The Choreography of Sorting Algorithms

As a computer science undergraduate I spent many hours learning various sorting algorithms. Pseudo-code and static diagrams were used to illustrate the implementation and processing of these algorithms. Now (almost a quarter of a century later!) it seems algorithms are still an important part of computer science education. What's changed is that Web 2.0 technologies are being used to aid understanding.

The video clip shown above represents the Bubble Sort algorithm realized in the style of a Hungarian folk dance. Whether this represents the best visualization of sorting algorithms to date, I'm not so sure, but it's certainly the most bizarre I've seen and is strangely compelling. The clips were created at Sapientia University, Romania and choregraphed by Füzesi Albert.

Below are several other folk dances choreographed to implement various sorting algorithms.

Insert Sort


Shell Sort


Select Sort