Ice Twerking Digest — Issue #1: The donkeys that broke the internet

There is a very specific kind of video that the internet cannot stop sharing: three costumed donkeys on ice skates, backing it up to the beat of "Surface Pressure" while a crowd of children and stunned adults screams in delight. If you have scrolled TikTok or Instagram in the past year and a half, you have almost certainly seen it. Welcome to ice twerking.

This first issue maps the trend from its Disney On Ice origin through the wave of fan-filmed clips, creator reactions, and the quiet secondary scene of actual skaters who saw the moment and thought: hold my blade.

The origin: Luisa's donkeys steal the show

Disney On Ice presents Frozen & Encanto introduced the scene that set everything off. During the "Surface Pressure" number, three performers in full-body donkey costumes skate out as backup dancers for Luisa, Encanto's powerhouse older sister. Their choreography includes hip gyrations that, when filmed from a certain angle, look unmistakably like a twerk — on ice. 1

Disney's own website describes the moment plainly: "The donkeys and their hilarious dance moves steal the show when they join fan-favorite Luisa during 'Surface Pressure.'" 1 The company knows exactly what it has on its hands, and it leans in — Disney On Ice's official Facebook page posted the clip with the caption "Drop a 🕺 and tag a bestie in the comments if you're ready for the weekend!" 2

The show has been touring continuously. The 2023 Frozen & Encanto production that introduced the donkey routine has since been followed by Disney On Ice presents Jump In! (2025), which keeps several Encanto numbers and the donkey act. Fan footage from Raleigh, NC in 2025 and Milwaukee in early 2026 confirms the routine is still in rotation. 3

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How the clips spread

The fan-recording pipeline has been consistent: parents film the donkey segment on their phones, upload to TikTok or Instagram Reels, and the algorithm does the rest. The hashtag #twerkingdonkeys on TikTok aggregates dozens of clips. The title format has stabilized — "Twerking Donkeys? Lol the best scene from Disney on Ice" is a near-verbatim title that appears across multiple independent uploads. 4

A few data points from this research cycle:

@livinlavidalyndsay posted a clip from the Raleigh 2025 show captioned "Disney on Ice 2025: Fun with Donkeys in Raleigh, NC" — it has circulated widely across TikTok's Encanto parent community.
@kellykhoumani posted one of the earlier clips noting "I feel like disney added the donkeys to her part cause if not for the little funny bits everyone would be balling at the song" — a comment that landed because it is true. 5
@ginnymiranda_ reposted the bit in 2025 under the description "Experience Disney on Ice showcasing enchanting performances with delightful donkeys." 6
Instagram Reel DOW198wkkdJ (captioned "Dancing Donkeys? Dancing Donkeys on ice skates!? ⛸️ No pressure!") circulated through the parent-lifestyle corner of the app. 7

The comment section pattern is worth noting: adult humor about the twerking co-exists with kids genuinely excited about the donkeys. The crossover is the joke and the appeal. Nobody is offended; parents are, if anything, delighted at how weird it is.

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Adjacent scene: real skaters picking it up

The Disney donkeys are the center of gravity, but around them a looser scene has formed of actual skaters doing dance moves — including twerk-adjacent hip moves — on ice.

A TikTok from @iskate_solo shows a skater executing hip-drop moves on skates, with a comment on the video reading "Twerking on skates is a talent for sure!" (639 likes on that comment alone as of research). 8

On the competitive skating side, the ISU Figure Skating official Facebook account posted a video from the EuroFigure warm-up captioned "We guess the Ice Dancers out-danced the TikTok trend in their warm-up 👀 #EuroFigure #FigureSkating" — competitive ice dancers doing the viral floor dance trend on skates, apparently for fun before their event. 9

That two-sentence caption from the governing body of figure skating tells you the crossover is no longer just a fan thing.

What makes this trend stick

A few things push this past a one-week moment:

The source material keeps touring. Disney On Ice runs year-round across dozens of cities. As long as the donkey routine stays in the set list — and it has for three years — new fans keep filming it for the first time. Every city gets its own wave.

The absurdity-to-wholesome ratio is perfect. A children's ice show accidentally producing a twerk number is funny precisely because it is an accident that Disney then owned. There is no edge to the content; it is safe to share with your mom, your kids, and your group chat simultaneously.

Skate culture was already receptive. Roller skating TikTok has been a significant subculture since 2020. Ice skating videos — particularly ones mixing street dance energy with figure skating technique — have a ready audience that skews young and dance-literate.

The next phase to watch: dedicated creators who are building skating + dance content libraries around this crossover, and whether Disney On Ice's next production keeps or expands the bit.

Sources verified June 2026. All linked clips were publicly accessible at time of research.

Ice Twerking Digest — Issue #1: The donkeys that broke the internet

The origin: Luisa's donkeys steal the show

How the clips spread

Adjacent scene: real skaters picking it up

What makes this trend stick

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