The "chicken noodle soup" is from 2006. In the clip, a 14-year-old rapper from Harlem repeats a few simple, synchronized steps to the song's chorus. It quickly became one of the first viral dances. Since then, short dance routines have become an online standard, and they've multiplied around the world. In 2007, rapper Soulja Boy popularized his own with "crank that", the unforgettable left-right sway. Then in 2015, the dab entered the scene: the now-famous gesture consisted in throwing one arm, straightened, to the side, with the other coming up to cover the face with the elbow. Borrowed from the Atlanta rap scene by athletes, it got so big that even Hillary Clinton let out a dab or two along her campaign trail. In 2017, the "floss" was the new move — a rapid back-and forth with the hips and the hands moving in tandem. Originated by 16-year-old Russell Horning — "The Backpack Kid" — he performed it on Saturday Night Live that year with an invite from none other than Katy Perry.
TikTok's rise has seen these moves become even more popular. The social network, launched in 2017 and featuring videos under 60 seconds, is one of Gen Z's favorite apps, and its content pops up on other platforms more than any other. The videos are often mini dance routines that get performed again and again by community members, all in the form of fun "challenges." The "Savage", dance moves to the same song by Megan The Stallion, became a hit this past March. Since then, 9.3 million TikTok videos have used the tune.
Artists looking for new fans are right to turn to the platform. More and more American singers are coming up with choreography that will help their songs soar to the top of the charts. In January, Justin Bieber promoted his single Yummy on TikTok in the hopes that influencers would take the lead on his dance. A few months later, Drake teamed up with the Toosie dancers to create their own choreography. It was so successful that the Toosie Slide had gone viral three days before the track itself ever dropped.
The way the app works only feeds the trend — in order to create a video, users can choose between recording their own sound or using one from a database. The audio they choose can then be used by others, and so on and so forth. The algorithm even allows newcomers with hardly any followers to rack up thousands of views from one day to the next. Dance proves to have an important place in our lives and on the internet, since it is as much an art as a language — and in this way open to all.