TikTok is obsessed with this mysterious dancing man and I am too

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been distracted. Unable to concentrate at work or focus on simple tasks. When I close my eyes in bed at night, all I can think of is him.Like hundreds of others around the world, my TikTok feed has recently been inundated with short video clips of a mysterious man dancing to old disco songs by the Euro-Caribbean group Boney M. The man is tall, suave, and immaculately dressed. He looks as good in all black as he does in colourful tones. His jet black hair is shoulder length, often cinched at the back of his skull to form a flowing and untamed half-ponytail.The man appears to be a professional dancer, or perhaps a trainer of some sort. In the videos, he’s typically shown leading a large group of other adults in a sort of line dance. The choreography in these clips is not particularly difficult, but it’s within the clean simplicity of the movement that our man displays his true skill.Like Neo at the end of the first Matrix film — when, upon realizing he is the One, Neo defeats the Agents with his fighting skills — our man moves with sublime effortlessness and poise, as if embodied by a supreme spirit. His footwork is crisp, his hips sway like a metronome, and he moves his arms with just a dash of flair. Perhaps most significantly, our man never breaks a smile or even grins during his rhythmic movements — he appears completely stoic, like a mystical sage from ancient Greece. The effect is hypnotic and wondrous. I know I am not alone.Who is this man, and how did he end up all over my “For You” page on TikTok?I did a bit of a deep dive into bowels of TikTok to try to discover a name or a location, but came up short on details. I reached out to a representative at TikTok Canada, but received no response. Here’s what we know On TikTok, the clips are being posted by a user named Lý Nga @ngaly3622. Lý Nga has shared hundreds of videos, and has more than half a million followers. The videos collectively have 13.5 million likes, and at least three of these TikToks have been viewed more than 10 million times. It is unclear whether this user is creating this content, or lifting it from elsewhere. The man does appear to have a partner and a young daughter, who sometimes appear in the videos. The user Lý Nga uses Vietnamese hashtags, along with English ones like #everydayhappiness. Many of the comments on the early videos appear to be Vietnamese. However, commenters have pointed out signs and other landmarks in the videos, saying the man appears to be in China. Lindsay Dodgson, a reporter with Insider and a fellow obsessive, spotted a licence plate in one of the clips that begins with the prefix 渝F, which is registered in the following areas: Wanzhou District, Liangping County, Chengkou County, Wushan County, Wuxi County, Zhong County, Kaizhou District, Fengjie County, Yunyang County. The man has legions of fans on TikTok, but perhaps none bigger than a user named @lorimattson338, who often is first to comment on his videos, referring to the dancer as “my angel,” “my perfect man,” and other terms of endearment. Lori has become something of a viral celebrity herself — some TikTokers have adopted her voice in the comments, while others will race to comment before Lori does. Some have taken to referring to the dancer as “Lori’s man.”Here’s what we don’t know Is the man a dance instructor? Or simply a dance enthusiast? How does he have so many clothing options? Why are so many of these videos soundtracked by Boney M., and specifically the song “Ma Baker,” which topped charts in Germany in 1977? Where did he learn to move like that? When will I finally get tired of watching him?Richie Assaly is a Toronto-based digital producer for the Star. Reach him via email: rassaly@thestar.ca