in Hong Kong in 2023, as part of the formation Latin segment of the competition. The group was made up of eight female dancers and eight males, who performed some incredibly intricate and challenging Latin-inspired dance moves during the routine’s lengthy six-and-a-half minute duration, which saw the dancers taking the roles of chess pieces.
The way in which the group managed to capture the game purely through the medium of dance was quite extraordinary. At times, the female dancers played the horse-shaped knights, moving their arms to take the shape of the pieces, and at other times the group performed in complete synchronization as if attacking their opponent in the game. Assisted by a variety of music and some explanatory narration, the group really did manage to embody the essence of chess with their stylish, elegant dancing.
No doubt the group were also buoyed by their success at the same competition the previous year, where they won a silver medal and thus became the first Asian team to win a medal in the competition. Performing a piece titled ‘The Power of Four Elements’, the group delivered a fiery routine involving jaw-dropping lifts and perfectly synchronized choreography. If they came second delivering such effortless but complex dancing, the mind boggles as to what the team who took first place were like.
Mongolian dance company Moon Dance is clearly up there with some of the best Latin dancers in the world. As showcased by both their chess- and elements-inspired routines, they are capable of making the most complex moves and formations look utterly effortless, and we hope they will be returning to the WDSF competition for many years to come with similarly imaginative and distinctive performances.
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