Evolution of Dance

Evolution of Dance is a solo dance medley built around sharp musical handoffs: its sequence runs from Elvis Presley's 1956 “Hound Dog” to Jay-Z's 2004 “Dirt Off Your Shoulder.” As the song excerpts change, Laipply changes dance moves, turning the contrast between eras into a visible chain of performance cues.

Laipply says he first conceived the routine in fall 2000 and made its first version in March 2001. He performed it for the first time on March 17, 2001, as a closing piece for his motivational-speaking shows; that early version lasted about two and a half minutes and included 12 songs.

Students later asked Laipply to post the full routine for sharing on MySpace. He says he chose YouTube as the easiest way to upload and embed a video, and posted a six-minute performance there on April 6, 2006. The YouTube listing identifies Laipply as its author and gives the same publication date.

Laipply recalls a sudden surge in the second week of May 2006: YouTube contacted him, and The Today Show was trying to reach him. He says television appearances and major live-performance opportunities followed. He also reports that the video held YouTube's most-viewed position for a little over three years and that he received a Guinness record for most-liked YouTube video in 2012.

The format branched beyond the original. Know Your Meme reports that Laipply released Evolution of Dance 2 on January 9, 2009, with music ranging from James Brown to Soulja Boy. It also reports a 2011 collaboration with ESPN and Wieden+Kennedy on Evolution of the Touchdown Dance, a football-themed adaptation.

A separate 2022 upload, Evolution of Dance 2.0 (Vik x Aubrey Edition), is explicitly described as a parody. Its description credits choreography and dance, music, announcing, and production as distinct roles; it is a later reworking, not Laipply's original video.

The live routine kept changing too. Laipply says that by spring 2024 it ran just under eight minutes, retained much of the original, and added songs and dance moves from the following two decades. He says a few parts, including the worm, had been cut.

Laipply's official site now advertises December 31, 2027, as the performance's retirement date, making the long-running stage routine's announced end its latest documented development.

The medley turns chronology into movement: a song switch resets the musical era, and Laipply's changing dance gives that shift a visible cue. The leap from “Hound Dog” to “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” makes the span immediately legible, while keeping it all inside one dance performance. That adaptable song-and-movement structure also gives sequels and spin-offs a clear template without requiring them to repeat the original set list.