/Photo = X Capture The popularity of the cheer dance ‘Pikki Pikki’ for the Korean professional baseball team KIA Tigers is spreading around the world.
Recently, a post titled ‘The famous cheerleaders of the American NFL team Dallas Cowboys dance the ‘Pikki Pikki’ was posted on an online community.
The article includes a video of three cheerleaders dancing to the song ‘Pikki Pikki’.
The main characters in the video are presumed to be cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys, the most popular American football team. They are also famous for their outstanding looks in the NFL. Netflix also released ‘America’s Sweethearts – Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ featuring them.
Domestic netizens showed enthusiastic reactions such as, “How did this happen?”, “Where is it going?”, “It captures the feeling well because it’s a cheerleader”, “A case of successful export”, and “It’s on a different level.”
‘Pikki Pikki’ is a short performance where cheerleaders stand up and perform when the pitcher strikes out an opposing team’s batter while the Kia Tigers are on defense. It is made up of easy movements such as raising their thumbs and shaking their bodies to the beat of drums and the DJ’s scratch music.
Cheerleader Lee Joo-eun was fixing her makeup when the song “Pikki Pikki” came on, and she immediately got up from her seat and started dancing, which became a hot topic and spread as a challenge.
Olivia Rodrigo, who is revered as the ‘MZ pop star’, also uploaded a video of herself doing the ‘Pikki Pikki’ dance while pretending to touch up her makeup, following Joo-eun Lee, on her social media.
/Photo = Online community The American daily New York Times (NYT) also reported that the “Pikki Pikki” dance “has captivated fans around the world.” The media outlet said, “This movement, which involves raising two thumbs, is not complicated,” and “It has been compared to the Dallas Cowboys’ Thunderstruck, a symbol of American professional football and cheerleading.” Thunderstruck is a spectacular cheering style in which a large number of cheerleaders perform a group dance together.
The New York Times also said, “The low-key movements immediately captivated fans around the world and created a buzz online.” It also analyzed that the reason this dance, which has been performed for two years, is receiving attention now is because of the increase in the number of spectators for Korean professional baseball games, including a surge in ticket sales among young female fans.
Kim Ye-rang, Hankyung.com reporter [email protected]