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Do you feel yourself start to move just reading \u201cbrrr-ah<\/em> bah bah-BAH\u201d? In addition to conveying quality and tone, these sounds are often meant to transfer energy from the speaker\u2019s body to the dancer\u2019s body, eliciting a heightened performance. \u201cEven after everybody knows the choreo, I\u2019m still making a lot of noise, because it\u2019s motivational,\u201d Bankhead said.<\/p>\n When working on a music video for the pop singer Normani, he noticed the makeup artist recording his voice as he riffed and hollered. \u201cShe said, \u2018Sean, this is going to be my alarm sound in the morning now,\u2019\u201d Bankhead said, \u201c\u2018because I feel so hyped up when I listen to it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n That motivational aspect plays an important role in dance training environments. O\u2019Neal, a jazz dance teacher at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, was known to his students as a gifted vocal hype artist well before his catchphrase \u201c5, 6, believe in yourself\u201d became internet famous last fall<\/a>. A variation on the classic \u201c5, 6, 7, 8\u201d count-in that \u201chad just been coming out naturally,\u201d O\u2019Neal said, it opens a video in which he coaches and cheers a young pupil through a class routine. The viral clip earned the approval of everyone from Amy Poehler<\/a> to Jennifer Lopez<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always made sounds and bops, and while it is about the steps, it\u2019s also about creating a positive environment for these kids,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. In a classroom full of young dancers, he approaches vocalization with a bit more care: He said he deliberately mixes noises, counts and step names \u2014 \u201cand a prep, hup! Double-double, deet-DEET da-da-da-da\u201d \u2014 to reflect students\u2019 varied learning styles.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to help them come into their best confident selves, and that sounds different for different dancers,\u201d he said. After his video took off online, \u201cI had this moment of, wait \u2014 I guess I\u2019m a motivational speaker!\u201d<\/p>\n Non-dancers are scrolling around for motivation and inspiration, too, which might help explain why these clips have earned fans well beyond the dance world. And they offer an enticingly insider-y peek at the art form \u2014 a dancer\u2019s-eye (or ear) perspective. But O\u2019Neal thinks mainstream crowds love dancer sound effects for the same reason they love dance itself: Their wordless eloquence is a universal form of communication. \u201cYou may not know what it is, but you know<\/em> what it is,\u201d O\u2019Neal said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n