Singaporean content creators face backlash after prank on dancers at SCAPE
Recently, a duo of Singaporean content creators received backlash after pranking a group of dancers at SCAPE.
Many netizens criticised the creators for disrupting the dancers during their practice, while other dance creators chimed in to voice their disapproval.
Pranking a group of dancers at SCAPE
In a video posted on TikTok by Excuse Me Singapore on 8 Sept, the prank is part of the “HOST vs HOST” challenge, where the loser has to listen to the winner’s instructions.
Source: @excuse.me.singapo on TikTok
After determining the winner, the creators headed to an area in SCAPE and spotted a group of dancers practising their routine.
Through earphones, the male host instructs the female host who lost to go up to the dancers and scream “stop the music”.
Source: @excuse.me.singapo on TikTok
While initially hesitant, the female host follows the instructions, leaving the dancers looking confused.
The male host tells the female host to challenge them, asking her to sing ‘Baby Shark’ and dance.
The female host does not follow suit but starts doing the “scuba” move instead.
Host starts to ‘beg’ the dancers
Although light-hearted at first, some dancers looked visibly annoyed.
The female host then asks if she could join them, to which the group said “no”.
“Go down on your knees and say ‘please’,” the male host said.
Source: @excuse.me.singapo on TikTok
“I just want to join you guys for dancing,” the female host explained.
Despite her pleas, the dancers continued rejecting her request as they looked around helplessly.
Reveals it is a prank, but dancers were not happy
To end the prank, the male host tells the female host to leave by saying: “You guys are so lame for me anyways”.
Although she did not complete the sentence verbatim, the female host awkwardly leaves the group in exasperation.
At the end of the video, the hosts returned to the group, revealing that it was all a prank.
While some dancers laughed in response, not everyone had the same sentiment.
One of the members revealed that the practice was one of their final trials, and one of the dancers was “very angry already”.
The hosts apologised for the inconvenience and wished the dancers all the best for training.
Source: @excuse.me.singapo on TikTok
Netizens say prank is ‘in poor taste’
In the comments section, netizens were very unhappy with the “prank”, criticising the creators’ poor taste in humour.
Most netizens told the hosts to “read the room” before conducting the prank.
Source: TikTok
Some questioned the video being uploaded despite the dancers’ annoyance.
Source: TikTok
Local dance creators speak up on ‘prank’
Apart from netizens, local dance creators on social media also spoke up about the “prank”, telling the hosts to never set foot in SCAPE again.
Notable Singaporean choreographers such as Ahmad Kamil also criticised the creators and hope that they can improve from the feedback.
Source: Instagram
A fellow dancer, Zelle, comments on the situation in a video posted on her TikTok page, asking people to “take dancers seriously and respect [their] spaces”.
In an exclusive interview with MS News, Zelle said she was angry over how the duo had disrespected dancers in their own space.
She said that by posting the video online, they also showed the world that “it’s okay or easy to harass dancers in a public space”.
@zelleee.mp4 (Update: the *hosts* have responded in a combined apology on Skyla’s account, but the video is yet to be taken down) I am genuinely angry that they chose to make content out of this when dancers already fighting to be taken seriously in Singapore, now you’re interrupting sessions that take a lot of logistical planning to arrange and limited time to execute? The language, even if it was scripted is disrespectful, causing unwanted stress for what? entertainment? #sgtiktok #singapore
As part of the local dance community, Zelle told MS News that she frequently visits SCAPE for dance training.
She said that SCAPE is not only a space for people to gather, but also a place where dancing is not merely tolerated, but actively encouraged.
Later in the video, Zelle explains that “dancers fight so hard to get taken seriously in Singapore” and it is rare to find dedicated spaces for dancing.
“It is not uncommon for public spaces to restrict its usage from dancers, ” Zelle told MS News.
“But there are spaces in Singapore that have started to finally recognise that dancers need spaces and have found ways to mitigate.”
Worries that the prank may lead to future harassment
Zelle further elaborated that dancing in Singapore can be seen as disruptive, with dancers at risk of being kicked out of public spaces.
This makes SCAPE an important safe space for dancers, as the centre provides dedicated areas where they can safely rehearse.
Source: SCAPE Singapore
Even then, Zelle noted that organising a full-strength rehearsal can be challenging due to scheduling conflicts. As a result, every rehearsal is precious to the dancers.
However, she feels that the “prank” could make dancers look like “an easy target for harassment”.
She said: “To people it’s fun, to us it is work that you need to dedicate yourself to.”
It might be this crew just this time, but what if someone sees this and thinks it’s okay to harass another crew?
Hosts apologised to dancers publicly
The two hosts have publicly apologised to the dance crew on their personal TikTok accounts.
According to the two, they reportedly did not have access and control over the main content account.
MS News has reached out to Excuse Me Singapore for further information.
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Featured image adapted from @excuse.me.singapo on TikTok and SCAPE Singapore.