Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
Written by:​ Jonathan Ng
​DTEM3476 (Dr. M Hockenberry)
Introduction to Viral Dance Videos
A ‘viral’ dance video is essentially a popular video depicting a dance that has been shared,
viewed and imitated millions of times throughout social media and pop-culture. The act of dancing
has been around since the dawn of humanity, it is generally seen as an act of expressing oneself
through the bodily motions that have become known as dancing. The idea of a dance going ‘viral’ is
not uncommon nor is it rarely seen through history, there have been thousands of forms of dance
that have proliferated throughout history, cultures and continents.
Forms of dance such as the tango, waltz and ballet have transcended the traditional notions
of borders for humans. However, since the early 2000’s with the widespread use of the internet and
social media, specific dances have become a form of visual genre that is spread faster than wildfire
and gained notoriety as well as fame; these so-called ‘viral’ dance videos being immortalized in
pop-culture, tv shows and everyday colloquialisms.
It is important to note that many of these videos were shared and viewed using Youtube
which was founded in 2005. However, since then many other platforms have risen which gave users
more ways of sharing content and allowing ‘viral’ dance videos to be shared at an even faster rate.
Such video sharing platforms include Dailymotion, Snapchat, Vine (closed down as of October
2016), Tik Tok and various other platforms. Despite the vast array of platforms, many users of the
Internet still regard Youtube as the primary source of viral videos as well as the ‘go-to’ Internet
repository of videos going back several decades (even if Youtube was only started in 2005).
Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
One of the earliest examples of the ‘viral’ dance videos is of a professional motivational
speaker, Judson Laipply, who filmed himself doing what he called “an evolution of Dance”. (See
Figure 1.1) His goal was to inspire comedy and humor using his little skit which it definitely
achieved by drawing in over 10 million views a mere two weeks after posting the short six-minute
video on Youtube.
Figure 1.1: Screenshot of Judson Laipply’s “Evolution of Dance” (posted on April 6 2006)
The Evolution of Dance is clearly not a professionally made video and yet it garnered so
much attention that the video was Number 1 Most Viewed Video of all time on Youtube until 2011.
In the creator, Judson Laipply’s own words, “​The journey of the video has been great. It's something
that I could have never imagined at all. It is weird sometimes to think about how many people have
watched. I feel very lucky”. Considering that the dance was not actually meant to go ‘viral’, the fact
that it did is a testament to the creativity of the creator and amusement of millions of people as well
as their wishing to share it.
Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
Characteristics of a Viral Dance Video
The most important aspects of a ‘viral’ dance video is that it depicts a person, animated
figure or character expressing some form of dance which then can be replicated or imitated by
physically dancing in real life or through some form of creative imitation. The primary formal
quality of this genre is simply that the visual genre can be easily shared and imitated by people. For
example, in February of 2013 the song “Harlem Shake” was turned into a viral dance sub-genre due
to its simplicity (see Figure 1.2). A group of people simply stand in some loosely organized manner
as the beginning of the song plays out, and a singular person (traditionally wearing some form of a
mask) dances until a beat drops which then flashes as the group turns into a chaotic flailing of
limbs.
Figure 1.2: A Collage of Screenshots of the “Harlem Shake” Dance
Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
As seen in the Harlem Shake example, the dances are easily replicable in various different
contexts and backgrounds such as the Army or an airplane setting. For the most part, the ‘viral’
dance as a visual genre is meant to be understood without any significant knowledge of the origins
or the context/background of the video.
The second most important formal characteristic of ‘viral’ dance videos is the reason why it
became such a spreadable and popular video in the first place. It is important to note that for many
of these ‘viral’ dance videos, the dances are often applied to pre-existing songs such as the Harlem
Shake, In My Feelings/Kiki Challenge and the Trololo song. Dances are created by users who want
to create original content or imitable content that pairs well with the songs, for example when
Drake released a single called “In My Feelings”, it took less than a few weeks before the ‘viral’
penomenon known as the Kiki Challenge appeared where in people danced while a car slowly
rolled forward (see Figure 1.3).
Figure 1.3: Screenshot of Mr. Hermit Gaming’s Kiki Challenge (posted on July 31 2018)
Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
On the other hand, another possibility for ‘viral’ dance videos to exist is that a pre-existing
song and dance combination that was originally created by an artist is released, resulting in a mass
proliferation of imitation videos due to the popularity of the song and dance. Examples of this
include the Baby Shark song, Psy’s Gangnam style and Watch Me (Whip, Nae, Nae) by Silentó (see
Figures 1.4, 1.5 & 1.6). These songs all became viral phenomenons due to their catchiness factor and
the fact that the dances catered to millenials and younger generations.
Figure 1.4: The Baby Shark song (posted June 17 2016)
Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
Figure 1.5: Psy - Gangnam Style (posted July 15 2012)
Figure 1.4: Silentó - Watch Me Whip Nae Nae (posted June 25 2015)
Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
Conclusion
As a visual genre, ‘viral’ dance videos are a prolific vehicle of cultivating social
phenomenons due to the popularity, ability to proliferate and the general ease to imitate the genre
which enable masses of people to share the sensation and enjoy the worldwide marvel.
Sources
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Visual Genre: Viral Dance Videos (with extension)
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