A Durango High School student’s dance moves caught the attention of Denver and Albuquerque TV stations this week after a video of the performance went viral.
Adam Kalk, a sophomore with Down syndrome, performed “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” in the high school talent show Jan. 31 with the girls varsity basketball team. The routine was captured by a member of the high school staff in a Facebook video. By Sunday night, the video had been seen about 50,000 times, said Adam’s father, Bryan Kalk.
Adam has no formal dance training, but music has been a therapy outlet for him since he was about 5, Kalk said.
Adam watches music videos online and then imitates the timing and moves of the performers, he said.
“He is basically self-taught, and that’s the coolest part,” Kalk said.
The first time Adam saw himself on TV, he was fixated by it, he said.
“He was like: ‘Hey, what am I doing on there,’” Kalk recalled.
Since then, Adam, who is nonverbal, has been excited to share news stories about the performance with his classmates, his father said.
The online momentum of the video has continued to build, attracting more than 550,000 views as of Wednesday. Kalk said he expected the video to hit 1 million views in part because it has been so well received by social media users who say it brightens their day.
Herald Staff