Ever wish you had a time machine? Well, some parents are proving the '80s aren't that far away — through dance.
The decade's music and signature dance moves are being celebrated in a new TikTok trend, which has kids ask their parents to "dance like it's the '80s."
In the trend, kids play the 1984 track “Smalltown Boy” by the British pop band Bronski Beat and wait to see how their parents respond. "Muscle memory" took over, Leanne Lynn, 57, tells TODAY.com.
Tabatha Lynn's video of her mom, Leanne Lynn, dancing for the challenge has reached over 8 million videos.
The Michigan-based mother-daughter duo was shocked to see the huge reaction Leanne Lynn's dance moves inspired. Tabatha Lynn, 30, called the video an “early Mother’s Day celebration.”
After seeing the trend on TikTok, Tabatha Lynne thought it was the perfect challenge since her “parents always played '80s music around the house," and she knew her mom "had rhythm" thanks to wedding dance floors.
Leanne Lynne, a retired hair salon owner, says she’s “always loved to dance and always loved '80s music.”
So when her daughter asked her to do the trend, it just felt “natural." Both appreciate that dancing back then was more relaxed and “carefree,” compared to popular choreographed TikTok routines.
As for whether the trend brought them closer together? “Yes, if even possible," Tabatha Lynne says. It’s been an ongoing “topic of conversation in the family text group,” she says.
Valerie Martinez, 23, says she has a new "appreciation" for her mom, Yeane Velaquez, 58, after seeing response their own viral video garnered.
She was moved by the “heartwarming comments” from people “saying they wish they could do this trend with their parents or that it reminds them of their parents.”
“This made us appreciate having each other a lot more and now I’m going to be posting more of my mom because people absolutely adore here!” Martinez says.
That said, she was “definitely not surprised" by her mom’s moves since her dancing is “just another day for them.
“I knew when I asked her to do the trend she would kill it on the spot,” she continues.
Velasquez says remembering the dance moves was "as easy as riding a bike." She felt “transported immediately" when she heard the song's opening notes.
Is the trend's magic about watching kids discover their parents' hidden talent — or '80s nostalgia? Perhaps both, father-daughter duo Vanessa Antonacci, 29, and John Antonacci, 57, say. The Montreal-based family's video has racked up almost half a million views.
The 80s “was an era of introduction of what’s to come,” Antonacci says.
From the “change in fashion” to the “rock bands of the world," Antonacci says the '80s was a “transitional” time for his generation, which has made it so unique and important today for even younger generations.
Vanessa Antonacci says growing up listening to bands like Guns N’ Roses in the car with her dad “really played a role” in her musical taste today.
The same can be said for Suzanne Nepi, an actor based out of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, who made a video of her own. The '80s fell into her "fun years," she says.
Her daughter, Mary Nepi, said it shows in her mom's video. She "committed," she says.
“The robot is for sure one of her go-to moves, but I’ve never seen her slay so many 80s moves back to back. Definitely was channeling her nightclub 'Maniac' days," Mary Nepi says.
Mary Nepi says the trend brought her mom closer together, reminding her that “at some point all of our parents were just crazy kids dancing their heart out and having fun.”
