What started as a simple 15-second video posted by 19-year-old college student Mia Rodriguez has evolved into a global dance phenomenon that's crossing generational and cultural boundaries.
The dance, dubbed the 'Butterfly Effect,' features a series of hand movements and steps that are easy to learn but difficult to master perfectly. This accessibility, combined with the catchy song it's set to, has helped it spread rapidly across TikTok and beyond.
'I created it in my dorm room when I was procrastinating studying for finals,' Rodriguez told us in an exclusive interview. 'I never expected it to go beyond my few hundred followers.'
But go beyond it did. Within days, the dance was being performed by thousands, then millions of TikTok users. When celebrities like Lizzo, BTS members, and even Jennifer Lopez posted their versions, the trend exploded further.
The original video now has over 50 million views, and the hashtag #ButterflyEffectDance has accumulated more than 7 billion views across all videos.
Sociologists are studying the dance as an example of how digital culture spreads in the modern age, while Rodriguez has signed with a talent agency and is launching a dance instruction series online.
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