The viral dance from season one of Wednesday was choreographed by actress Jenna Ortega, who played the titular character, and it quickly took over TikTok and most other social media platforms with a video feature. Now, Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva has made the dance even more famous by putting it on ice.
The 16-year-old athlete was competing in the Russian Figure Skating Championships, and she was embodying the spirit of Wednesday Addams when she performed for the judges. She was dressed in Wednesday’s style as well, wearing her hair in dark pigtails and clad in a ruffled black dress reminiscent of Wednesday’s look at her school dance at Nevermore Academy. She also skated to the same song, The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck,” mixed with Lady Gaga’s ”Bloody Mary.” The latter song is popular on TikTok for Ortega’s choreography.
Valieva took home the silver medal in the senior championships, but she never broke character, even when being handed a bouquet of roses after her performance: she didn’t smile once.
Ortega was interviewed on Still Watching Netflix, about how she choreographed the dance, and her fears about sharing it worldwide on the streaming service. While she worked very hard on it, dancing isn’t her top skill.
“I actually felt really insecure about this,” she admitted. “I choreographed that myself and I think it’s very obvious that I’m not a dancer or choreographer.”
She said something similar on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, explaining at first she was psyched but when it was time to actually do the dance, she was very nervous.
“I was kicking myself. I felt like such a fool, I was like, ‘I’m not a dancer,’” she said. “And then on the day I thought, ‘Alright, well, let’s just see what happens.’”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.