It starts with bouncy drum beats, quickly interrupted by the sounds of sneakers squeaking on a gym floor. Then a thumbs-up comes into frame, swiveling up and down like a hammer.
The strangely enthralling routine, often referred to as the "Pikki Pikki” dance, is performed by cheerleaders for the Kia Tigers, a Korean baseball team, and it has become a sensation on TikTok, racking up millions of views across numerous accounts. The moves are simple, repetitive and unassuming; the song, addictively catchy (beware). It’s become a perfect recipe for flooding the algorithms.
While the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have turned "Thunderstruck,” a maximalist routine, into a symbol of football and cheerleading in the United States, the Tigers’ cheerleaders are more subdued, gently throwing their elbows and mostly dancing in place. They even look a little ... bored?