What does Kicékéla mean, and what else is the Toc Toc dance called?
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Short answer
“Toc toc” is how French writes a knock. Kicékéla is the chorus question “who is there?” spelled the way it sounds at speed. You'll also see the Jean Phil dance, or the Toc Toc cat dance when a pet does it. The gag: knocking at a door that doesn't exist.
What the phrase says
Spoken French gives the chorus question “who is there?”, the thing you call out when somebody knocks. In the dance it is the dancer who knocks, at a door no one can see, while acting as if nothing is strange.
Other names you'll see
- Toc Toc dance: the everyday name, lifted from the French knocking sound.
- Kicékéla: the chorus question as it's said aloud, squeezed into one word.
- Jean Phil dance: one more name for the same dance.
- Toc Toc cat dance: what people call it when a cat does the moves.
- Toc Toc Dance AI: the AI take that you can make on this site.
Which sound goes with our video
We supply our own AI party beat with knock sounds, with no singing or speech. The original song isn't included. The sound guide explains how to add it in the app, and this site has no tie to the original posters.
Questions people ask
Where does that phrase originate, a film or a song?
It's from the chorus of a French party song that came out in 2015. None of the song is inside our video, only an AI-made party beat.
Are the Toc Toc cat dance and this trend the same thing?
Yes. Both names mean one dance, the hop, the knock and the freeze, performed by a person or by a cat.
Does “toc toc” simply translate to “knock knock”?
Yes. French writes a knock as “toc toc”, much as English writes “knock knock”.
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