About

Myanmar Coup Dance Instructor Videos is a series of viral exercise videos of Myanmar resident Khing Hnin Wai leading an exercise routine during the Myanmar coup in February 2021. The video inspired a series of remix videos.

Origin

On November 20th, 2020, exercise instructor Khing Hnin Wai posted her video instruction before the Yaza Htarni Road that leads to Myanmar's parliament building in Nyapyidaw. The post received more than 570 reactions and 100 comments in less than one year (shown below).

On February 1st, 2021, Khing Hnin Wai posted a video of herself leading a dance exercise instruction class as the 2021 Myanmar coup takes place behind her to the remix of the song "Ampun Bang Jago" by Tian Storm and Ever Slkr.^[1] In the video, Khing Hnin Wai dances in a surgical mask as a series of black military vehicles speed behind her. Within two days, the video received more than 68,000 reactions, 21,000 shares and 3,700 comments (shown below).

Spread

That day, Twitter user @VonKoutli tweeted the video. Within two days, the video received more than 17 million views, 212,000 likes and 70,000 retweets in less than two days (shown below).

Additionally, Redditor not-my-account shared the video in the /r/memeeconomy^[2] subreddit, where it received more than 31,000 points (94% upvoted) and 960 comments in less than two days.

Una mujer hizo su clase de aerobic sin darse cuenta de que estaban dando el golpe de Estado en Myanmar. Y pues puede verse como el convoy de militares llega al parlamento. pic.twitter.com/fmFUzhawRe

— Àngel Marrades (@VonKoutli) February 1, 2021

The video inspired a series of memes, including remixes and image macros. On February 1st, Instagram user @flipkostic shared a slowed-down version of the clip. The post received more than 6,200 views and 1,300 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). The following day, Instagram^[3] user @introverxt posted an object labeling meme featuring a screenshot from the video (shown below, right).

In response to the video, Khing said that she was not trying to "mock or ridicule" the coup. She wrote, "I wasn't dancing to mock or ridicule any organization or to be silly. I was dancing for a fitness dance competition. As it isn't uncommon for Nay Pyi Taw to have an official convoy, I thought it was normal so I continued."

Several media outlets covered the story, including BBC,^[4] LA Times,^[5] Newsweek,^[6] The Guardian^[7] and more.

Various Examples

the myanmar coup aerobics video slowed down and set to enya – "Only Time" (Requested by @David_Rudnick) pic.twitter.com/1LboB279hl

— Oswellian Nightmare (@_MichaelOswell_) February 1, 2021

Search Interest

Not available.

External References