TikTok concept boogies over to TV in ‘Dancing With Myself ’
The core of TikTok is folks doing little choreographed dances: moms and daughters, teenage friends, professionals, random folks in the kitchen.
Shakira, the popular Latin pop star with hits like “Whenever, Wherever” and “Hips Don’t Lie,” decided to turn that concept into a reality competition show called “Dancing With Myself,” which is airing Tuesdays on NBC.
Each episode starts with 12 contestants who have to quickly learn a sequence of choreographed moves from Shakira and others. They are then each placed in their own dance pod and make their moves all at the same time on a huge stage in front of a live audience. The top eight vote-getters from the audience move forward. Then the judges — Shakira, singer Nick Jonas and YouTube star Liza Koshy — do saves.
After multiple rounds, one person is eventually crowned a winner. Each episode stands alone.
The criteria, said host Camille Kostek in an interview, isn’t necessarily accurate aping of the dance steps. Instead, it’s how well the dancer can entertain. Largely these are not professional dancers but just folks from all walks of life.
“Some people pick up the choreography better than others,” said Kostek, who has also hosted “Wipeout” on TBS. “Some forget it and just freestyle and still move on.”
Kostek said working with Shakira, 45, who has been in the business for more than 30 years and has a raft of crossover hits, has been a joy. “The fan girl in me came out from the beginning,” she said. “I grew up watching her videos. Now folks can get to shake their hips like Shakira.”
She said the best moment for her was when Shakira complimented her outfit. “I told the stylist to keep those clothes,” she said. “She has such an impactful style. You’ll have to check out all her looks on stage throughout the show.”
Kostek, a former professional cheerleader classically trained in tap, jazz and hip-hop dance, actually gets to do some choreography and create some of her own dances.
“Dance is such a beautiful escape,” Kostek said, “whether I’m dealing with a break up or dealing with anxiety. That’s how it is with a lot of people on the show. It’s such a universal language to follow body language. It brings people together.”
She plans to share videos of people replicating the dances from the show on social media, which would be a full circle moment since the entire premise of the show came from TikTok.
“I wanted to capture the language of social media, what’s going on in social media, and how people like to express themselves right now,” Shakira told the Nerds of Color. “The idea of this show came from the pandemic when people were in their living rooms, dancing, and coming up with ideas and choreography.”
Dance, she noted, is “one of the oldest rituals of human social life. We had doctors, we had construction workers, people in the military, and dentists, lots of dentists dancing, you would never know. It was a lot of fun. Also kids — kids competing against adults.”