Aura farming dance battles spread from Lima across Latin America

Dozens of young people gathered recently on a beach in Lima to dance, pose and show off creative moves in “aura battle” competitions that have spread across Latin America. The real-world contests are rooted in the internet trend known as aura farming, and they are now drawing teenagers and adults in cities from Mexico City to Buenos Aires.

Competitors dress as characters from comic books or animated films and perform before a crowd that cheers them on. The loudest applause advances a competitor to the next round. One participant dressed as Spider-Man performed forward rolls and push ups as techno music played. Another hopped on one leg while kicking the other forward in a move that resembled a video game animation.

“Aura farming is about letting your essence flow in a place where people are watching you, but where there is no shame,” said Liam González, a 20-year-old film student who attended dressed as the movie character Shrek.

Gonzalo Cornelio, 19, came dressed as former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, wearing a grey tracksuit like the one worn by the deposed leader the night he was captured by the U.S. military.

The trend first emerged in Brazil and spread through social media. Like video game characters who farm for points, participants are trying to earn a reward , in this case, good vibes and an improved “aura,” a term some spiritual traditions use to describe an energy field surrounding people.

“It’s not about being popular,” said María Paula Martínez, a professor in the arts faculty at Colombia’s Los Andes University. “It’s about showing off good vibes, and having others recognize that.”

Fernando Lícito, a 25-year-old Peruvian content creator, said he saw a video in June of an aura farming contest in Brazil and decided to bring the idea to Peru. He has organized three aura battles there. In the contests, participants do not touch each other or trade insults, Lícito said. “They are simply farming their aura,” he said. “And whoever gets the crowd to make more noise wins.”

Some participants imitate soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal celebration, extending their arms downward and making a sound like “siuu.” Others repeat the words “six, seven” while moving their hands.

Aura battles have reached Mexico City, Quito, Buenos Aires and, in Spain, Madrid, Burgos and Zaragoza. In Buenos Aires, dozens staged a battle in front of the Obelisk, one of the most iconic monuments in the Argentine capital.

Martínez said the concept has moved beyond the digital world into physical spaces, enabling teenagers to socialize.

Some events have met resistance. In Lima’s Miraflores district, officials cancelled an aura farming event, saying organizers had not obtained the permits required to hold it in a public space. In July, the mayor of Cuiaba, a city in southwestern Brazil, denied permits for an aura tournament, arguing it was not in the public’s interest. The event was transferred to a university campus. In Costa Rica, the ministry of education banned aura battles in public schools, arguing they could create conflicts between students or disrupt learning.

In Mexico, the education minister embraced the trend, posting a video in which he smiles and says he is “farming good education” as the country prepares for the new school year.

González, the Shrek-costumed participant, said the hobby gives him a way to have fun and express himself, even if his grandmother doesn’t understand it and thinks it is silly. “We were born in a different era,” he said.