If you’ve ever been stuck waiting for your jungler to gank top lane or holding position near the dragon pit after a won teamfight, you’ve probably wondered how do you dance in League of Legends to pass the time. Dancing and other emotes are a low-stakes, fun way to show off your personality, tease opponents gently, or celebrate a big play with your team without typing a single word. Most players only know the basic dance command, but there are tons of hidden tricks, champion-specific animations, and unwritten etiquette rules to follow if you don’t want to accidentally tilt your teammates or start a rivalry with the enemy mid laner. This guide breaks down everything you need to know to pull off the perfect dance every time, no matter what champion you’re playing or what rank you’re in.
How Do You Dance in League of Legends: Basic Commands for Every Platform
The core dance command is far simpler than most new players expect, and it works across PC, Mac, and even console versions of the game. By default, all you have to do is type /dance into the in-game chat bar and hit enter, and your champion will immediately start their unique dance animation. You can also bind the dance command to a custom hotkey in your settings menu if you don’t want to stop moving to type in the middle of a match. That’s a game-changer if you like to dance while rotating between lanes or waiting for minion waves to crash. If you’re playing on console, you can access the emote wheel by holding down the down directional pad, then select the dance icon to trigger the animation without typing at all. Keep in mind that these commands only work when your champion is stationary or moving at a slow walk – if you’re dashing, recalling, or casting an ability, the dance animation will be interrupted immediately.
You don’t have to own any special skins or pay for premium content to access dance animations, either. Every champion comes with a default dance, and most skins have unique, skin-specific dance moves that change depending on the theme. For example, Pool Party Syndicate has a completely different dance than base Syndra, and the animation fits the silly, summer vibe of the skin line perfectly. If you want to preview a champion’s dance before you buy them or their skin, you can test it out in the practice tool or on the champion selection screen by clicking the emote button under their portrait.
Champion-Specific Dance Easter Eggs You Might Have Missed
Not all dance animations are created equal, and Riot Games has hidden dozens of fun easter eggs in champion dance moves over the years. Some dances are based on iconic viral videos, movie scenes, or celebrity performances that only long-time fans will recognize, and a few even have hidden trigger conditions that most players never find. For example, K/DA Akali has a special extended dance animation that plays if you trigger her dance three times in a row without moving, and it includes a short clip of her signature rap verse from the Pop/Stars music video. Gnar has completely different dance animations for his small and big forms, so you’ll get a silly, bouncy dance when he’s in mini form and a more aggressive, stomping dance when he’s enraged. Even newer champions like Milio have hidden dance details: if you stand next to an allied Lillia while dancing, the two champions will sync up their movements for a short, coordinated routine.
Some of the most beloved hidden dance easter eggs include:
Unwritten Dance Etiquette to Avoid Tilting Your Teammates
Dancing is supposed to be fun, but there’s a fine line between playful banter and rude behavior that can make your teammates or opponents angry. A lot of players make the mistake of dancing at the wrong time, and it can cost you the match if your team gets tilted enough to stop playing collaboratively. The first rule of thumb is never dance while your team is losing a fight. If your jungler just got ganked and killed at scuttle crab, dancing in the middle of the lane while they’re waiting to respawn will come off as mocking, not playful. You also don’t want to spam dance nonstop during the laning phase, because the constant animation can be distracting for players who are trying to focus on last hitting minions or tracking enemy cooldowns.
It’s also considered bad manners to dance directly on top of an enemy player’s corpse right after you kill them, especially in ranked matches. A little celebratory dance after a won teamfight is fine, but rubbing a kill in an opponent’s face can lead to them targeting you for the rest of the match, which is never fun for anyone on your team. I once made the mistake of dancing on a Darius main’s corpse in a silver ranked game, and he proceeded to camp my top lane for 15 minutes straight, even when it meant his own team lost three dragons in a row. It’s not worth the hassle, no matter how satisfying the kill was. If you’re playing with friends you can bend these rules a little, but if you’re matched with random teammates, it’s best to err on the side of caution until you get a feel for their sense of humor.
How to Customize Your Dance Experience for More Fun
The basic dance command is fun on its own, but there are tons of ways to customize your emote setup to make your dances feel more personal and fit your playstyle. First, you can buy or earn special emotes from the in-game store, event passes, or loot boxes that you can bind to your emote wheel to use alongside your champion’s default dance. These emotes range from silly meme references to champion-specific animations, and you can swap them out whenever you want to match your mood or the champion you’re playing. You can also bind dance and other emotes to side mouse buttons if you have a gaming mouse, so you can trigger them in a split second without taking your hand off your keyboard or stopping your movement. That’s perfect for celebrating a clean skill shot or a successful gank without missing a beat.
If you want to take your dance game to the next level, you can even coordinate with your teammates to pick champions with matching dance animations for normals or ARAM matches. For example, all the K/DA members have synced dance moves that look incredible when you trigger them at the same time after a won teamfight. My friends and I once ran an all-K/DA team in a normal draft, and we spent more time coordinating our post-fight dances than we did actually taking objectives, but it was still one of the most fun matches I’ve ever played. Just don’t get so caught up in planning your coordinated dance that you forget to actually play the match and take objectives. A win always feels better than a perfect dance routine, even if the routine goes viral in your friend group.
At the end of the day, League of Legends is supposed to be fun, and learning how do you dance in League of Legends is one of the easiest ways to add a little extra joy to every match, even when you’re stuck in a brutal ranked climb. You don’t need any special skins or premium content to pull off great dances, just a basic understanding of the commands, a little knowledge of champion easter eggs, and a healthy dose of respect for your teammates and opponents. Next time you’re waiting for your minion wave to spawn or celebrating a won Baron fight, give the dance command a try – you might be surprised how much it lightens the mood for everyone on your team.