Flash Mob Fever

It seems to be the latest dance craze to hit the world. From railway stations and crowded streets to the Black Eyed Peas and Oprah, people are bursting into choreography. According to Wikipedia, a flash mob is "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a specific time, then quickly disperse." While this term is generally applied to social media, it is rapidly catching on in improv troups, and in dance.

In March of this year, several hundred dancers broke out into a musical number from "The Sound of Music," startling and pleasing the people that were passing through Central Station in Antwerp. "Let's start at the very beginning," Julie Andrews sang out as people surreptitiously passed by, some giving rather cautious glances to the corners of the station. One man started to wave his arms, and was joined by a small girl. They were joined by several others, and the crowd continued to grow until half the station was posing and gyrating to the beat. Many of the bystanders were caught up in the dance, improvising their own steps.

News of Michael Jackson's untimely death has prompted endless dance tributes in the streets, mostly to his ever-popular "Thriller". It seems every nation from the States to Hong Kong has organized some form of public recital, most of which can be found on You Tube.

And in the latest bid for the crown, over 20,000 people performed a dance for Oprah Winfrey as The Black Eyed Peas sang on stage. If I were the BEPs, I would have been terrified to look out over the thousands of stoic, unmoving faces. Then, group by group, they started to dance. I think after that I would have forgotten the lyrics to my song and just joined them.

In 2003, Flash Mob was started as an experiment using the newest technology that was available through emails and texting. Bill Wasik with Harper's Magazine sent out a detailed email, and wanted to see how many would show up. Over one hundred people converged in a Macy's department store and left just as unexpectedly. "I really just did them as a sort of social experiment," he said to Jennifer Gidman of brandchannel.com. "I wanted to see what would happen - how far would the email spread? How many would come?"

So what is the appeal? Why do these projects work so well, with so many people willing to take part? Is it becoming a part something greater than yourself? In this age where people are increasingly delegated to nothing more than words on a screen, is it a way to get back in touch with humanity? To be able to say, "Hey, we're all in this together?" Maybe. We are creative beings, and we are beings that not only need each other, but find ourselves becoming more and more distanced from each other with each technological gadget that is meant to improve our lives. It's good, and very entertaining, to see it being used to bring people together by the hundreds and thousands. Here's hoping that flash mobs aren't flash-in-the-pan fads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE3CNu_rtY - Antwerp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TA96I2co2Y&feature=related - Hong Kong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnJ49hv5Rho - Black Eyed Peas on Oprah
http://www.brandchannel.com/start1.asp?fa_id=493