Ever since the world went into lockdown, certain digital platforms have been domesticating our itineraries to our living rooms. One of the most prominent apps on the scene is none other than TikTokâfeeding us bite-sized cookbooks, celebrity rants, spring cleaning videos, beauty and health trends. To name some, that is. But among these dynamic hashtags and challenges is a genre that has always found an audience on social media. Even if youâre not on the app, you mustâve heard of the viral dances that often grip the platform. Heck, you wouldâve even shimmied to one while going about your morning routine today.
From dabbing and flossing to the Dougie, CitiRokk and hitting the Woah, thereâs a new dance craze birthed by TikTok users every single week. While some of these moves take days to create, others are drummed up within a matter of minutes. Some might be an energetic rollercoaster of 15 seconds while other videos can last up to 10 minutes.
Although there are certain pointersâfor example, most dance moves are front-facing and animated from the waist up to suit the vertical frame of a smartphoneâthere are several factors that give you the autonomy to create a fresh trend or put a spin-off on an existing one. Nevertheless, the resultant routines are always highly recognisable and somewhat easily reproducible by others.
Now, jumping on the latest TikTok dance can be a fun activity for most users but for some, like Charli DâAmelio, Addison Rae and Michael Le, the ethos has helped them find their footing as influencers in the industry. Not only have TikTok dance routines helped revive old hits like âDreamsâ by Fleetwood Mac, but the platform has also launched songs including âLottery (Renegade)â and âSavageâ up official charts. It is for this reason that the app is recognised as a powerful marketing toolâwhere artists and labels pay famous TikTokers to dance to their music.
As views, likes and followers translate into financial opportunities, however, a few burning questions remain: How are TikTok dances invented? What exactly makes one go viral on the platform? And, if these mysteries can be solved, is there a cheat code of sorts where you can stand out among the endless sea of videos under a hashtag?
In a bid to list the key ingredients for a viral dance routine, SCREENSHOT interviewed Red Bull Dance Your Style participants Darren âOutrageâ King and Oscar âRampageâ Lorenzo. From the importance of flexibility and commitment to TikTok being a dance genre in itself, hereâs everything the artists had to share from their own experiences.
âI think dance is more universal than it has ever been,â started Outrage. Growing up in Southern California, the artist loved grooving to music videos by James Brown and Ginuwine. From watching them on television to witnessing in-person performances and enjoying the music in itself, dance has always been a part of Outrageâs life for as long as he can remember. âI never knew what I was doing, but I knew it was something I enjoyed from a young age to even now,â he said. Before he was picked as a wildcard to participate in the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final 2021, the artist had mastered the craft of krump from legends like Miss Prissy. Now heâs teaching the next generation.
âMy motto is to always keep going and have fun with anything Iâm doing. The moment I lose the fun factor, it almost becomes work,â Outrage continued, adding how he enjoys freestyle battles. âWith Red Bull Dance Your Style, I donât know the song Iâm dancing to until the DJ plays it. Not knowing lets me be in the moment, while still having fun figuring out the best way to dance to the crowd.â
While Outrage believes there isnât one single formula for success, he outlined how TikTok is, at its core, a testament to people enjoying themselves on social media platforms. âI think bringing high energy and maybe even nostalgic vibes to people may be the key,â Outrage explained. âMost dance videos that catch my eye and have me wanting more are [those] with people having great energy on camera, a dope song or remix of a classic, and the smiles they have while doing it. Itâs all relative⊠But those [are] the ones that seem to do the most well.â
So does this ultimately mean that TikTok dances are less about the moves and more about the personality someone brings onto our screen? According to Red Bull Dance Your Style competitor Rampage, who has amassed 12 million followers on the platform, it all boils down to oneâs flexibility and commitment.
Dancing ever since he was just 11 years old, Rampage admitted to being inspired by the OGs who introduced him to several styles like breaking, popping, locking and hip-hop. âMany of my friends in Cuba keep me inspired,â he told SCREENSHOT. âThey kept me going in the beginning and to this day when I look for inspiration I look back to their videos.â When asked about his A to Z advice to someone looking to create their own choreography on the platform, Rampage highlighted a difference between digital dance floors like TikTok and physical battles like Red Bull Dance Your Style.
âFor Red Bull Dance Your Style, youâre competing against many dope dancers and some of the best who have won big competitions around the world,â he shared, adding how one would show more advanced moves to win the competition. âFor TikTok, itâs the opposite. Here, you have to sort of dumb it down for people to understand and to go viral. Not everyoneâs a professional dancer and those watching it arenât dancers, they probably donât know what âpoppingâ isâso you have to do stuff that looks cool and is more appealing for them to watch the whole video, like, share and make it go viral.â
âYou need to make everything very simple and easy to digest while still being cool to look at.â
According to Rampage, the real way to steal the show is to create something that is exclusively yours and keep doing it until it blows up. âEvery single time something doesnât work, switch it up, find a new thing and do it over and over again. By doing this itâs how you [get people to] say âOh, thatâs his styleâ and âThatâs his moveâ. The competition on TikTok, especially with dancers, is hugeâso you want to make something that makes you you and unique.â
In terms of the music that typically does well on the platform, Rampage routed my attention to the King of Pop. âMichael Jackson always works, everyone knows him and his music is always going to get dancers a lot of views,â he said. At the same time, however, the artist stressed the need to keep up with the latest audios. In April 2022, think of all the catchy remixes of the iconic Will Smith phrase âKeep my wifeâs name out of your mouthâ. âYou want to have music that everyone knows,â Rampage added.
But when it comes to the dance moves on TikTok, finger guns, claps, body and hip rolls have become native to the platform. In fact, these moves have become so distinct to TikTok that it has weirdly transformed into a dance genre in itself. Analysing most of these moves, one might be able to trace the pop culture references behind its inspirationâfor example, Fortnite emotes like flossing and dabbing which continue to grip the platform. So in this regard, is it possible to predict the kind of moves that can potentially gain traction in the future?
@rampage_thedancer She learned the moonwalk đ @enola.bedard
⏠Friendships - Pascal Letoublon
Both Outrage and Rampage disagreed. âI donât think itâs that easy to predict whatâs happening next, it really depends on the creator,â Outage admitted. âIâve seen people do trends and they donât really gain viewsânot because itâs not good, but because people are so creative with it nowadays [that] thereâs a whole story behind it now.â The Las Vegas-based krumper then listed things that he feels make up a TikTok sensation, âThe view, if itâs outside, [then] the camera quality, if theyâre smiling etc. We have seen many videos go viral and then the next moment itâs gone. People are constantly looking for a way to level up, itâs great!â
As for Rampage, hit dance moves on TikTok are an unpredictable phenomenon that happens over time and canât exactly be controlled by someone. âItâs the ones you never expect, so youâre never going to know what goes viral,â he shared. âIn Red Bull Dance Your Style, thereâs also this level of not being predictable. You never expect what the song is going to be, or what move someone is going to pullâa lot of dances are unexpected.â
Given this dynamic nature of the platform, however, most TikTok dances have often been criticised for âlooking the same.â These claims hinge on the notion that each routine birthed on the gen Z-first platform is a rinse and repeat of the previous ones. âI feel itâs relative. I mean, obviously TikTok is no Americaâs Got Talent or competing at Red Bull Dance Your Style, but I think itâs great for what it is!â
Outrage explained when asked about his take on the discourse. The artist once again highlighted the overarching purpose of TikTok videos to provide frequent bursts of fun and laughter. âI personally donât think the dances look the same, but I can also see why someone would believe that as well. I think itâs really about the energy on screen that makes these videos so cool. The dances arenât as hard but itâs like a Drake songâif itâs done right, it will get you hooked.â
Rampage, on the other hand, believes in TikTokâs recycled dance theory. âI am one of them,â the artist admitted. âSometimes, I feel I do the same dances over and over. But the thing is, with TikTok, I create things for my fans who really enjoy watching these moves.â Although Rampage agrees with the criticisms, he explained how repeating the same moves helps him grow at the same time. âYou have to forget about the haters and those negative comments and focus on your fans. My newer videos with new moves sometimes donât get as much love as the [ones] that use the same moves that Iâve done in the past. So I agree, on TikTok there are a lot of the same steps, but if you want to grow your account, you have to find what works and keep at it, then shift on to the next move.â
Touching upon the perception that TikTok is less about the actual footwork and more about the vibes users bring with them in videos, Rampage further explained, âIt has to do with both. If you don’t have the moves, it doesnât look good and no oneâs going to like it, but at the same time you gotta put some energy into it. There are videos that show no energy and they give nothing. You want to use both to create different trends and switch up your videos.â
A TikTok dance dictionary wouldnât be complete without addressing the biases on the platform. More importantly, algorithm biases which, in 2019, came to mainstream attention with the revelation that TikTok suppressed videos by creators who it identified as âdisabled, fat and queer,â under the guise of protecting those who might be âvulnerable to cyberbullying.â
It should also be noted that TikTok has no built-in feature to credit the original creators of a dance routine. This is particularly concerning given the fact that two of the most popular influencers on the platform are young, white, non-disabled female dancersâwhile many TikTok dances can actually be traced back to black creators. This appropriation gained public interest after The New York Times published the story of Jalaiah Harmon, the 14-year-old mastermind behind the viral Renegade dance.
Although many users have since attributed the original creators of the dance trend they jump on by tagging their TikTok handles in the caption or comment section and mentioning, duetting or stitching the original video, itâs still considerably harder to trace the OGs behind a routineâleading several marginalised dancers to be sidelined from the trends that theyâve created.
âI think anybody who is creating a âtrendâ gotta be on it because once you upload it on the internet itâs out there!â Outrage explained, highlighting how the discourse of âWho was first?â and âHow do they get the credit?â has been around for years in the entertainment industry. Even though the artist believes everyone deserves credit for their creations, heâs unsure how TikTok itself can tackle the issue. âSomeone who just has better resources, does something a little more creative with the trend, or even having a celebrity appear in there can reach more than someone just doing it for fun,â he shared.
@official_outrage Who you got?! #chooseyourcharacter #dancersedition #dancer
⏠ChooseYourCharacter By Jim Walter - Brittany Marsicek
Over to Rampage, the artist outlined a fatal flaw in the appâs features. âIn my opinion, once itâs already out there, people are going to steal your content because youâve already uploaded it. Especially with TikTok, they give you the option to download it and you know someone can take the video once you post it,â he explained. But Rampage doesnât lose his cool when this happens. âOf course, you can be mad when you see someone stealing your video but itâs so easy to downloadâso youâre going to be mad every time you post a video.â
According to the dancer, TikTok should offer an option to recognise individual creators like they already do for audios. âI would love for everyone to give me credit for a dance, it makes me feel good and shows people the trend that I did,â he continued. But, at the end of the day, Rampage believes appropriation would still be an issue many face on the appâtracing back to the previous rinse-and-repeat criticisms that TikTok dances have garnered over time. âVery few dancers who have their own moves can say âOh, thatâs mineâ. Everything has already been created and done by the OGs back in the day, even viral things now have already been done,â he said. âYou canât copyright any type of move.â
Although freestyle battles and digital dance floors are backed by two different visions, their mutual grip on unpredictable tunes, from mainstream hits to timeless classics, unite both meansâwhere constant improvisation is key to engagement. âMy favourite trend right now is watching people dance to Missy Elliotâs âOne Minute Manâ remix by Showmusik,â shared Outrage. âIâm not sure if itâs a trend or not but watching folks break down to the beat and getting creative is super sick. I love that song so much, so I enjoy it!â
For Rampage, the artistâs favourite viral move is the moonwalk, which he can be seen adding his own spin-off to on TikTok. âIt still works to this day, itâs timeless and itâs never going to get old,â he admitted. âThose trends that revolve around those moves are the ones I like to use the most.â When asked about his favourite dance routine, Rampage settled on the shufflers. âEvery Halloween they bring a shuffle dance to the song âSpooky Scary Skeletonsâ and itâs a really cool dance that I like.â
@rampage_thedancer I almost got arrested for this one đđș
⏠Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
As Red Bull Dance Your Style returns this Spring for its 2022 season, kicking off on Thursday 7 April from the iconic House of Blues in Boston, the premiere one-on-one street dance competition is set to summon heavy hitters from across hip-hop, house, waacking, turfing, krumping, popping and everything in between. With no panel of judges, no planned choreography and unpredictable music, the battle is all about embracing the moment, wowing the crowd and moving to the beat. Here, the crowd is your judge and theyâll decide who ultimately rules the dance floorâjust like TikTok, if you really think about it.
To grab your ticket for the premiere event, head over to Red Bull Dance Your Styleâs official website and stay in the loop with the latest updates on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.