Cover dances first gained popularity online in Japan in March 2007, with many people posting videos of themselves performing the choreography for "
Hare Hare Yukai" (colloquially referred to as the "Haruhi dance"), the ending theme song to the 2006 anime adaptation of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.[3] This later grew to include cover dances of
Berryz Kobo and other Japanese
idol singers and groups.[3] Cover dance videos created through
MikuMikuDance were also associated with the category.[4] It became established as a genre known as odottemita (踊ってみた,
lit. "I tried dancing") on video-sharing websites, named after the search keyword on the video-sharing website
Niconico.[4] People who performed cover dances were known as odorite (踊り手). Notable odorite who later became idols themselves include
Kozue Aikawa [
ja] from
Danceroid and
Dempagumi.inc,[5]Beckii Cruel,[6] and
Keekihime.[7]
Impact
Cover dance videos on YouTube get tens of thousands of views,[2] with groups like Chocomint HK becoming
viral sensations.[8][9]
A worldwide phenomenon,[1] Paris has become a hub for recording these videos, and has a K-pop dance academy.[10]
^
ab"決定版!絶対見るべきニコニコ動画2011【ダンス&MMD編】" [Decisive version! Videos you should watch on Nico Nico Douga in 2011 (Dance and MikuMikuDance version)]. ASCII Media Works (in Japanese). 2011-12-28.
Archived from the original on 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
^""可愛いにもほどがある!"英ネットアイドルのベッキー・クルーエルが初のテレビ出演!" ["She has so much cuteness!" British net idol Beckii Cruel makes her first television appearance!]. Oricon (in Japanese). 2010-01-05.
Archived from the original on 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2023-07-10.