He filmed a TikTok dance at the airport and missed his flight: This is how the new viral trend started

Whiling away the hours waiting for a flight in an uncomfortable airport departure lounge isn’t most people’s idea of fun. But one restless passenger found a novel way of keeping himself entertained - without staring at a mobile phone screen.

Arabesques in the airport

Blake McGrath, a Canadian professional dancer and choreographer, got itchy feet while hanging around at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas late last year. With a sudden burst of inspiration , he decided to “roll out on my suitcase and throw off my shoe and do some turns.” His short dance routine was filmed by his assistant, then uploaded onto TikTok, where it went viral.

McGrath told CNN. “People love to see me dancing in public, so I was like, what a better way to do it in an airport. I picked the dramatic, lyrical song that everybody knows - Celine Dion of course. And so we watched it back and I was like, ‘Wow, this is really good, let’s post it up’“.

There was just one slight snag. Caught up in his impromptu dance routine, Blake didn’t hear the last boarding call announcement for his flight. “[My assistant] said, ‘Let’s get to our gate first’. So we run to our gate and they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, it just closed. The flight’s left,’ hahaha!!"

Lost in music, missed flight, viral video

Stranded and forced to buy another ticket and wait even longer to complete his journey. Blake uploaded the video on social media where he told followers all about his escapade: “Slayed this Tiktok but missed my flight,” with the caption, “Was it worth it????” he captioned the video.

Fortunately, it was. “Within 20 to 30 minutes, it had had 100,000 plays,” he explained.

His video has since gained 6.7 million views so far on TikTok and he has inadvertently started a global trend, with other dancers, professional and amateur, following his lead by performing and filming their own dance moves to relieve the boredom of the departure lounge. It’s all in good fun - just be mindful that speedy boarding hasn’t started while you are pulling off a few pirouettes.

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