With rising concerns about the impact of screen time and AI on mental health, the trends are fighting back (or at least trying to). The appearance of the “Analog Trend” and the “Analog Bag” and the escapism of 80s and 90s aesthetics are the current “It” activities for some, but for others, it’s about reclaiming their lives.
People are rejecting the artificial, and more specifically, things that make them feel artificial. The “Vacation You” trend—collages and video posts that featured a newly discovered personality when posters detached themselves from the content cycle—of the last couple of years highlighted a harsh reality: when the screen is off, many people don’t know what they like. Skipping through the algorithm to absorb 20 seconds of laughs or one outfit idea after the next isn’t cutting it anymore. If we can’t make decisions without searching TikTok for “fun activities to do with friends” or “What should I eat today?”, what do we know about ourselves?
As a response to this, the Analog Trend has the right idea. Detach from screens by removing screens from the equation. Go outside. Add physical media to daily life by rediscovering it on your own. No more Top 10 or must-have lists, just genuine discovery.
Unfortunately, the rise of the Analog Trend is also its downfall. When the trend took off, people began to question the intentions of the influencers who suddenly seemed to care so much about it. YouTuber Levi Hildebrand called The Analog Trend “ironic” in his video “The Analog Trend Already FAILED.” Hildebrand shared he wants the trend to succeed, but instead of reflecting on going analog, the trend is about shopping and aesthetics. Following along as someone visits Target to build a bag full of colorful pens, trinkets, and nostalgia-fueled activities keeps us online, which is exactly what we’re trying to avoid.
Dancers know analog. The dance bag is a classic Analog Bag. It is full of equipment, personal momentos, boredom busters, and personality. (Though dance bags are not immune to the spending-driven “What’s in My—” videos plaguing the analog trend.) Dance is a real-world, physical activity. It’s analog at its finest.
But dancers are not immune to the pitfalls of digital overload. In the dance world, scrolling can be the death of creativity. If we are lost in the hype of TikTok dance trends and choreography recreation, we prioritize joining trendy conversations over starting our own. Technique can be lost here—putting invisible walls around movements to make them fit in a vertical video—but it can also be a loss of expression. If a dancer can perform on stage and score high, but they can’t find rhythms and movement on their own, if they can compete, but they can’t create, are they dancers?
You might wonder how dance could possibly be at risk in the digital age. How could a centuries-old art form lose the things that make it personal and special? Content creator Katie Steckly compared Analog Trend backlash to the rise and then critique of thrifting trends. She noted that the more mainstream, and more specifically digital, love there is for something, the more room there is to “do it wrong.” Overexposure pulls people away from the original purpose of the trend, and then no one gets to enjoy it. “If you love something, don’t let it go viral.”
Going analog in dance is still about disconnecting to maintain the self—or even to find it. For some dancers, this means relearning what it means to work out of the studio, to move and fail and find the music on a personal level. It might mean forgetting that dances can go viral, avoiding the bad habits that come with TikTok dances, like over-referencing trends and gestures that avoid interpretation by being over-the-top and showy. “Analog dance” could avoid the hype that comes with superfluous tricks and hit songs. Really, it means disconnecting dance from algorithms that love music and prioritize movement.
So no, you don’t need to toss a portable CD player into your dance bag to feel authentic, but you might need to evaluate where your time goes. We strive for dance that represents us. If going analog is about being grounded and personal, then we need to move with our own voices first. Build rough drafts in the studio. Find music in unexpected places. Go analog to reclaim your life and the dances that are about more than showing off.
