May 15, 2020
By Angelena Barcia
Editor
As people around the world hunker down at home during the coronavirus pandemic, they are increasingly looking for fun ways to stay busy, keep learning and get their bodies moving. One way to accomplish these goals is by learning the choreography of dances being posted on the social media app TikTok. These dance videos tend to be between 15-30 seconds long and are generally choreographed by young TikTok users.
Other TikTokers who learn the choreography then get to show off by posting recordings of them doing those dances, which range from being pretty easy to very challenging.
Freshman Cecelia Valdez has learned more than eight TikTok dances since social distancing began in March. She has learned choreography for rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s songs “Savage” and “Captain Hook” as well as a few other mashup songs.
“My favorite TikToker to learn dances from would have to be Avani Gregg. I think she is an awesome dancer aside from just TikTok dances, and her moves are always on point,” Valdez said.
During this hard time, I think it’s worth learning a TikTok dance. We all are at home stuck inside, and this keeps our energy up and having a good time.
Valdez said “Savage” seems to be the most popular dance song on TikTok right now, though she said one of the best-ever dance tracks on the app is the hip-hop/rap song “Lottery (Renegade) by K Camp.
“During this hard time, I think it’s worth learning a TikTok dance. We all are at home stuck inside, and this keeps our energy up and having a good time,” Valdez said.
Junior David Fonseca joined TikTok about a year ago due to the urging of his close friend Jen Kelly. He said along with “Lottery (Renegade)” and “Captain Hook,” another popular dance song right now is “Say So” by Doja Cat.
Fonseca said he does not really enjoy learning TikTok dances because they can be challenging.
“The time of how long it takes to learn a dance depends on the level of difficulty. It took me a couple [of] days to learn the ‘Renegade’ dance, but others I have learned in an hour or two,” Fonseca said.
He said although mastering the choreography can be tough, he was glad he took the time to learn the routines for “Lottery (Renegade)” and “The Git Up” by Blanco Brown because it was fun to do the dances with friends.
“I enjoyed learning the ‘Renegade’ because my friend [junior] Alyssa Borquist taught it to me at Madison Square Garden before a Georgetown [University] game. I also learned ‘The Git Up’ in the summer with my friend Gracie, who was visiting from Brazil,” Fonseca said.
Borquist, who downloaded the app last summer, said she does not necessarily watch many dance videos on TikTok, but if she had to choose her favorite, it would be those of 16-year-old Charli D’Amelio. D’Amelio is one of the most popular TikTokers on the app with over 50 million followers. Borquist said she hasn’t learned any new dances since the pandemic began but is planning to do so.
“Whenever I learn a new dance, I feel accomplished, and it ends up being something I do all the time,” Borquist said.
She said learning and publishing dance routines on TikTok is a good way to stay entertained during the pandemic.
“Learning these dances can be time-consuming for some, but it’s fun to film yourself and just be yourself,” said Borquist.
