2013 / Video / Thirty-second jump-cut dance format
The Harlem Shake
One person in a helmet. A bass drop. Then the entire room loses its mind.
The original is off-site. HAHrchives preserves the story and a route back to it.
What happened
For fifteen seconds, one person danced alone while everyone else ignored them. At the bass drop, the scene cut to a full-room explosion of props, bodies, and inexplicable commitment. The template was simple enough for anyone with a phone and a few friends.
Where it came from
The viral video format grew from YouTuber George Miller’s Filthy Frank sketches and a highly imitated follow-up by TheSunnyCoastSkate. The Baauer track supplied the drop; creators supplied the costumes, jump cut, and sudden chaos.
Why it mattered
This was one of the last great single-format YouTube takeovers: short, communal, and instantly legible without a caption. Its name is also a reminder that the meme was not the original Harlem dance; the internet borrowed the label while making a very different kind of movement.
How it spread
Harlem Shake videos flooded YouTube in February 2013—from offices, dorms, teams, military units, and institutions that had clearly been waiting for an excuse to wear a horse mask at work. The participatory wave also pushed the song up the charts.
Keep going
The same corner of the internet
A horse-riding dance turned a Korean pop video into the whole internet’s choreography.
A Norwegian comedy duo asked a perfectly normal animal question and answered it with noises nobody needed.
Look at your man. Now back at me. Now look at the internet trying to keep up.
I have a pen. I have an apple. Uh! Apple-pen.