The Backpack Kid Floss dance became one of the most recognisable viral moves of the late 2010s. In this Distract throwback, Russell Horning–better known as Backpack Kid–gives our New York host Gita Cellei a lesson in the dance he helped turn into an internet phenomenon.
Who is Backpack Kid?
Russell Horning rose to viral fame through his deadpan dance videos and rapid, side-to-side arm movements. The Floss reached a much wider audience when he performed alongside Katy Perry on Saturday Night Live in 2017, before becoming embedded in online memes, gaming and youth culture.
Horning became one of the figures most closely associated with the dance and its journey from social media into mainstream pop culture.
Backpack Kid teaches Gita the Floss dance
The Floss might look simple, but keeping your arms and hips moving in opposite directions at speed takes more coordination than you might expect.
Gita had been trying to master the dance for a while–without much success–so who better to ask than Backpack Kid himself? During their New York Fashion Week meeting, Russell shows her how the move works before she puts his advice to the test.
Watch the video to see whether one quick lesson from Backpack Kid is enough to improve Gita’s Floss–or whether she still needs a little more practice.
Why the Floss became an internet culture moment
Part of the dance’s appeal was its visual simplicity: you could recognise it in seconds, attempt it without any equipment and recreate it in a short social clip.
That made the Floss perfectly suited to the challenges, memes and reaction videos reshaping pop culture at the time. Years later, it remains a snapshot of how quickly one viral movement can travel from a teenager’s social feed into music, fashion, television and gaming.
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