Ed People Travels the World Learning Traditional Dances, From Sōran Bushi to the Haka

Since 2021, Belgian former DJ and music producer Edouard Jacqmin — known online as Ed People — has circled the globe asking strangers to demonstrate their favorite dance moves, filming the encounters for TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. His videos document him picking up local footwork on the spot, from the traditional Japanese sea shanty dance Sōran Bushi in Japan to Štrikanje, a folk style resembling a crab kick, taught to him by young men in Serbia. In New Zealand he learned the Haka, the ceremonial dance of the Indigenous Māori people. A TikTok clip shows Jacqmin absorbing signature moves from people of Nigerian, Congolese, Angolan and other backgrounds, reflecting how African traditional dances stay rooted in their regions of origin. Beyond those stops, he has danced through Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East, learning from locals he meets in the street. By his account he has picked up hundreds of traditional dance moves over the years. The videos underline the diversity of dance styles worldwide while capturing a shared thread: the pleasure dancing generates among strangers. Jacqmin's accounts, @edpeople on TikTok and ed.people on Instagram, host the ongoing series.