Since TikTok is arguably the most musical of the social media platforms, it's hardly surprising that an app with music integration built into it would find itself as the home of viral dance challenges.
Every day on TikTok, billions of videos are watched and many of them are of people dancing to the latest hits or creating choreography for classic songs.
It can be tough to keep up with it all, but here are just a few of TikTok's most popular dance trends, a few that we think are on their way up, and what makes dance challenges so popular on the platform.
Why Are Dances So Popular on TikTok?
TikTok was built from the ground up as an app with a focus on music. Unlike other platforms such as YouTube, where users can get copyright strikes and have their content taken down for using popular music, TikTok, through licensing and agreements with music companies, allows users to put some of the world's most popular songs onto the videos (or TikToks) that they post.
Naturally, this has led to users creating short videos whereby the music plays an important role either acting as the sonic backdrop to their content, a song for them to lipsync to, or the hugely popular TikTok dances.
What makes so many different types of dances so popular on TikTok is a combination of things. Firstly, TikTok's algorithm works really well to show users as much content as humanly possible and the fact that all the videos are a matter of seconds allows TikTok to very quickly work out what users like and show them content that will keep them on the platform.
Secondly, TikTok has some fairly powerful and intuitive video editing features that allow pretty much anyone to quickly put together their TikToks.
Time is of the essence on social media and TikTok sits at this crossroads where both content creation and content consumption are very quick, which allows trends to be started, jumped on by a lot of users, and propagated throughout the platform itself.
Finally, TikTok removes so many barriers to entry. As long as somebody has a smartphone, they can film themselves dancing and the fact that they'll have already seen lots of other users dancing away, too, means that there isn't really an environment whereby amateur dancers feel like they can't dance; TikTok dances are for everyone!
If you have a smartphone and some comfortable clothes, you can prop up your phone somewhere, practise a routine, and film yourself dancing for less than a minute. That's all it takes to be part of a dance trend on TikTok!
Of course, that doesn't mean that dance crazes were invented by TikTok, there were plenty of hugely popular dances trends before the platform existed.
Flowers – Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus' song "Flowers" is supposedly a response to Liam Hemsworth, who Cyrus divorced in 2020. Given the huge popularity, it was only a matter of time before it became a dance trend and the one from @BrookieandJessie is worth following if you have a good friend to learn it with.
We expect this trend to get much bigger as time goes on and even see plenty of other dance trends using the same song to pop up.
Follow the Leader – Rumba Del Sol
Any song with explicit instructions like this one is TikTok dance challenge gold and there are plenty of examples of what you can do with the "left, right" part of the song this dance challenge.
Some attempts are more athletic than others and we've even seen versions of people doing it while juggling a soccer ball, performing martial arts kicks, and a very enthusiastic dog giving it a try.
The very best version we've seen is probably @grazianodiprima's as plenty of people have made their own versions just using his legs instead of their own.
Coi Leray – Players (DJ Smallz 734 - Jersey Club Remix)
This jacked-up club version of Coi Leray's "Players" is getting attention on TikTok through a dance craze that you can either do on your own or with a partner.
Though there are plenty of versions out there, we do like @majiqmike's because it's just somebody enjoying their dancing.
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Collide – Justine Skye
The sped-up version of this hip-hop song is doing the rounds as a dance craze, which led to a huge surge in popularity for the song.
Back towards the end of 2022, the popularity of the song saw a significant increase in the number of streams
Now, there are so many versions of the dance for you to check out on the platform that it's too difficult for us to pick a favourite.
This is another one that you can do on your own, but we think it looks much better with two people.
Mio Mao la la la la la
This one is more of a meme than a dance challenge, but this cutesy song has everyone from teenage girls to elderly couples dancing to it and it's one of the easier ones to dance along to.
As this is one of the less serious dances, there's also a lot of room to deviate from the norm and get even sillier with it if you want.
It's not for everyone, but we feel that there's space for some light-headed fun on every social media platform!
10:35 – Tiësto & Tate McRae
This song was always bound to be a TikTok hit as it was originally teased on the platform. On the platform is also where it would see it become another of TikTok's many dance challenges and another one from @BrookieandJessie, who we also saw dancing along to “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus earlier.
The pair actually have plenty of TikTok dances so if you like the dances we picked in our list, you'll find plenty more on their TikTok. That said, you just have to spend a few minutes on TikTok and you'll definitely find plenty of dances!
Sure Thing – Miguel
In terms of the dancing, this song is less strenuous than some of the others we've mentioned so far, but this one has done the rounds and everyone has been giving it a go.
The sped-up version of the song is the one that everybody's been using and it's a great song for using transitions.
Ceilings – Ailani
This one is more of a performance piece than an out-and-out dance, but who are we to question what's popular on TikTok.
What we love about this one is that the song has been taken by everyone from girls in wedding dresses to rugby players.
Why Are People Using this Sound/Bad Hair Day – John Phillips
We absolutely love this dance trend not only because the song speaks the truth (it's actually called “Bad Hair Day”) and it was written by a school music teacher in Nelson, New Zealand.
John Phillips has been writing songs for years, but TikTok is what has taken his music to literally millions of people.
For a while, so many people were trying to work out where the song had come from and while some thought it might be from a movie or a musical, it turns out it was just a song that kids would sing at the start of each day in a school in New Zealand.
The track was recorded at Phillip's home and has other kids' songs, but "Bad Hair Day" is definitely his most popular on TikTok. Of course, it's down as "Why Are People Using this Sound" on TikTok if you want to look for the upbeat sped-up version that's been trending on the platform.
Superbowl Routine – Rihanna
Last but certainly not least is Rihanna's Superbowl Routine. If you combine one of the world's biggest artists at one of the world's biggest sporting events, you're bound to get some kind of social media popularity.
At the Superbowl, Rihanna didn't disappoint and the combination of Rihanna's music, dancing, and a whole troop of backup dancers have made this something that friends and family members all over TikTok can try to replicate themselves to varying degrees of success.
While nobody will come close to the slick professionalism of Rihanna and her dancers, there's something really fun and appealing about the routine, especially when it's one where almost everybody can get involved. Of course, it's up to you to decide who gets to be Rihanna in your version!
Of course, dancing on TikTok is all well and good, but if you want to get better at dancing, consider looking for dance classes or dance tutors. Naturally, there are video tutorials out there to help you with the moves for TikTok dances, but if you want to learn technique, the theory behind dance, and how to move properly, you'll really need a genuine dance teacher to learn the most popular styles of dancing!
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