Dance contest lets kids show emotion
Staff writer
Saturday marked the opening of the first ever Fortnite emoting dance challenge at the 2025 Chingawassa festival.
Fortnite, released in 2017, became hugely popular during the coronavirus pandemic.
The video game brought together players of all ages to battle in a cartoonized world, inspiring Halloween costumes and new slang among young people.
Saturday, however, it seemed as if the game was drawing attention only from kids ages 6 to 10.
When asked why teens and preteens were not participating in the dance-off, 13-year-old Eli Groening said, “Fortnite’s dead.”
Will Holand nodded in agreement.
Still, a crowd began to gather as the competition gained momentum Saturday.
Eight Marion Elementary students filed onto stage and were introduced by Adam Heerey.
Heerey was in charge of a series of Chingawassa competitions, including the Fortnite challenge and a paper airplane competition.
“The committee comes up with three new competitions each year, and this year they landed on this,” Heerey said.
Three winners earned 2,800 V-Bucks each.
V-Bucks are an in-game currency used to buy different skins, emotes, and battle passes.
Battle passes allow players to earn game rewards, new character designs, and more V-Bucks for the next season’s battle passes.
Overall, the competition cost around $70 to stage.
Regardless of Fortnite falling out of favor with one generation, it appeared as if the next had picked it back up.
Competitors’ nervous energy could be felt off the stage. As the kids continued to dance, the crowd felt their energy shift, kids gaining confidence with each dance move.
Even if the older parents had no idea what these “emotes” were, they continued to cheer and support.
What next year’s three new events will hold is a mystery, but this year’s competition allowed kids to feel comfortable with a nonjudgmental crowd. The building of courage may open future doors.