To the ever-growing list of TikTok stars the coronavirus pandemic has introduced us to, add one more name: Ricky Pond.
The American father, who is winning over the internet with his slick dance moves, has seen his social media following explode in the past few months. And thanks to his new-found affinity for performing to Bollywood songs, they've also earned him a dedicated fan base halfway around the world in India.
Pond, a graphic designer who lives in Washington with his wife and four children, has garnered more than 200,000 followers on TikTok with 3.1 million likes, as well as 187,000 followers on Instagram.
Not bad, he says, for something that started out of sheer boredom.
"We posted our first video in March 2020. The kids were home because their school was closed and we were all bored," Pond tells The National.
“Once we got going and I started dancing, the kids thought it was just a phase and that I’d be done within a week or two. Then, people started following and I kept making videos.
"My whole intent was to embarrass the kids. Every dance they told me not to do was the one I was going to do," he says, laughing. His children have since come on board, though.
Pond started off with songs from the 1980s and 1990s, then moved on to Somalian, Ethiopian and Arabic dabke songs, upon which his viewers count began to rise.
"We went from 600 to 4,000 and then 31,000 views in a matter of weeks," says Pond's son Dallin, 15, who, along with sister Audrey, 18, helped to set up their dad's TikTok account.
“We first picked the songs depending on how popular they were. And then as we got more following, we got more requests and we started doing those.” Audrey and Dallin regularly feature in their dad’s videos, as, occasionally, does their mother, Roxane, and younger sister, Emma, 12. Their oldest brother, Gareth, 20, is currently travelling for work purposes.
Three months ago, after following through on a request that the family do a Bollywood song, they saw their follower numbers rocket. “Someone sent us a YouTube link and we picked a section and just copied it. We didn’t understand a word and just danced to the beats. And the reaction was crazy,” recalls Pond.
Because TikTok is banned in India, fans requested the family post their videos on Instagram.
"We went from 600 followers to more than 90,000 in four weeks," says Pond. "Every night, I was doing a different dance from India because there were so many requests. There's a list now as long as my arm."
The Ponds have not seen a Bollywood film and couldn't name a favourite Hindi song or movie star.
“We just follow the beat and we are yet to come across a Bollywood song that doesn’t have a good beat,” says Pond, 47, who now calls himself ‘Dancing Dad’.
The family now has a "quasi manager" in India.
“He contacted me and said he wanted to show us how to post, how to tag our videos and which songs to pick. I was a little nervous at first, but we got on the phone and had a good conversation and decided to work together,” says Pond.
Audrey says: "It's nice because he knows what's popular right now and he knows the songs instead of us having to blindly pick random songs. He knows what people are going to like."
While Pond has only made about $300 through gifts from fans on TikTok, he says he's open to taking advantage of his newfound fame, although he's not quite sure yet how to.
"If the opportunity arose, it will be foolish of me not to take advantage," he says. "A lot of my fans think Bollywood will be calling soon. If they did, I would definitely jump on it."
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
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