# The Floss On May 20, 2017, a teenager called the Backpack Kid upstaged Katy Perry on Saturday Night Live by performing a stiff-armed hip-swinging dance called the Floss. The move had been documented on YouTube since 2010, but his SNL cameo turned it into one of the biggest schoolyard crazes of the late 2010s. ## Origin On October 18, 2010, a YouTuber named ryan mayall uploaded a short clip titled 'Ryan Mayall "The Dance"'[3], the earliest documented footage of the move. It took years to catch on. The dance appeared sporadically in later videos, including a January 2011 prank clip by Eual Kennedy, a 2012 Grantsville West One Direction lip dub, and the 2014 JStuStudios comedy video 'Look What I Can Do'[6]. None of these broke through to wider notice. - **Platform:** YouTube (first video) / Instagram and SNL (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown; earliest known video posted by YouTuber ryan mayall, popularized by Russell Horning (Backpack Kid) - **Date:** 2010 ## Overview The Floss involves swinging your hips in one direction while swinging straight arms the opposite way, with one hand passing in front of your hips and the other passing behind your back, then alternating on every beat[1]. HuffPost described the coordination challenge as similar to patting your head while rubbing your belly at the same time[1]. The name points at the resemblance to flossing teeth, though the arms stay rigid rather than sawing. Kids filmed each other learning the rhythm, with the behind-the-back arm swing being the visual signature that separates the Floss from similar moves[6]. The dance doesn't require a specific song, though it got locked to Katy Perry's 'Swish Swish' after the SNL moment[2]. ## How to Use Keep your arms straight, your hands in loose fists and your core still above the hips. Swing both arms as a single rigid unit to one side while your hips swing the other way, so one fist ends up in front of your pelvis and the other behind your lower back. Reverse on every beat. Speed matters less than keeping the hip-arm counter-rotation clean[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is The Floss? A dance where you swing your hips one way and your straight arms the opposite way, with one hand passing in front of your hips and the other behind your back, alternating each beat[1]. ### Where did The Floss come from? The earliest known video was uploaded by YouTuber ryan mayall on October 18, 2010[3], but the move went mainstream after Russell Horning (the Backpack Kid) performed it on SNL alongside Katy Perry in May 2017[1]. ### What does The Floss mean? The move has no inherent meaning; it's named for the back-and-forth arm motion that looks like someone flossing teeth[1]. ### How do you do The Floss? Keep your arms straight and swing them as one unit across your body while your hips rotate the opposite way, so a fist ends up in front of your pelvis and another behind your back, then flip sides every beat[1][2]. ### Is The Floss still popular? It peaked between the Backpack Kid's May 2017 SNL moment and the UK school craze reported in spring 2018[2][6], and now reads as a time-stamped dance from that era rather than a current fad. ## References 1. [https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/how-to-do-the-floss-dance-teacher-video_uk_5ac34287e4b00fa46f85ddca]() 2. [https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-manchester-43617987/tottington-primary-school-teacher-learns-the-floss-dance-craze]() 3. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N-C22u4FfU]() 4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X6b19ukfTA]() 5. [https://x.com/i/status/906952768077754368]() 6. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-floss]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPMx9XUg5LQ]() 8. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkmMhqsJ-vk]() 9. [https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/89vdza/what_is_the_dance_where_kids_swing_their_arms/]() 10. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAlspsu3G44]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/the-floss Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library