Dancing on the Digital Stage

Emerging from a festive wedding ceremony, a dance colloquially known as Kemusan or Subject Three has achieved a meteoric rise to fame across digital platforms in recent weeks. In the realm of social media, where trends emerge and vanish like fleeting sparks, the dance craze is currently at the zenith of popularity.

Comparable to the global craze surrounding Gangnam Style dancing years ago, this dance has permeated every corner of the social media landscape. Set against the backdrop of music mixing Western disco beats and traditional Chinese folk songs, the dance itself is a free-form street routine commanding vibrant energy and rhythmic flair.

In a display that fuses both online and offline engagement, participants sway their knees and ankles in sync with the pulsating beats while executing a mesmerizing sequence of hand gestures, punctuated by rapid wrist-twisting movements. The dance subsequently went viral among young people across both online and offline realms, spurring a wave of dance challenges that attracted celebrities and well-known business identities alike.

On New Year’s Eve, at Wanda Square on Taiyuan Street in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, hundreds dressed alike and performed the dance to ring in the New Year. Participants livestreamed the event, inviting even more spectators from the virtual world to partake in the collective revelry. Their efforts culminated in setting a new Guinness World Record for “the most people performing a choreographed dance simultaneously online and offline.”

Hit Waves

The Kemusan dance phenomenon is widely attributed to a wedding guest’s innovative performance in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China over two years ago. This captivating routine has since taken on a life of its own.

The moniker Kemusan or Subject Three was initially coined as a playful reference to China’s third-subject driving test, specifically the road test required to secure a driver’s license. According to anecdotal accounts, a jubilant examinee celebrated his successful completion of this challenge by spontaneously performing the dance. When questioned about the dance’s identity, he humorously replied, dubbing it the Subject Three dance.

An alternative and culturally rich explanation hails from the diverse ethnic tapestry of Guangxi, where locals assert that there are three rites of passage every native experiences: singing traditional folk songs, savoring the region’s famous rice noodles, and dancing. In this context, Kemusan could be seen as an embodiment of the province’s vibrant dance culture, reflecting one of these timeless tests of cultural proficiency.

Regarding the rapid spread of the dance, Zhang Zhi’an, a professor of journalism at Fudan University in Shanghai, says the sudden rise in popularity of social media content is not surprising. “The dance routines lasting mere seconds perfectly fit the format of mainstream short-video platforms and resonate well with these platforms’ fast-paced, snackable content culture, thereby facilitating rapid and extensive sharing,” he told ThePaper.cn, a news portal based in Shanghai.

Such occurrences can’t be meticulously premeditated or forecast, he added. They often ignite unexpectedly amid a serendipitous context or moment, and swiftly gain wildfire-like virality. “The inherent unpredictability and sudden escalation in fame are indeed defining features of online culture,” he said.

The sheer simplicity and joy it brings to the general public are two other reasons for the dance’s going viral. “The moves are easy, enabling widespread imitation,” Zhang said. “The quirky yet infectious steps serve as a form of stress relief, offering enjoyment to those performing and delighting viewers alike.”

Guo Siyuan, a tutor at a dance studio in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi, revealed that the original version of Kemusan is not that easy to dance as many of its moves originate from breaking. "Some students requested a training session specifically for the Kemusan dance," he told Xinhua News Agency.

But the dance’s open-ended structure invites creativity and adaptation. People from different walks of life have sprung into the mesmerizing dance. It has also transcended borders to garner an international fan base as videos showcasing its routine have amassed significant viewership across YouTube and Twitter platforms.

In a striking instance from 2023, Khrystyna Moshenska and Marius-Andrei Balan, the victorious couple from Germany at the World Dance Sport Federation GrandSlam Final Latin, chose to electrify their audience in Shanghai by presenting a rendition of Kemusan following their triumphant final performance.

Meanwhile, a Russian Ballet troupe, after delivering a mesmerizing Swan Lake show in Liaoning Province, China, surprised the audience with an encore that transitioned into the energetic steps of Kemusan, further propelling the dance into the limelight.

The Debate

In November 2023, a series of video clips emerged featuring employees at Haidilao, a popular hot-pot chain in China, energetically performing the Kemusan dance routine as a form of entertainment for customers.

These videos swiftly became trending topics. Certain customers expressed their disapproval, deeming the dance “tacky” and inappropriate. A netizen from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, shared his discontent online, yearning for a serener dining atmosphere rather than sudden dance performances within the restaurant setting.

Parallel to this public discourse, professionals within the music industry also weighed in on the broader implications. Music critic Mo Qi in an online post highlighted that while some music garners significant fame through its use as background music in short videos, this path to recognition might have mixed consequences. He contended that though it offers visibility, it could potentially indicate that the intrinsic quality of such music is insufficient to engage listeners independently.

Peng Wenxiang, a professor of art theory from Communication University of China, viewed the phenomenon from another prospective. In his opinion, the virality of the Kemusan dance underscores the changing landscape of content creation and consumption. In today’s digital age, social media users are no longer mere consumers; they are active participants who can shape trends and create culture. The power dynamic has shifted from top-down dissemination to grassroots sharing, where every user has the potential to spark a new wave of creativity.

“Like all the other online phenomena that have gone viral online, the Kemusan dance may eventually fade from the limelight,” he told Dazhong Daily based in Shandong Province. “However, its impact on discussions surrounding online aesthetics, youth culture and the globalization of mass culture remains significant.”

YUAN YUAN is a reporter with Beijing Review.