When a video director calls, “Lights, camera, action,” Ciara only knows how to do one thing: Set it off with her impeccable dance moves. Her songs are already guaranteed to get crowds moving and grooving, but it is her knack for breaking it down in a one-of-a-kind way that has kept fans mesmerized and feeling confident enough to pull off her choreography for 21 years and counting.

Getting griddy is cool and all, but the entertainment powerhouse that is Ciara is not just creating dance moments to be forgotten by the next popular wave of moves. No, the singer, who landed on the music charts in 2004 with her freshman album Goodies, has a proven track record of adding 1, 2-steps to the ether that take on a life of their own.

She put social media in a chokehold when she dropped a snippet from the visual for her sexy single “Ecstasy.” When the full video rolled out, the multiplatinum record-selling artist did not cease to amaze fans when she bent the laws of physics. “Defy gravity with me... All you need is a foldable chair,” she teased, seeing as though a particular moment in the three-minute and 23-second experience became an instant hit.

Ciara pulled off an impressive balancing act on the folding chair, making the go-to seat for most functions as popular as it was during the Alabama Brawl in August 2023. So, it only makes sense to kick off a list of her best dance moments with the challenge that has almost everyone testing the limits of chairs.

1. “Ecstasy”

First off, the fact that she opens the video backlit with smoke surrounding her should have been a major foreshadowing clue that viewers were in for a treat. Her “body comes alive,” and onlookers got a hit of ecstasy when she body-rolled into the scene where her legs floated into the air, her hips pressed on the back of a folding chair, and her hands were placed on the seat. Needless to say, the internet was flooded with videos of those who have accepted the challenge to pull off the moves.

2. “Goodies” featuring Petey Pablo

She was new to the game, youthful, and limber when she debuted her signature back bend in the visual for her very first single, “Goodies.” Dressed in jeans and a bikini top covered by a white crop top, our girl unknowingly began a never-ending trend with that one dance move.

3. “Oh” featuring Ludacris

Ciara said it was gangstas that don’t know how to act on the Ludacris-assisted track “Oh,” but more than two decades of social media posts prove it was in fact the ladies with no chill. And why would they have any? The Princess of Crunk crawled on top of a classic whip, wound her hips, and twerked as her fellow ATLien delivered one of his meanest, ghetto harmonizing, candy-coated verses. Legend has it that cars still have roof dents because of fans who were inspired to recreate the singer’s dance moves.

4. “Ride” featuring Ludacris

Cici put on knee pads and a fitted “A” cap and let loose while rocking her hips up and down and in circles. True enough, her feet are firmly planted on the ground throughout the video, but there is no underscoring that her moves spawned a movement of riding the beat. Plus, her moment riding a mechanical bull brought out the cowgirl in plenty of women.

5. “Like a Boy”

The year was 2007, and Ciara played no games as she gave ladies permission to switch up the roles and tell men, “Can’t be getting mad, what you mad, can’t handle that?” The Grammy Award winner slowed down time when she took her back bend to new levels by balancing her weight on the sides of her feet, reaching out her arms, and summoning background dancers off of the floor. There is only one word to accurately describe the moment: iconic.

6. “Promise”

There is nothing a fan will not do to pay homage to the infamous mic lean that Ciara pulled off in the “Promise” video. Everything from broomsticks, mops, and PVC pipes have been used as props daring to bear the weight of a temptress challenging the principles of gravity. The seductive wall choreography the singer executes with her team of dancers is easily the predecessor to TikTok’s viral ongoing wall twerk to Lil Wayne and Drake’s “She Will.”