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Dance battle between Riverview student and teacher goes viral

A dance-off between a student and teacher at Sumner High School was seen by millions of people, inspiring many around the world.

RIVERVIEW, Fla. — It’s the viral dance battle now seen by millions across the globe.

“My dad woke me up and he was like, 'is this you?' Then he showed the phone, and then I looked at the views, and I didn't expect it to be that big,” Orian Person, the Sumner High School eighth grader who featured in the video, said.

The 38-second clip posted by the school's assistant principal spreaded like wildfire and now has over five million views on Twitter.

“I'm like, 'what is viral? I'm like, 'oh, it's at 50,000?' That's good. I love it. I wasn't thinking 5.4 million.” Eighth grade teacher Yolanda Turner said.

The video shows Turner and Person in an epic showdown.

“I was pretty shocked because I knew that she can dance good, but I didn't know that she can dance that good.” Person said.

The student and teacher said since that video has been posted, they’ve been getting messages from people from around the world, thanking them for that inspiring moment. They said they never could have imagine a little school day fun would lead to all this.

“I've had people send me inboxes from Africa. I had a lady call me from Wyoming, left a message on the assistant principal's phone just to say she just wanted to say thank you," Turner said.

A fun little moment between teacher and student, with a much bigger lesson

“I would encourage the educators to just really don't be afraid to let their hair down. I know it's cliché. Show a little vulnerability," Turner said. "Teaching is a commitment, and it's every day you have to recommit to doing it.”

Person said he's just grateful for his teacher getting involved.

“Not a lot of teachers do dance battles with their students. So it was really nice to see her engaging with me, and it was pretty fun. I really love her being here,” he said. 

The duo said no other dancers can challenge them into another battle because that's just how good they are.

"They're not going to be able to take us. I'm just being real," Turner said. "I'm coming with the vibe and the body rolls and the popping and locking so they can't handle the tag team and the dynamic duo.”

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