Forget spelling words like “gesellschaft” — the real feat of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee was the contestants’ skillful application of viral dance moves.
The spellers used their platform on Thursday to not only show off their knowledge of the English language, but also to demonstrate that they could hit the dab and complete the running man challenge.
The dab was an obvious way to celebrate victory after spelling something correctly — and as this roundup shows, many of these kids’ dabs could put Cam Newton to shame.
Contestants also couldn’t resist the charms of the running man challenge, with some spellers breaking out in dance both on-stage and around Washington D.C. to the dulcet tones of Ghost Town DJ’s.
We’re all winners when this is what the National Spelling Bee looks like.
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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com