6 Times Taylor Swift's Cringey Dance Moves Were On Display At Award Shows

If the expression "dance like nobody's watching" were a person, it would most certainly be Taylor Swift. The pop superstar brought her customary enthusiastic, yet uncoordinated, dance moves to the 2025 Grammy Awards. Swift, wearing a deep red Vivienne Westwood sparkly mini that seemed to honor boyfriend Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs colors, was seen throughout the ceremony singing along and wildly dancing to various performances. At one point during the ceremony, she grabbed the black jacket that singer Janelle Monáe flung off during her performance and wore it for the remainder of the show. Another moment saw her dancing and twirling with Alicia Keys' adorable son Genesis.

Now Taylor what the hell are you doing 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Ln6Zo5cNtX

— Ichigo Niggasake (@SomaKazima) February 3, 2025

However, the moment that caught many fans and viewers' attention and garnered a flurry of online reaction was Swift celebrating Kendrick Lamar's win for Record of the Year. As the rapper made his way to the stage to accept the award, his winning song, "Not Like Us," played in the arena, and Swift could be seen singing and dancing along. However, her moves left some confused. One X user commented, "Now Taylor what the hell are you doing." Many others echoed the sentiment, as Swift was seen awkwardly bending her legs and leaning over to the song's beat. However, at this point, cringey dance moves at award shows are as synonymous with Swift as her amazing songwriting.

At the 2013 CMT Awards, country group Florida Georgia Line performed their hit song "Cruise" with rapper Nelly. Taylor Swift was a fan of the song, as evidenced by her enthusiastic response in the audience. Swift, dressed in a flowy, nude-colored Ellie Saab gown fit for a ballerina, appeared to take the look literally. In between dramatic hand-smashing gestures, she twirled and shimmied, at one point seemingly doing a full pointe foot move.

It was almost as if Swift couldn't decide if she was going for hip-hop-style dancing or contemporary ballet. Her hand gestures were so dramatic that at one point they gave the impression of her directing an aircraft on the ground. Perhaps the cringiest part of Swift's dancing was how no one else in her row matched her enthusiasm. She tried to coax her brother Austin, who was seated next to her, a few times, but the most he was willing to do was a slight shoulder shimmy.

Taylor Swift has been a not-so-secret fan of Kendrick Lamar for years. In a 2014 profile interview with Rolling Stone, the singer singled out Lamar's hit song "Backseat Freestyle" as her "go-to jam." Later that year, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she praised the song again and said she wished she was best friends with the celebrated rapper. The two would later famously collaborate on the song "Bad Blood" off Swift's phenomenal hit album "1989."

All this to say that it was no surprise when Swift was one of the most excited audience members during Lamar's epic performance with Imagine Dragons at the 2014 Grammy Awards. As always, what Swift lacked in dance skills, she made up with enthusiasm. She dramatically waved her hand around, awkwardly dipped her body low, and shimmied her hips, sometimes off-beat, as Lamar and Imagine Dragons delivered a high-energy, intense performance. Luckily, the performance itself garnered so many rave reviews the next day that most forgot about Swift's embarrassing dancing throughout.

The "1989" era of Taylor Swift was all about her girl squad. And nowhere was that more evident than at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, where she walked the red carpet with many of her female friends at the time. They included current superstar in her own right, Zendaya, who would spark rumors of drama with Swift one year later by seemingly demonstrating her support for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West when they were feuding with the "thank You aimEe" singer. But the two women were still on good terms at the 2015 BBMAs, where Swift danced and sang along to many of her peers' songs, including Hozier's spirited performance of "Take Me To Church." However, her cringiest audience dance moment came after Nicki Minaj took the stage.

Dressed in a white Balmain jumpsuit, Swift attempted to grind and swivel her hips to the beat, but the result was an ungainly and clumsy mess. It was made worse by her dancing right next to Zendaya, whose dance moves were smooth and on beat. As always, Swift was committed and did not lack excitement. She dramatically flipped her hair, engaged with those next to her, applauded, and loudly sang along. It's just unfortunate her dance skills didn't match her enthusiasm level.

Like she did at the 2025 Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift did not let losing dampen her excitement and enjoyment of the 2015 Grammy Awards. Swift, who was nominated for three awards that night for her smash hit song, "Shake It Off," literally "shook off" her losses and excitedly sang and danced along to numerous performances. Unfortunately, her enthusiasm might have been too much for one artist.

During a particularly spirited Swift dance moment, eagle-eyed viewers noticed mega-producer Pharrell Williams, who was sitting behind Swift, side-eying her and looking less than impressed. The moment quickly went viral. One user wrote on the now-defunct Vine (via Us Weekly), "Pharrell judging Tay so hard." Perhaps Williams found Swift's overly dramatic hand movements during Madonna's performance distracting. However, Swift appeared completely oblivious to Williams' reaction, and to her credit, later danced just as enthusiastically and awkwardly to the latter's performance of his hit song, "Happy".

It is safe to say that Taylor Swift had a blast at the 2023 VMA Awards. Swift, who took home an impressive nine awards at the ceremony, enthusiastically danced and sang along with her fellow entertainers' hits all night. Some might say it was a little too enthusiastic. During various performances, Swift clumsily ground her hips, twirled her hair, awkwardly stopped to pose while singing along, stuck her tongue out, and seemingly screamed louder than anyone else. Her cringiest moments came when she mimed dribbling a basketball during Demi Lovato's "Heart Attack" performance (this was particularly surprising to some considering Swift and Lovato's history) and when she was really feeling herself during Lil Wayne's performance of his hit song "A Milli." Her attempted flirty moves left much to be desired. 

Taylor Swift vibing to "A Milli" by Lil Wayne at the #VMAs 😭😭pic.twitter.com/2l4dmhuk06

— XXL Magazine (@XXL) September 13, 2023

The movements and reactions were so over-the-top and ungainly that it eventually led to viewers wondering if Swift was drunk. It probably didn't help that she often had a drink in her hand throughout the night. One poster wrote on X, "Name a better love story than taylor and her drink," with a short clip of Swift swaying to a performance with a drink in hand. Another wrote, "Nothing i love more than award show taylor with her silly little drink in her hand," in response to a clip of Swift cheering, holding her drink high up in the air, and fanning herself, clearly heated from all her dancing. As always, Swift got points for being the most excited audience member.