{"id":298,"date":"2025-05-30T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.voipez.com\/?p=298"},"modified":"2025-06-03T12:56:53","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:56:53","slug":"whisked-away-by-tiktoks-viral-ballroom-trend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.voipez.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/30\/whisked-away-by-tiktoks-viral-ballroom-trend\/","title":{"rendered":"Whisked Away by TikTok\u2019s Viral Ballroom Trend"},"content":{"rendered":"

One recent morning, I opened TikTok to find a video of a man doing a vaguely familiar dance step\u2014something that resembled the whisk, a foundational element of ballroom\u2019s International Latin samba. The video referenced \u201cBlue Shirt Guy\u201d as its inspiration.<\/p>\n

Soon, TikTok\u2019s algorithm showed me the surprising source material: a 2021 video<\/a> of the ballroom dance luminary Ruslan Aidaev wearing a blue shirt while teaching whisk technique to a group of young students, set to the song \u201cAssumptions,\u201d by Sam Gellaitry. The bouncy, sweeping movement with Afro-Brazilian roots was on the cusp of a whirlwind pop-culture crossover, soon to be embraced by amateur and trained dancers alike. On social media, \u201cthe Blue Shirt Guy dance\u201d quickly became inescapable.<\/p>\n

Intrigued, I decided to record my own video of the buzzy move\u2014with no intention of posting it, initially. I filmed myself in my kitchen doing what I remembered of a basic samba whisk, just to get the feeling back into my body. (I have an extensive ballet background, but my ballroom training has been sporadic over the years.) On the spur of the moment, I decided to put the clip on TikTok<\/a>. I\u2019d been posting on the app<\/a> for a few weeks, and my videos typically earned 30 to 400 views, mostly from friends. But the next morning, I woke up to around 13,000 views.<\/p>\n

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@lydia_murray<\/a> <\/p>\n

Just another former International Latin student who saw the bat signal (there is a 90% chance I\u2019ll redo this \ud83d\ude48) #blueshirtguy<\/a> #ruslanaidaev<\/a> #whisk<\/a> #whisks<\/a> #whisktrend<\/a> #ballroomdance<\/a> #ballroom<\/a> #ballroomdancer<\/a> #blueshirtguydancing<\/a> #samba<\/a> #internationallatin<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u266c Assumptions (slowed down version) \u2013 Sam Gellaitry<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

My love for ballroom has been nearly lifelong. Growing up, I watched it on television and social media before taking my first private lesson in college. Though I have yet to consistently take lessons for more than six months at a time, I\u2019ve dabbled in ballroom off and on for years, and I\u2019ve continued to follow the art form. As a journalist, my first career highlight was an interview with Valentin Chmerkovskiy for my school\u2019s arts and entertainment magazine, which indirectly led to my former role as a managing editor at Dance Media.<\/p>\n

Seeing the samba whisk gain popularity beyond the ballroom community has been exciting and illuminating. In the dance community, where perfection is the usual standard and dazzling dance videos are currency, it was refreshing to see people learning in public. Online, pedestrians and dancers from a range of styles tried the step, asked for advice, and laughed at themselves along the way.<\/p>\n

Despite my early reservations about posting my first whisk video, it has now earned over 168,000 views. Various comments have mentioned that my slower, beginner-friendly pace helped viewers get a feel for the step. It\u2019s been a reminder that dance isn\u2019t always accessible in the lightning-fast, hyper-polished form that it tends to exist in online. When you show your process, you can help others rise with you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also easy to take our dance knowledge for granted. To trained ballroom dancers, a samba whisk may seem routine, and many people have seen it on shows like \u201cDancing with the Stars\u201d or \u201cSo You Think You Can Dance.\u201d But something magical can happen when a step is viewed outside of its original context, separated from the stereotypes or preconceptions we might have about a particular dance genre. As the world keeps whisking, this trend serves as a reminder that ballroom dance is for everyone, and that movement is one of humanity\u2019s few and precious universal languages.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Whisked Away by TikTok\u2019s Viral Ballroom Trend<\/a> appeared first on Dance Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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