09-18-2007
Thrill The World

Just when you thought that there was nothing else that could possibly be wrung out of "Thriller"... we have the unique "mob art" that will be "Thriller In Seattle!" Picture, if you will, over 100 people suddenly jumping out of their car, their cubicle, the booth at their local fast food restaurant to run into the street and gather in one spot to dance to Michael Jackson's major hit! It will be HIStory in the making!

It is the Pacific Northwest's contribution to the world - wide "Thrill The World" movement scheduled for October 27 in 125 cities in 18 countries.

At that time, groups of Thriller dancers around the world will converge at one location in each city to set the Guinness Book world record for the most people doing the dance at one time.

The attempt at the record is called "Thrill The World" and is rooted in Toronto, Canada. Dancers there have already set the Guinness world record for the most people doing the Thriller dance in one location.

"Thriller" has withstood the test of time, with it's groundbreaking movie/music video directed by John Landis and Vincent Price voice - over.

The most recent practice sessions for "Thriller In Seattle" showed that the music spans generations, from participants of retirement age to dancers who were not even alive when the song came out.

For example, Lei Gong was two years old when Thriller debuted in 1983. He lived in communist China until 1989. while he was not totally cut off from American culture, he was far enough that he was not exposed to the song and video that left fans screaming for more whenever Michael took to the state. Now, he is the leader of "Thriller In Seattle." (website is http://www.thrillerinseattle.com/)

Like many great ideas, Gong's brainstorm wasn't the result of hours of intense thinking, but a sudden inspiration.

"A bunch of friends of mine and I were dancing at a party to Thriller and we didn't know all the moves but we tried our best and we thought this would be a really good thing to perform in public," says Gong.

"Everyone's like 'what?'" said Roy Williams when he was asked to be one of the first dancers.

He got a few friends to agree to it, but when he went online to get others involved, he discovered he wasn't the only one with the idea. "Thrill the World" was already up and running, so he decided to have his group join in the global plan.

And what a great plan! We will keep in touch with our Seattle Thrillers and let you know how they grow!

Source: MJFC / http://www.king5.com

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