People have been utterly astounded by a dancer’s ambiguous moves in a viral video, with opinions divided over which direction she is actually spinning.
Optical illusions are an amusing, addictive phenomena that can set off intense debates, as individual perception and interpretation of visual stimuli vary widely.
A particularly entrancing video circulating online shows three ballerina figurines executing a pirouette – an elegant turn on one foot characteristic of classical ballet, performed either on the ball of the foot or en pointe – yet they seem to be rotating in conflicting directions. Text superimposed on the clip asks viewers to discern if the central figure is spinning left or right.
The popular TikTok profile @mister_illusions, boasting some 2.9 million followers, released this mind-boggling video, sparking a heated argument among social media users. There was no consensus on whether the middle ballerina was twirling to the right or the left; some spectators were certain her rotation shifted throughout the video.
One viewer exclaimed: “The video is not consistent. it changes every second. Don’t @ me!” While another mused: “This is a Minde illusion actually. If I start looking at the left girl it starts spinning to the left and if I start looking at the right one it starts [spinning to the right].”
Someone else remarked: “It switched mid video.”
Disagreeing, one viewer exclaimed: “It’s not switching!! It always turns right!!”
Another was adamant the centre dancer favoured one direction, stating: “It’s only right idk [I don’t know] what y’all are talking about”, while somebody offered a different perspective: “I checked and different ones are spinning opposite directions”.
Yet another TikTok user insisted on a single direction with the comment: “It’s only left what are you all yapping about [sobbing with tears emoji]”.
One contributor could only discern one way: “I only see right…” and another explained their unique viewpoint: “It changes depending on which one you look at on either side but I saw it turning to the left at first”.
Another mused: “The right dancer is turning right and the left one is turning left”.
On YouTube, where the illusion also gained traction, the uploader teased viewers with the description: “This staggering illusion will blow your mind! Some see the ballerina spinning clockwise while others see her spinning anti-clockwise. How can this be?”
In the comments section of this viral video, spectators were similarly baffled. One person observed: “Interesting how the left and right models change your perception on how you view the middle one.”
Another quipped with enthusiasm: “I can see them spinning both directions I HAVE THE POWER!!” And another person joked: “Oh my God it felt like I controlled the girl”.
