Before the pandemic, Stephen Kirton of Newark wasn’t a popular student at Hodgson Vo-Tech.

“I used to get bullied a lot because I was trying to fit in,” said Kirton, 20, who graduated from Hodgson in 2022. “I was like a nerd.”

That nerd now has over 1 million TikTok followers. He’s better known as Smoove Stevo (@SmooveStevo), a legend at performing the Jubi Slide dance, and he’s been recognized by celebrities like Lil Nas X and Kai Cenat.

Today, Stevo has 1.7 million TikTok followers, with a chunk of his views coming from his dance moves.

Over the last year alone, he’s racked up well over 100 million views from his various versions of the Jubi Slide, a dance that looks like he’s walking on air.

The Jubi Slide was created by his friend Jouberson Joseph.

Last fall, Stevo posted a video of him doing the Jubi Slide on the beach, racking up over 94 million views. He’s done it on grass, a water surface, snow and concrete. Stevo has also done it at church.

His fans are amazed, especially those who commented on his beach video.

“I swear bro was floating for a sec,” an impressed TikToker wrote. “Bros defying physics,” another said. “bet you can’t jubi slide on volcanic ash,” a third joked.

In 2022 Stevo decided dancing would be his niche. The influencer started getting “Sturdy,” a dance where you keep one foot on the floor while the other is elevated.

Stevo is originally from New York and his mom enrolled him in hip-hop dancing lessons there when he was much younger. In his teenage years, he didn’t remember those hip-hop dances. “But I still had rhythm,” he said.

He rebranded himself as a TikTok dancer.

The Hodgson grad got Sturdy by doing quick movements that mimicked one of his favorite superheroes.

“I like to do things fast because I was obsessed with The Flash,” Stevo said.

In spring 2022, Kirton posted a video of popular streamer Kai Cenat (who has 10 million TikTok fans) reacting to him doing a fast Sturdy dance.

Kai’s jaw hit the floor in the video, which has 296,000 views.

“Kai was Flabbergasted bro,” one commenter wrote. “Man’s the flash,” praised another TikToker. “bro you look like lil nas x,” a third person pointed out.