He danced in the airport and missed his flight. Then he inspired a TikTok travel trend

Story by Francesca Street, CNN. Video by Gustavo Villalonga, David Yim, Channon Hodge and Phil Clarke Hill, CNN

(CNN) — A shoe hurled into the air. A traveler pirouetting and somersaulting through the departure gate. The voice of Celine Dion reverberating across the terminal.

It’s not a scene you often come across at the airport — or at least, it didn’t used to be.

But on social media at least, dancing at an airport has become the travel trend du jour, with travelers across the world spinning through baggage claim, whirling through terminals and rolling through airport gates, garnering millions of online views in the process.

‘Slayed this TikTok but missed my flight’

It all began last fall, when dancer and choreographer Blake McGrath was waiting for a flight at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas.

McGrath recalled the one time his friend filmed himself dancing at the airport. Suddenly inspired, McGrath decided to take to his feet and “roll out on my suitcase and throw off my shoe and do some turns.”

McGrath had the ideal soundtrack in mind: Celine Dion’s track “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” It’s the perfect choice, says McGrath, because this is “a dramatic, lyrical song that everybody knows.”

The resulting 21-second video (filmed by McGrath’s assistant) shows the dancer rolling into view on his wheelie suitcase, neck pillow attached. He throws off his sneaker in order to pirouette multiple times, before dramatically rolling around on the floor as Dion’s 1996 power ballad crescendos.

“The freestyle took over, and I kind of started jumping and flipping and flying,” McGrath tells CNN Travel now.

McGrath debated posting the video to TikTok and Instagram right away, but then his assistant looked at the time and cautioned they should get to their gate.

“So we run to our gate, and they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, it just closed. The flight’s left,’” recalls McGrath.

This was not the ideal outcome. But when McGrath eventually posted the dance to TikTok, he aptly titled the video: “Slayed this Tiktok but missed my flight,” with the caption, “Was it worth it????”

The internet voted a resounding “yes” — McGrath’s airport dancing video started gaining traction right away.

Cut to today and the video’s been viewed 6.7 million times and counting. The dance has become McGrath’s signature, and he’s replicated the moves — with a few twists here and there – at other airports on multiple occasions.

McGrath’s also sparked a slew of copycat videos, with dancers across the globe blasting Celine Dion as they twirl their way through the terminal. McGrath, who runs a mentorship project called the Blake McGrath Mentorship Program, is particularly pleased when he sees kids embracing the trend. He even helped one young dancer by retrieving her shoe.

He’s got an as-yet-unannounced airline partnership in the pipeline. Airports across the globe regularly comment on McGrath’s viral videos, encouraging him to come and dance at their airport — including Amsterdam Schipol Airport, where an official commented on one of his TikTok posts, saying, “Sooo, when are you travelling to Amsterdam?”

That’s despite the fact the dancer isn’t necessarily following airport etiquette during the dance — he leaves his suitcase unattended in order to continue the routine.

A spokesperson from Amsterdam Schipol Airport told CNN Travel the airport’s staff members “appreciate the positivity and creativity” shared by McGrath.

“He is always welcome at Schiphol,” said the Amsterdam spokesperson of McGrath. “As for other travelers, they are always welcome to dance a little at our airport, too!”

The unofficial airport dance anthem remains “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” (Celine Dion reposted the original video — something McGrath thought was “really cool”) though McGrath’s also experimented with other soundtracks for his routine, including “Run to You” by Whitney Houston.

McGrath can’t quite believe how the trend’s grown and the way it’s been embraced online.

“It has just has sparked so much joy all around the world, which is really cool,” he says.

And while lots of people have followed in McGrath’s footsteps, he’s reassured that — so far — he hasn’t heard of anyone else missing their flight as a result.

“I think people are more time-sensitive than I am,” says McGrath. “That’s not one of my gifts. I usually leave things right to the last minute.”

‘Sparked so much joy’

So why exactly has the airport dancing trend taken off on TikTok?

Perhaps it’s the impressive dance skills on show. Or the until-now-untapped viral potential of Celine Dion’s power ballad. Or just the contrast between the mundanity of the airport and the theatrics of the dance — while the videos garner millions of views online, travelers in the background of McGrath’s videos usually don’t bat an eyelid at his pirouettes. Most don’t even look up from their cell phones.

While the whole shoe-throwing moment might look like a hazard-in-the-making for airport goers, McGrath stresses that safety is key and he remains conscious of his fellow travelers and his surroundings throughout his performance.

“I always use my peripheral vision,” McGrath says. “I have done, at this point, probably 50 airport videos and recordings … And I have never once gotten close to hitting or kicking anybody.”

McGrath doesn’t ask for permission or warn people before he starts dancing, but he says he’ll always respect others’ privacy and perspective. If anyone asks him to stop, he’d halt the moves right away.

On the flip side, sometimes fellow travelers are totally engrossed in his routine — and even take the time to applaud afterwards. On one occasion, at Tulsa International Airport in Oklahoma, McGrath was awarded with a standing ovation.

For McGrath and his fellow airport dancers, some of the joy of the trend lies in the unpredictability of the airport environment.

Take TikTok user Taylor Hamm’s airport dancing video, for example, in which a nonplussed airport janitor directly walks through her frame. This moment was “totally unexpected,” Hamm tells CNN Travel.

Hamm was at San Antonio International Airport in Texas at 6 a.m. when she decided to hit play on “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and got twirling. She was traveling with friends who cheered her on, and recorded the moment.

“There was a stewardess walking by and she was like, ‘It is six in the morning, like, what are you doing?’” recalls Hamm, laughing.

Hamm suggests that for social media users, the appeal of the trend lies partly in the potential risk factor of dancers being so vulnerable and expressive in public. Hamm sums up the thoughts some people must have: “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe they’re doing that in front of all these people.”

But dancers, points out Hamm, “like to have an audience.” Being performative in public is “just in our nature.”

It’s the same reason why she didn’t bat an eyelid about rolling around on the airport floor; that’s “just a dance thing,” she says. On TikTok, she says, “Everybody was mentioning the germs.”

“I know airports are, like, known to be not the cleanest, but honestly, dance floors are probably not that much cleaner,” says Hamm.

For a professional dancer like Hamm, the main appeal of the trend stems from embracing McGrath’s choreography.

“The turns and the jumps and the flips … it’s a fun challenge for us as dancers to try these turns and tricks,” she explains.

A trend for everyone

If McGrath’s airport dance is a “challenge” for trained dancers, you might assume it’d be off limits for the non-dancers of the world.

But you’d be wrong. The trend’s been embraced by people the world over — including those armed only with a love of movement and a lack of embarrassment.

Take photographer and non-dancer Saindy Pyles, who recently took to her feet at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

Pyles had spent weeks admiring airport dances on her TikTok feed, and when she arrived at the airport she hoped she might catch a dancer in the wild.

“I think it’s the skill I really love,” she tells CNN Travel. “And at the airport, why not? I mean, everybody’s just so go, go, go, go. So it’s really cool just to sit there and kind of watch them have a little bit of fun before their next flight.”

Pyles’ goal that day at Hartsfield-Jackson International was “catching the shoe of someone doing the dance.”

But when she arrived at the gate, there was no sign of any sneakers flying through the air. No sound of Celine Dion. Pyles was undeterred.

“Since I really didn’t see anything, I’m like, ‘Let me do one,’” she recalls. “So, I had my husband video me. He did not know what I was trying to get him to do, and he was slightly embarrassed, honestly.”

Pyles shrugged off her husband’s discomfort. She loved every moment of the experience.

“I was excited that I was doing it,” she says. “It definitely brought me joy. I love to dance… doing it at the airport was new, definitely new, but it was fun. I loved it.”

‘Dance like nobody’s watching’

For Pyles, the airport dance trend is a reminder to “slow down and take in the scene a little bit” even in the often stressful environment of the airport.

“That’s what it says to me,” she says. “Slow down, enjoy the moments, and have a little bit of fun and dance like nobody’s watching.”

Hamm agrees with this take. She’s prone to flight anxiety and found dancing at the airport helped ease her nerves.

“Dancing and getting a little movement at the beginning of your day always makes it better,” she says. “It just makes it a little more unserious.”

As for McGrath, he hopes the trend encourages all of us to “be kids when we feel like it.” He’s happy that spontaneous airport dancing has become his unlikely signature.

“I think there’s enough negative stuff in the world going on that, if I can use my gift to spark a trend and create joy and let people feel light and love, that’s kind of my purpose,” McGrath says. “So I’m gonna keep rolling on the suitcase for a little while longer.”

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