How to Go Viral: Dance Edition

On a late evening in August, Braylon Browner propped his cellphone up on a chair, opened his video app and hit record. The second-year student at the USC Kaufman School of Dance launched into a flowing freestyle dance set to a jazzy snippet of music he found on TikTok.

Before going to bed, he posted the 15-second video to his TikTok account — but didn’t expect much reaction. “I recorded it at 10 p.m.,” Browner says. “I was tired. I was in baggy sweatpants. I didn’t really think people were going to care.”

Yet by the next day, the video had caught fire. “I woke up with 200,000 views … and then a million views by that evening,” Browner says. “I was like, ‘What is happening?’”

Within a week, the video garnered 5.6 million views on TikTok and 5.8 million views on Instagram, where he reposted it. Browner, a top 10 finalist in the most recent season of So You Think You Can Dance, routinely receives tens of thousands of views on the dance videos he posts — but that August video is by far his most viewed entry.

TikTok and Instagram are saturated with dance content vying for algorithmic attention. So, what makes a dance video stand out and go viral? While there’s no single formula for success, here are four factors that can up the chances.

Capture attention — quickly

Many dance challenges that spread like wildfire on TikTok present choreography simple enough to be adopted by people with no dance experience. Choreographer Aiki, who has created signature moves for BTS and other top K-pop acts and has 5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, has been wildly successful creating catchy dances that go viral.

During her teaching residency at USC Kaufman last October, she taught USC faculty, staff and students “point choreography” — dance moves that accompany the chorus or hook of K-pop songs. These combinations are easy to execute, making them accessible to the masses. For point choreography to go viral, “people have to be able to capture it immediately when they see it and copy it,” Aiki says. “The dance needs to be memorable.”

But simplicity isn’t the only way to capture attention. “The complex dance styles that are taught at USC Kaufman, in tandem with cultural studies and research, open up a new lens through which conservatory training can find success on the internet, both in the areas of concert and commercial dance,” says Saleemah E. Knight, assistant professor of practice and a founding faculty member at USC Kaufman.

Skilled dancers like Browner can showcase eye-popping movement that sets them apart from the digital throng. Knight notes that Browner’s acrobatic ability is key to his viral appeal. “He’s virtuosic,” says Knight, who selected Browner as a featured performer in her latest choreographic work. “He can move in a superhuman way that an average body can’t typically do.”

Browner began his viral August video with one of his signature moves: a reverse split, where he starts in a wide straddle on the ground and pushes himself up to a standing position. The wow factor of the feat hooked viewers at the outset.

“You have three seconds to capture someone’s attention before they scroll,” he says.

Some of the most popular dance videos Knight has posted to her Instagram account feature top students in the contemporary jazz classes she teaches globally. “I select dancers who are not concerned with perfection, rather aim to problem-solve throughout my class, then showcase their determination and grit beautifully in final performance,” Knight says. Their technical prowess, combined with Knight’s explosive choreography, makes for eye-catching entertainment.

“I’ve been told my choreography is characterized by having a sense of attack,” says Knight, who has danced in major productions such as Disney’s Broadway musical The Lion King and worked with Grammy-winning artists such as Beyoncé. “It has been stated that the complex movement sequences I create and the focused execution of the dancers are what draw people in.”

Be authentic

 While capturing attention is essential, a video shouldn’t look like it’s trying to capture attention.

“Authenticity is so important,” Browner says. “When I’m scrolling on social media, I can immediately tell when someone is doing something for money or views.”

He believes the impromptu, just-me-in-my-sweats vibe of his August video contributed to its popularity. “I think it resonates with people because I’m not dancing for the approval of others,” he says. “I’m just dancing to share who I am, for my own enjoyment.”

Like entries in a digital diary, Browner’s posts serve as an outlet for him to express his feelings via movement. “If I notice that I’m only in the dance studio to post on Instagram, I stop recording,” he says.

Set the scene

Even as Browner resists contrived concepts, he puts thought into the look of his videos and aims to match the backdrop to the mood of each dance.

“I’m strategic with what I want to portray and how I want to portray it while remaining true to myself,” he says.

In the viral August video, Browner appears in a small studio space at USC Kaufman on the University Park Campus. The camera is close to him, creating a sense of intimacy that fits with the late-night casualness of the dance. “It feels inviting,” he says. “It feels like you’re sitting down with me.”

When he wants to share more sweeping movement, Browner will book one of USC Kaufman’s grander studios. In a video with 4.5 million views on TikTok, he can be seen spinning like a top and doing an aerial (a hands-free cartwheel) against the stunning backdrop of a large studio’s giant windows, soaring ceilings and exposed ducts.

“The viewers are seeing my dancing, but they’re also seeing this gorgeous view,” says Browner, who believes the aesthetics of the video help hold people’s attention.

Choose the right music

It’s no coincidence that Browner’s most viewed TikTok video is set to music he discovered on TikTok. “To get my videos pushed out onto the ‘For You’ page on TikTok, there is a sense of finding music that’s popular at the moment,” Browner says.

At the same time, bucking music trends can pay off. Some of Knight’s most watched dance videos are set to obscure songs. “I have been told that my music choices are very exciting,” Knight says. “I typically do not use popular music, nor music with lyrics. The goal is for my choreography and the dancing to speak for themselves.”

For Browner, what’s most important is to choose music that inspires him to move. “I love musicality and the way your body can hit every accent,” he says. “Whenever you scroll through Instagram or TikTok and you see someone hitting every beat like that, it’s fun to watch. An audience resonates with that.”