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Memes

The blue sweatpants girl who nailed the TikTok Tyla dance

Did she do it even better than Tyla? You decide.

Photo of Lindsey Weedston

Lindsey Weedston

Three split of woman dancing

The Blue Sweatpants Girl is a young woman who went viral on TikTok for her exemplary performance of the Tyla Dance. The 11-second video features the TikToker in the light blue sweatpants she was named after doing this dance to the song Pop Like This Pt. 2 (Slowed) by CPK Shawn well enough that she appears to be floating across the camera.

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@laurasophiasotopr

tratando el bailesito de tyla 🕺

♬ som original – ciel

The video received over 83.5 million views and 11.4 million likes in nine days.

Who is the blue sweatpants girl?

Three split of woman dancing
@laurasophiasotopr/Tiktok
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The dancing TikToker known as the blue sweatpants girl goes by Laura Sophia on her account. She resides in Puerto Rico and frequently posts videos showing off her dancing skills, often in casual outfits that include sweatpants or leggings. She also enjoys her hobbies of painting and surfing, though she claims she is not so skilled at the latter.

In videos posted in both Spanish and English after her dancing video went viral, she explains that she does not know how she pulled off the effect with the Tyla dance. However, she does her best to show how she moves her feet in rhythm with her hips, sliding them along the floor in a circular motion to smoothly scoot across the floor.

@laurasophiasotopr introducing myselfff 💁‍♀️ Laura Sophia #fyp #puertorico #grwm #tyla ♬ original sound – laura sophia

With her feet cut off in the viral video’s shot, this movement creates the illusion that she’s floating or gliding sideways as she dances.

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She concludes the video by promising to block anyone’s boyfriend on social media upon request.

Blue sweatpants girl video origins and the Tyla dance

The viral video was posted to TikTok on June 9, 2024. In addition to Sophia’s origins in Puerto Rico, the footage and the resulting fervor can be credited to the Tyla Dance. Tyla, full name Tyla Laura Seethal, is a South African singer-songwriter who first performed this dance on stage at a concert in 2024.

On May 28, Tyla posted a TikTok video of herself dancing on stage to her song “Jump.”

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@tyla_ Was an opener last year, and i was SWINGINGGGGG #tylaedit ♬ Jump – Tyla & Gunna & Skillibeng

Days before this post, on May 17, TikToker @gelogelada posted a slowed and stylized edit of this same clip, gaining around 81 million views within a month. By the second week of June, other TikTok users were posting videos of themselves attempting to pull off the Tyla dance.

@theyloveelala Im not even mad at it tbh😂😂 #fyp #tyla #foryou ♬ som original – ciel

The blue sweatpants girl is currently considered the best example of a Tyla dance attempt on TikTok.

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Spread and TikTok edits

Within a couple of days of Sophia’s Tyla dance post, fellow TikTok users began to repost her video calling her “blue sweatpants girl,” with some opining that she danced better than Tyla. This inevitably set off some discourse as people wondered if Sophia’s popularity was more about her appearance — specifically her lighter skin tone — than her skill.

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@uzzlangthe_soft/TikTok

Meanwhile, other TikTokers began to make edited versions of the blue sweatpants girl video. The account @editzxx.cupcut posted one on June 14 that blurred out Sophia’s face until the beat dropped on the track from the original video. Some even dressed up as Sophia in order to attempt the dance themselves.

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@editzxx.cupcut BUTTER ✨🎧#edit #dance @laurasophiasotopr ♬ Tyla l little dance – Shee^

These imitation and comparison videos referencing “blue sweatpants girl” soon became a TikTok trend.

Examples

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@goldenserenity_/TikTok
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@goldenserenity_/TikTok
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@goldenserenity_/TikTok
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@carollinewick/TikTok
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@carollinewick/TikTok
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@carollinewick/TikTok
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@carlyhymz/video/TikTok
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