A group of noisy spectators gathers in a public square and surrounds two young men facing each other with fierce eyes. The crowd points their phones at the pair as they alternate between short dances, rhythmic movements and striking poses.
This isn’t a scene from “Zoolander.” According to videos posted on TikTok and Instagram, spectators attend the Aura championship in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.
Tuesday’s event at the University of Costa Rica was one of many so-called “aura battles” that have begun in Latin American countries, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The contest appears to be designed for virality, with young contestants often demonstrating exaggerated versions of popular TikTok dances to the audience.
The point of this fight, with no clear standards, judges, or rules, seems to be outrageousness. Instead, contestants compete for crowd reaction, attracting attention, and sometimes winning small prizes.
Frederic Ruiz Aldama, a humanities professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told CNN that the phenomenon may have special appeal to young people in the region because of their culture of congregating in public places.
“These are definitely collective, public and person-to-person, because Latin America has a long history of gathering in squares, courtyards and parks,” Aldama explained.
It also provides a free, non-violent space for young people to seek human connection among their peers, and may reflect a desire to exist apart from technology, he said.
Aldama happened to witness one such “aura battle” in Mexico City’s Mexico Park.
“What I noticed was completely contrary to what I had been trained to think would be the winner: the person who did the higher intensity movements,” he said. “I realized that the people who won were the ones who brought a kind of aura, a glow of absolute and total calm.”
The precursor to this battle comes from the term “aura farming,” which has taken on new meaning online in recent years.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes “aura farming” as “the act of doing something to look cool, impressive, stylish, etc., especially and importantly, without trying too hard.”
According to Know Your Meme, the phrase first surfaced in early 2024 and has grown in popularity ever since. The following year, the piece reached an even wider audience through a viral video that showed an 11-year-old Indonesian boy named Rayan Alkan Dika dancing in front of a boat.
Dika, who has a steely temperament, is seen in the video standing at the very front of a thin boat and repeatedly performing a series of dance moves as a line of rowers moves down the river. The video quickly gained traction, with commenters and other social media users remarking on the high level of “aura” Dika possesses.
Since then, Dika has amassed thousands of followers on Instagram and was appointed tourism ambassador for her home province of Riau.
As his performances garnered millions of views, the term “aura farming” began to appear frequently on the internet, from video compilations praising anime characters to X posts praising athletes and celebrities.
“Aura Battles” are beginning to appear in public spaces in Latin American countries, often hosted by local content creators and designed to maximize virality. Videos of the contest have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on social media.
Brazilian content creator Victor Gabriel Tourinho Camargo, known as Uvicinho, has organized several tournaments in the city of Suzano.
More than 200 people participated, Uvicinho said. Video showed participants packed into the park, including one dressed as a sheikh carrying a briefcase full of Brazilian reals.
“The Aura Farming Championship was created with the focus of making what is popular on the internet real, mixing it with childhood play, and showing people and children through authentic moments that there is still hope for a more real life,” Uvicinho told CNN.
“There was a mix of shy, antisocial, and extroverted people…and in that moment, they all put all that aside and hung out together and made friends,” he added.
Mexican YouTuber Alex Crushers described his encounter with an aura battle in Mexico in a video shared this week. “I got excited every time someone pulled off a new trick, even if it seemed silly,” he said.
Cielo, the Argentine content creator known as Cieloween, helped organize the “Aura Battle” in Buenos Aires’ Chinatown, scheduled for this Saturday, after seeing a viral video of an earlier fight that took place in the coastal city of Mar del Plata a few days ago. “The concept of ‘aura farming’ has been around for a while, but now the competitive aspect is starting to expand,” she told CNN.
In many ways, this event resembles youth “battles” of the past, when contestants were equipped with Pokemon cards, Beyblades, or rap verses.
Cieloween explained that the movements exhibited by participants vary widely. “It depends on the person and what they want to show. Some are more serious, some are more humorous and funny. It depends on the person and the character they want to portray, because ultimately that person becomes the character,” she said.
Cieloween said she doesn’t know how many people will attend Saturday’s event, but the goal is to build community. “That’s what it’s all about: meeting people, being with people, connecting with people who have the same interests. Making friends, laughing. That’s what we’re all about,” she said.
But the showcase has some skeptics.
The fight at the University of Costa Rica attracted a lot of attention, with some viewers commenting on the video about the scene.
In the Brazilian city of Cuiaba, Mayor Abilio Brunini has banned such championships from being held in the city’s main public spaces. “I think people who participate in this game in the future will be very embarrassed,” he said.
Still, videos on social media showed people defiantly competing in front of City Hall in July.
Despite some ridicule, the competition has continued as participants embrace the absurdity and young people seek connection. “All these things that are thrown at them, going through lockdown, being separated from the so-called third space, the square, the theater of war, it’s no wonder it comes back like a storm,” Aldama, a professor at the University of Texas, told CNN.
He likens the criticism to the backlash faced by Australian breakdancer Ray Gunn, who was ridiculed for her controversial performance at the Olympics.
“Negative emotions are always present,” Aldama said. “But what I saw and experienced was working-class young people, especially from Latin America, coming together to celebrate something joyful.”
