The floss is a dance and an Internet meme in which a person repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on alternating sides.
The floss is a dance and an Internet meme in which a person repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on alternating sides.
01 · What it is
Dance
Live movement, rhythm, costume, or staged dramatic performance passed between generations.
02 · Where & name
Geography awaiting source
Add a cited source naming the region or community that carries it.
03 · How it is doing
□□□□ (Not yet assessed)
Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
04 · Proof & reuse
2 cited sources
Every claim links to a public record below. Free to quote, teach, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Chapter Takeaways
EtymologyThe name comes from the moves themselves, which involve "a lot of fast arms and hip swings as though using a huge, invisible piece of dental floss".
HistoryAn earlier instance of the dance being promoted on the internet was in a 2014 clip uploaded by the YouTube channel JStuStudios, run by content creators Justin Stewart and Andrew Scites.
Common Questions Answered on Record
What is floss in plain words?
The floss is a dance and an Internet meme in which a person repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on alternating sides.
Where is floss practised or documented?
No verified geographic place has been linked on record yet — editors can add a cited place from the edit page.
What is the current condition of floss today?
□□□□ (Not yet assessed): Documented in open cultural records, but no cited field assessment of its current vitality has been added here yet.
How do I cite or share this floss entry?
Cite as: "floss." folkroom, https://folkroom.org/art-forms/floss, text CC BY-SA, with attribution.
The floss is a dance and an Internet meme in which a person repeatedly swings their arms, with clenched fists, from the back of their body to the front, on alternating sides. 1
Etymology
The name comes from the moves themselves, which involve "a lot of fast arms and hip swings as though using a huge, invisible piece of dental floss". 1
History
An earlier instance of the dance being promoted on the internet was in a 2014 clip uploaded by the YouTube channel JStuStudios, run by content creators Justin Stewart and Andrew Scites. Stewart and Scites have performed the dance, called "The Squeege" in televised appearances, such as The Meredith Vieira Show. The earliest instance of the dance was published October 18, 2010 by the YouTube channel Ryan Mayall (MayAllLove13). Videos of the dance on social media achieved viral popularity after 14-year-old Russell Horning, known as "the backpack kid", performed the dance in an August 2016 video.
Horning was invited to participate in a live Saturday Night Live performance of Katy Perry's song "Swish Swish" in May 2017. It has since become a trend among children and younger teens, and has been performed by celebrities in videos. The floss has been featured in The Simpsons, and in television shows airing on Universal Kids, Disney XD, and Disney Channel.
Flossing was featured in the 2017 video game Fortnite Battle Royale by Epic Games, as an emote that can be performed by the player's in-game character and was a limited-time reward in Battle Pass Season 2. Flossing became popular in schools due to the popularity of Fortnite. It was approved by various parents and administrators, being considered inoffensive. In December 2018, Horning's mother filed a lawsuit against Epic Games for copyright infringement of the dance. In response, Playground Games removed a similar dance emote in their 2018 racing video game Forza Horizon 4, to avoid possible litigation. 1
The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Floss (dance)”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. 1
floss is dance move, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 2
The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. 2
