It begins with bouncy drum beats, rapidly interrupted by the sounds of sneakers crunching throughout the fitness center flooring. Then a thumbs up seems within the body, which rotates up and down like a hammer.
The a strangely fascinating routinesometimes called the “Pikki Pikki” dance, is carried out by the cheerleaders of the Kia Tigers, a Korean baseball workforce, and has turn out to be a TikTok sensation, garnering hundreds of thousands of views throughout a number of accounts. The actions are easy, repetitive and unpretentious; the music, addictively catchy (beware). This turned an ideal recipe for algorithm flooding.
Whereas on Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders turned “Thunderstruck”, maximalist routinein image of soccer and cheerleading in the USA, tigers cheerleaders are extra restrained, gently throwing elbows and largely dancing on the spot. They even look somewhat… bored?
The lighthearted method is intentional, in response to Lee Si-yong, founder and president of Apex Communications, which represents the cheer workforce. The dance is carried out each time a Tigers pitcher hits an opposing batter as a cheeky method for the cheerleaders to cheer for his or her workforce whereas gently mocking the opposite guys.
“We emphasize adjusting the actions and facial expressions to match the tone and temper of the music, whereas making it simple for followers to observe alongside,” Mr. Lee mentioned in an electronic mail by way of a translator. “We felt it might be extra acceptable to have a extra informal really feel fairly than one thing energetic or highly effective.”
The strikes—a two-thumbs-up dance—are decidedly uncomplicated. However the dance carried out by cheerleaders in entrance of 16,000 followers 10 to fifteen instances a sport has an sudden appeal.
It’s this low-key spirit that has attracted followers world wide and caused confusion on-line. The dance has been carried out since 2022 — so why the sudden inflow? The surge of curiosity got here because the Korea Baseball Group noticed it record crowdscredited partially to a spike in ticket gross sales for younger feminine followers. Speedy development and altering demographics imply extra eyes are on the cheerleaders (and, after all, the gamers, too).
“KBO is extra well-known outdoors of Korea than it is ever been,” mentioned Dan Kurtz, who runs MyKBO, a fan web site devoted to Korean baseball in English. “Kia Tigers are just like the New York Yankees of the KBO”
Tickets price the equal of $5 to $10 through the common season, Mr. Kurtz mentioned, and followers can convey their very own meals and drinks, making a baseball sport an inexpensive outing for youthful spectators. It is also frequent, he mentioned, for cheerleaders to have particular songs and dances for particular person gamers and lead the gang by way of the motions.
“It is like a rock live performance in comparison with Main League Baseball video games,” he mentioned. “At a Korean baseball sport, it does not matter the rating, the followers are singing, cheering.”
The catchy tune within the routine – Lecon Studios by Olive Beat sampled by “My Lecon” by Korean boy group JTL — was known as the “cross-out music” by the cheers, Mr. Lee mentioned. However due to the shrill sound results, followers began calling it “Pikki Pikki”, an onomatopoeia for the sound of one thing squeaking.
The dance has loaded quite a few imitatorswho, struck by the lovable quantity and accompanying earworm, mimic the cheerleaders’ clean stares and hip gyrations.
Among the many copycats is Melissa Min, a mannequin and influencer within the UK, who mocked the shortage of enthusiasm however captioned the submit “They’re so fairly although”.
“The pattern is somewhat onerous to elucidate by way of why it is taking place,” mentioned Deborah Park, 32, a content material creator from Oklahoma Metropolis who additionally make videos of the dance. She mentioned her mates are slowly getting the enchantment. “However as soon as it clicks, additionally they discover it intriguing.”
“That is truly the primary time a KBO cheerleading routine has reached international viral/TikTok problem standing,” Mr Lee mentioned. “So the workforce feels very proud”
If there’s one breakout star, it is Lee Joo-Yun, who shares the identical title as a Okay-pop star, inflicting just a few confusions in TikTok tags, and whose snappy hair and barrettes characteristic in a number of of the most-watched movies.
“She’s a bit giddy with all this occurring,” Mr Lee mentioned of the cheerleader’s sudden fame. “However on the similar time, she’s taking it as a enjoyable, distinctive and constructive expertise general.”
In a number of movies, Ms. Lee freshens up her make-up or takes it off electric fan earlier than breaking right into a dance, prompting curious viewers on-line to marvel if the distracted look was intentional.
In actuality, the “Pikki Pikki” dance solely occurs when the Tigers are on the sphere and the cheerleaders are resting between video games.
Earlier than the music begins, the cheerleaders powder their faces and they cool down in entrance of followers. They’re busy, they can not be bothered – till the creaking begins and it is time to dance. Then they stand with a indifference which dismisses any nice sense of urgency. Lastly they begin to smirk.
