So I Think I Can Dance (and you can too)
July 29, 2010, by Connie Stetson
Flash Mob Victoria Station
Connie Stetson mixes it up with inspiration, perspiration and dizzy dancing feet.
Dear readers, we have become so close now, I feel I can tell you anything. I know you won’t judge me harshly when I confess to you how very much I love the “reality” game show. The contestants, the competition, the prize—the whole format, well, it’s all just so darn much fun.
I love Survivor, The Amazing Race, American Idol, The Bachelorette, Top Chef, Project Runway and even the great American cheese-fest, Dancing With the Stars. But by far and away, I love So You Think You Can Dance. Partly because at one time I did think could dance, and partly because I now wish I could dance as well as I once thought I could. Watching these beautiful, talented, athletic young dancers sends me into a pulse-pounding frenzy of vicarious joy; and I am with them every soaring step and heart stopping stumble along the way. I am hooked and I am also impressed.
In 2009, producer Nigel Lythgoe, actress Katie Holmes, dancer/choreographer Debbie Allen, and a host others, began The Dizzy Feet Foundation . Its mission is to support, improve and increase dance education in the United States, provide scholarships, set standards for dance education and insure that disadvantaged children have access to dance. The Dizzy Feet Foundation has also declared Saturday July 31st, National Dance Day. View the cool choreography that Napoleon and Tabitha have created to get America off our collective asses and onto the dance floor. They have made it easy enough for anyone to learn and I’m getting down right now with my very bad, very funky self.
To encourage my community to participate in this wonderful day I, along with a few others, are planning a spontaneous outburst (ever notice how deftly spontaneous outbursts must be organized?) a guerilla Conga dance down Hwy 140, the Main Street of our town. Several of us will be milling about casually, then we’ll crank up the music, bust out the Conga line like a mini flash mob, and see if we can get people to just jump in. I’ve cleared it with the sheriff and he said as long as the local merchants don’t mind, it’s okay— and he’s out of town then anyway. So it’s a GO.
Thanks SYTYCD, for reacquainting me with my younger, lighter, stronger, more lithesome self. The self that didn’t really believe in gravity or bad knees—the self that still lives in the dance classes in my head. And thank you, too, brave new dancers for not being self-absorbed snots, but grateful and dedicated and self-sacrificing young artists on the brink. You are dazzling and inspiring.
And so everyone—move to the groove, shake your booty, put on your boogie shoes, Disco, Salsa, Hip-Hop, or Bunny Hop if that’s all you can do, but get up off that thang and dance so you can feel better on National Dance Day, Saturday July 31st. YIPPEE!!!!!!
July 29th, 2010 at 6:25 am
Ohhhh how I wish I could see your Conga! Here it would be a Country Western Line Dance. Document and YouTube Please!
July 29th, 2010 at 7:25 am
Well I’ll be, I have a rehearsal that day with some really awesome dancers…will take your cue and bring it out into the streets for an interlude of ‘spontaneous’ boogie, so the rest of the neighborhood can enjoy!
July 29th, 2010 at 7:45 am
I want to be there!!!
July 29th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Connie, having met you as a Hot Box Girl , when we danced side-by-side in Guys and Dolls, this is a most fitting post. Dance IS life, and you can see that so clearly by watching So You Think You Can Dance (my favorite show too, of course). That little TV program brings up so much emotion: joy, admiration and many times tears. With only a couple more episodes to go, I urge everyone to watch next Wednesday. I’ve recently done some dance classes at the Y and it’s still so much fun. The brain is a bit more challenged, not to mention the cardio, but the most important thing is the freedom and joy it brings.
I wish I were there to Conga up the Hwy. Like Mellimel says, document it! Photos, video, etc. Call the local news station. Dance on!
July 29th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Thanks, sistah! I just posted this Blog on the SYTYCD website, I’m calling our local media today, and I’m Facebooking like a crazy person. We will be recording and posting up on You Tube. CONGA ain’t Bushel and a Peck, but it’ll doodle-oo-da-doodoo, doodle-oo-da-doodoo, doodle-oo-da-doodoodoo….Love you my Cathikins.
July 29th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
One of my all-time fave youtube clips is the “spontaneous” dance that takes place at the Central Railway Station in Antwerp, Belgium, where 200 twice-rehearsed people took place in a fabulous group line dance to a slightly amped rendition of Julie Andrews singing “Do, Re, Mi” over the PA system. Have you seen it? It is breath-taking! Please make sure someone is there to record your dance, too. I look forward to seeing it on youtube.com!
July 29th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Love the project. It’s so guerilla!
July 29th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Oh please, please post your dance!!!
July 29th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Hi Connie-I luv yr idea of a conga line down the middle of a small town main street! It should bring excitement to all. I actually choreod a conga line on a Starsky & Hutch 2 hr special. I’m a former pro dancer/choreographer & luv SYTYCD, Dancing w/the Stars…actually anything connected w/dance!!! Have fun on Sat-National Dance Day (:
August 2nd, 2010 at 5:27 am
Great post and project. Not too long ago I had to ask myself where is all the music and dance in my life? Where did it all go? So when my friends asked me what I wanted to do this year for my 57th birthday, I said – “Dance.” And dance we did About 8 of us girls (over 50) went to a dance club one Saturday night and danced our feet off. I’m hoping to make it a tradition.
August 2nd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Always dance as if no one is watching! Love the flash mob.