--- description: A recently discovered video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing in college was actually inspired by a viral Internet trend. title: The Story Behind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Dancing Video image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte284ce5e1673ea38/698942a0ab6d7752d76b48d9/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's the Viral Internet Trend that Inspired that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Dancing Video  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 3, 2019 9:25 PM CUT  WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 03: Member elect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) talks to fellow members of Congress during the first session of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol January 03, 2019 in Washington, DC. Under the cloud of a partial federal government shutdown, Speaker designate Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will reclaim her former title as speaker and her fellow Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives for the second time in eight years. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 03: Member elect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) talks to fellow members of Congress during the first session of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol January 03, 2019 in Washington, DC. Under the cloud of a partial federal government shutdown, Speaker designate Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will reclaim her former title as speaker and her fellow Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives for the second time in eight years. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 3, 2019 9:25 PM CUT A recently rediscovered video featuring Democratic New York representative [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez](http://time.com/5456871/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-memes/ "undefined") dancing has gone viral after being posted by a Twitter user on Tuesday. In the video, which was made during Ocasio-Cortez’s time as a student at Boston University, the politician and other students dance to Phoenix’s undeniably catchy song, “Lisztomania,” in the style of the epic group dancing scene from _The Breakfast Club_. The video appears to be inspired by [a watershed remix video from 2009](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtE-xnPKj28 "undefined") that set clips from Brat Pack movies, including that memorable _Breakfast Club_ scene, to “Lisztomania,” which was then [recreated for a widespread YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1ywFh2AZLg "undefined") and presumably, many others, including Ocasio-Cortez and her Boston University peers. As might be expected the Internet had plenty of thoughts about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s dancing video and took to social media to sound off on the clip. While the Twitter user who shared the clip initially seemingly did so [to “expose” or shock Ocasio-Cortez and her supporters](https://theslot.jezebel.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-exposed-as-extremely-corny-in-1831466351 "undefined"), her supporters were charmed by the dancing video. See the full video and responses below. > [](https://twitter.com/mirandacgreen/status/1080912905988702208) > [](https://twitter.com/Nicole%5FCliffe/status/1080909707726938112) > [](https://twitter.com/xor/status/1080909782071066628) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/"},"headline":"Here's the Viral Internet Trend that Inspired that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Dancing Video","datePublished":"2019-01-03T21:25:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:41.473Z","description":"Here's what you need to know","url":"https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte284ce5e1673ea38/698942a0ab6d7752d76b48d9/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte284ce5e1673ea38/698942a0ab6d7752d76b48d9/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"House Of Representatives Convenes For First Session Of 2019 To Elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) As Speaker Of The House","caption":"House Of Representatives Convenes For First Session Of 2019 To Elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) As Speaker Of The House","creditText":"Win McNamee—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/","name":"Here's the Viral Internet Trend that Inspired that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Dancing Video"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Pulled Off the Biggest Upset of 2018","description":"In the biggest upset of the 2018 elections so far, the chair of the House Democratic caucus lost his primary race on Tuesday to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old activist who rode an insurgent campaign to an unlikely victory.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/4EBaH0mm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-06-27T14:04:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4EBaH0mm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/","duration":"PT2M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```