As of Dec. 15, TikTok has 137.6 million videos under the hashtag “dance,” a number that has steadily increased since the creation of TikTok. When the app first launched in 2018, a lot of the viral content consisted of dance videos. Many creators, such as Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae, built their massive followings by posting TikTok dances and creating them. Along with the nationwide fame, TikTok gave D’Amelio a platform to dance professionally. As TikTok’s popularity began to rise, a new genre of dance emerged: TikTok dances.

TikTok dances are short, 15-30 second dances ranging from complex to simple moves, usually filmed from the waist up and focused on fast arm movement. Some of the most popular dances today are are “The Renegade,” “Savage,” and “Say So.” While formal dance training and classes typically focus on perfecting technique and emotional expression, TikTok dances offer a more accessible option that focuses on rhythm and visual appearance instead.

Dance teacher at Method Dance Studio Natalia Chambers said TikTok has had both a positive and negative influence on dance. Chambers said it has drastically shifted dance culture.

“I think it actually has had a positive influence on dance, like getting more people dancing and moving. I feel like more people are dancing in general, which is really cool,” Chambers said. “But it has also changed the technique or foundation of dance where, now, anyone can be a dancer, which is great, but you’re losing a little bit more of the technique and stylized aspect of it as well.”

Dance teacher and Artistic Director of Night of Dance Andrea Locke said she thinks TikTok has ultimately had a positive impact on the dance community. By providing a widespread platform for dancers of all levels, TikTok fosters a more inclusive space for dance, Locke said.

“I think it gives them more freedom to move and just enjoy moving,” Locke said. “The biggest change has been a sense of confidence in being able to just move to music and see other people all over the world doing the same thing. It makes a community.”

However, Locke said she did not always believe TikTok changed dance culture for the better; she said she initially viewed TikTok dances as less creative.

“Initially my opinion about TikTok was that it wasn’t the ‘art’ of dance, but it’s opened up a vision and acceptance of dance that’s more inclusive,” Locke said.

Similarly to Locke’s previous views, Chambers said TikTok dances lack some of the individuality that is typically ingrained in dance. As short bits of choreography become viral, TikTok dances often get reduced to simpler, repetitive steps and choreographers tend to lose credit for their work along the way. One of the most notable examples of this happening was when 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon choreographed “The Renegade,” but never received any credit for it even as the dance was popularized by D’Amelio. In 2021, Black choreographers went on strike due to receiving a lack of credit for their choreography of some of the most popular TikTok dances.

“TikTok takes the discipline out of dancing, [it’s not the same as] what you get with dancing in a studio or having one-on-ones and things like that,” Chambers said. “Dance should be very individual, and when you’re doing the same dances, you lose that individuality a little bit because you’re just copy and [pasting].”

Josie LeBlanc (’28), a ballet dancer at Westside Ballet, said she believes TikTok has made more people consider themselves dancers and created a more diverse community. She said for many, dancing on TikTok can be less stressful than taking a formal class.

“A lot of people can be scared to just go take a dance class … but seeing so many people just having fun on TikTok with dancing and making it less serious than it needs to be makes people feel more comfortable with the idea,” Le Blanc said. “It makes it more of a familiar thing, so it’s not as scary and people can dance whenever they want [without] one conventional way of doing it.”

Co-dance captain for Night of Dance, Liv Karp (’26), said that one of the downsides of TikTok is that it has affected students’ expectations going into dance classes. Dance styles may differ from what dancers see on TikTok, they may receive more critical feedback from teachers and they may not be prepared for the commitment formal dance classes require, Karp said.

“If these girls are only used to seeing TikTok dances and they go into a lyrical dance class and expect to be doing a TikTok dance,” Karp said, “they’re gonna get a taste of reality, which will get hard and could get frustrating for their choreographers and their teachers.”

Locke acknowledged that where dancers find their inspiration does not equate to their value or skill. She said professionally trained dancers generally focus on different skills than those without training, such as specific technique and timing.

“It’s not like one is better than the other, it’s just that their exposure and their experience is different,” Locke said.

Overall, Le Blanc said she believes that the impact TikTok has made and continues to make on dance is a beneficial one. She said she thinks TikTok’s platform has helped more people get into dancing because it presents a version of dance that requires less commitment.

“[TikTok] has definitely made a positive impact,” Le Blanc said. “It has made people a lot more comfortable with the idea of dance and made it more of a thing people can do for fun, and they don’t have to completely commit to it.”

In 2020, TikTok’s popularity skyrocketed, gaining 2 billion downloads, 315 million of which occurred in the first quarter of the year — the most downloads any app has had in a single quarter. Le Blanc said she has observed a big difference between the TikTok dances people do now and the ones back then.

“In 2020, with Addison Rae [and] Charli D’Amelio, it was super intense dances that were really fun and exhilarating,” Le Blanc said. “Now they’ve just become kind of boring, and [there is] not as much imagination as people have gotten less experimental and creative.”

When observing the differences between students who dance formally and those whose dance experiences stem from TikTok, Locke said a noticeable difference is their attention to detail.

“I think the main difference is the seriousness with which they approach movement,” Locke said. “A professionally trained dancer, even if they are in the sixth grade … wants to make sure they get the movement right.”

Le Blanc said she thinks one of the dangerous disadvantages of TikTok’s dance culture is the rise in self-trained ballerinas on social media. Self-trained ballerinas’ videos are usually about their experience with ballet and asking for advice online about their form. Without proper training, self-trained ballerinas put themselves at risk of sprains, overworking muscles and harmful injuries.

“In terms of ballet on TikTok, there are a lot of people [who] are self-trained ballerinas … and they go on pointe, and they just find [inspiration] from TikTok,” Le Blanc said. “Teaching yourself to do ballet and then putting yourself on pointe with no training is really dangerous for your muscles and your bones.”

Locke said as time goes on and technology, including artificial intelligence, advances, the definition of art and outlets for expression will also continue to evolve.

“Dance, to me, has always been a connection to the humanity that we all have,” Locke said. “As that evolves with everything around us, who knows, [the] sky’s the limit of what dance might be and become for everyone.”