With a nod to the “You got served” hip-hop dance battle craze of two decades ago, kids and young adults in Mexico have begun to stage “aura farming” battles in public squares across the country.
What the heck is aura farming, you ask? Fair question …
Aura farming is a viral internet slang trend that describes doing intentional, effortless things to look confident or charismatic. Gen Alpha and Gen Z use the term to describe doing something to improve your “vibe,” your style or your perceived social status, without seeming like you’re trying too hard.
It even warrants a definition in Merriam-Webster: “the act of doing something to look cool, impressive, stylish, etc., especially — and importantly — without trying too hard.”
The concept grew on TikTok and Instagram, combining the video game concept of “farming” (carrying out repetitive actions for points), before dancing was attached to it, eventually evolving into physical “aura battles” in parks and streets across Latin America.
In Mexico City, three notorious aura farming battles took place last week: on Friday at the esplanade of the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City; on Saturday at the Monument to the Revolution; and on Sunday in the Condesa neighborhood (where there was even a prize of 3,000 pesos, or US $177).
The craze has reached beyond the capital, too.
Aura battles have recently been staged in Juárez Park in Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz, and children as young as six years old participated in a competition in Torreón, Coahuila.
The “battles” attract massive crowds who watch participants compete symbolically with poses, dances, gestures and meme references to demonstrate who has more “aura.”
A winner is determined by crowd reaction (the volume of cheers, applause, laughter) and by the general impact made during the face-off. Essentially, the social presence displayed is “scored” like an imaginary video game.
Unfortunately, the events also have their detractors. The municipal council of Ignacio de la Llave, Veracruz, officially prohibited aura battles in public parks, arguing that it was not due to the theme or content of the competition, but rather “a strict matter of administrative procedures and regulations for public spaces.”
CNN traces the origin of aura farming to 2024 and said it gained international attention last year through viral videos of 11-year-old Indonesian Rayyan Arkan Dikha dancing at the front of a boat in a traditional rowing competition. Social media users commented on the high levels of “aura” the boy possessed and it took off from there.
The trend has become particularly popular in Latin America: A “championship” was staged at the University of Costa Rica in San Juan on Aug. 18 and several tournaments were organized in São Paulo, Brazil, this summer.
With reports from CNN, LatinUS, Infobae and Telediario
