When maritime folk music collided with club beats in 2021, children’s dance routines found an unlikely new soundtrack. On his popular channel Zumba with Dovydas, Lithuanian choreographer Dovydas Veiverys posted a spirited routine featuring his Zumba Kids troupe moving to a dance remix of Nathan Evans’s “Wellerman”. Uploaded late that summer, the routine tapped straight into the playful energy of the viral track. It struck a major chord with audiences online, eventually racking up more than 46 million views.
Veiverys, an experienced dance instructor based in Klaipėda who teaches at Gargždai Music School, built his online following around approachable fitness routines. The official Zumba Kids format is designed for children between seven and eleven, combining straightforward steps with games and fast-paced popular songs. In the upload, Veiverys leads the group with infectious enthusiasm, later leaving a note in Lithuanian telling his young crew how proud he was of their work. The resulting clip captures an effortless sense of fun that practically invites anyone watching to jump off the sofa.
The driving force behind the routine is a pop phenomenon that originated in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. In late 2020, former postman Nathan Evans recorded an a cappella version of the song for social media, sparking an unexpected global revival of maritime music. Universal Music quickly signed him, releasing his single alongside a club remix by 220 KID and Billen Ted. Their high-energy remix raced to the top of the UK singles chart in March 2021, turning an acoustic folk chant into an inescapable dance anthem ready for energetic choreography.
While fans instantly labelled the track a sea shanty, folklorists point out that “Wellerman” is technically a New Zealand whaling song rather than a traditional work chant. Its lyrics tell the tale of a whaling crew waiting for supply ships owned by the Weller brothers to bring sugar, tea, and rum. Archival records trace the earliest known recording of the tune only as far back as 1969. That strange mix of maritime folklore and modern electronic beats gave Veiverys the ideal backdrop for a dynamic routine. Nathan Evans’s video for “Wellerman” showcases the collaborative track that helped extend the worldwide phenomenon.
Veiverys has a distinct way of putting these routines together. In interviews, he has explained that roughly 90 percent of his choreography begins in his imagination while listening to music behind the wheel of his car, long before he tests the steps on a dance floor. That instincts-first approach had already helped his channel travel far beyond Lithuania. Years before the “Wellerman” upload, American instructors discovered his online videos and invited him across the Atlantic to lead masterclasses because they were already using his routines in their own studios.
The clip’s reach went well beyond fitness enthusiasts and casual browsers. In 2023, the Austrian Language Competence Centre linked directly to the video in an official fourth-grade learning task titled “Keep Your Body Fit”, recommending it to help schoolchildren stay active. Finding a second life in an Austrian learning resource proved just how durable the project had become. What began as a spontaneous folk trend on social media turned into a recommended classroom activity ready to get whole rooms moving.