"Work It Out" Emote (Fortnite)

About

Work It Out is an emote on Fortnite based on dance choreography from the 1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship Opening. The emote was released on the Item Shop in 2018 and has been made available several times since. In late 2023, the "Work It Out" dance became notably popular as a meme on TikTok, including in videos using the phrasal template, "Fortnite dance if X," with X being something the dancer desires.

Origin

On August 13th, 2018, Fortnite added the "Work It Out" emote to the Item Shop.^[1] The emote is a dance based on choreography from the 1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship Opening, which was uploaded to YouTube^[2] on April 4th, 2010, garnering over 13 million views in 13 years (shown below, left). On September 26th, 2018, YouTuber^[3] Fort Stats posted a video showcasing the emote, garnering over 40,000 views in five years (shown below, right).

Spread

2023 TikTok Popularity

On July 11th, 2022, TikToker^[4] @nickpommefritz posted a video of the Ivy Fortnite skin doing the emote. The video's original sound became increasingly popular throughout 2023, inspiring over 58,000 uses under the original sound by November 2023. The majority of the videos feature users doing the dance under comedic captions. For example, on November 6th, TikToker^[5] @ktkm.maya posted a video doing the dance that gained over 11 million views in 10 days (shown below, left). On November 9th, TikToker^[6] @tyvenchyy posted a video that gained over 37 million views in a week (shown below, right).

Some TikTokers started doing the dance under captions using the phrasal template, "Do a Fortnite dance if X." On November 14th, YouTuber^[7] cutetiktok posted a compilation of these videos, garnering around 1,000 views in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References