From Pakistan to Kenya and now Iran, in solo, couple and group formats, in salwars and sweatpants, hoodies and baseball caps, by hijab-wearers and hijab-rejectors, the videos keep coming – as this TikTok compilation shows. Loïc’s video is not just shared countless people of all ages and nationalities learn his steps, record their performances and upload them on social media.

His dance challenge video has, to date, 215,000 likes and 10,500 shares. Calm down topping chartsĪs Calm Down began topping European charts, Loïc’s kinetic response began attracting social media users worldwide.

In a phone conversation with me, as part of my ongoing research into West African dance forms, Loïc described it as “a very easy song” he “felt immediately connected with” and could “really move to”. Loïc used these rich resources to interpret a song that had been released less than a month earlier on Rema’s debut studio album Rave and Roses. Loïc Reyel (right) meets up with Rema, whose song he created an online dance challenge to. Courtesy Loïc Reyel Think Ivorian coupé-decalé, Nigerian shoki, Ghanaian azonto, Angolan kuduro … These local responses to pan-African electronic music constantly combine with Caribbean and African American dance styles to remember and resist the traumas of enslavement, colonialism and policing of the Black body. Their short routine coordinates expressive hand gestures with footwork drawn from African street dance styles that globally circulate through teachers such as Loïc. He’s the founding director of Afro Vybz dance school and in the video he’s dancing with five students.

The poster was Cameroon-born, Montreal-based Loïc Ngumele Sipeyou, known professionally as Loïc Reyel. On 7 March 2022 the now-famous choreography for Calm Down first appeared on the TikTok handle Loïc Reyeltv. So who first dreamt up the Calm Down dance that has catapulted from microblogging fame to joyous defiance of a notoriously repressive regime? The choreography In popular culture singers are known by name, but dancers largely remain unacknowledged. ALSO READ: Cape Town dam levels: Numbers keep dropping – WARNING

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