On my last trip to Paris, my cousin showed me places along the Seine where almost almost every night they had a free open-air salsa dance party…. He explained that people just started doing it & it had become an institution…. I began dreaming of ways to do it in SF….
Then this Halloween, my Disco Ball costume became a walking street dance party & I had MANY MANY hours of spontaneous dance fun with complete strangers… I realized I could make my own dance party dammit!
So I did what any geek would do – I made a website; I sent out email to everyone I knew & I collected enabling technology 🙂
The idea was simple: I’d pick a spot; send out an email telling people when to show up at the aforementioned spot; & then I would meet them at said spot with a sound system. Much boogie would ensue. It was just so crazy it just might work. 🙂 I call this idea FLASHDANCE – my flash mob dance party.
Within a few days I had 90 sign ups for my list. Within a week I had 275. People were waaaaay into it. It was time to try the first one…
I scheduled my first FLASHDANCE for 7pm this past Saturday (11/19/05) in nearby Dolores Park… Whereas I started with a fear that no one would show up, I quickly switched to a fear that too many people would show up…
So on Saturday…
At 6:30pm, I wheeled my laptop and the sound system with two car batteries into Dolores Park & set stuff up.
At 7:00, I started playing mellow music & switched back to worrying that no-one would show – where was everyone? Was I a big idiot for thinking this would work?
At 7:05, two friends of mine I hadn’t seen since Burning Man 3 years ago showed up.
At 7:15, we had 10 people so I kicked into Stevie’s “Superstition”* & we started dancing**. I hoped that more folks were coming.
At 7:30, there were suddenly about 40 people – WOO! We were ON & much boogie was being visited upon the environs!
From there on out it was go go go! People were having so much fun, I was dancing my ass off. Folks were meeting new folks. It was GOOD. About 75 or so people showed up over the course of the night with about 45-50 dancing at any given time!
We finally finished up at around 9:30 or so. I got an ovation from the crowd. Everyone was very into it & we discussed plans for our next one…. maybe even a culture jamming version – take over a park in SF’s shopping district on “the busiest shopping day of the year”….. stay tuned! 🙂
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Unfortunately The pix don’t do it justice:
around 6:45pm:
around 7:15:
around 8:45:
that’s me in the blue shiny pants!
* Ok so it isn’t QUITE a flash mob because I’m not just SMSing people with a few hours notice….
** the complete playlist was:
Superstition / Stevie Wonder
Baby I’m A Star / Prince
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough / Michael Jackson
Sweet Pain Remix [JOI Remix] / Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook
Hey Mama / Black Eyed Peas
Get Off Your Ass And Jam / Funkadelic
Crazy in Love / Beyonc�
Radio Hollaback / The Clash vs. Gwen Stefani
Hot Stuff / Donna Summer
Callin’ Out / Lyrics Born
Cyclone / Dub Pistols
I’m Coming Out / Diana Ross
It’s Tricky / Run-DMC
‘Bout Action Lyrics Born
Kiss / Prince
September / Earth, Wind & Fire
Beware (Jay-Z Remix) / Panjabi MC
Rock el Casbah / Rachid Taha
Shut-Up Remix / Black Eyed Peas
Ray Of Light / Madonna
Working Day And Night / Michael Jackson
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours / Stevie Wonder
Family Affair / Mary J. Blige
Jive Talkin’ / Bee Gees
Way U Move / 3Style
Dance To The Music / Sly & Family Stone
Desi Rock / SWAMI
Bizarre Love Triangle / New Order
19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) / Gorillaz
Hey Ya! / OutKast
Gold Digger / Kanye West
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough / Michael Jackson
Too wacky, but why did it break up so early?
THANK YOU SO MUCH. Had an amazing night of pure fun. Great idea! Hope that this continues even if we have to dance in winter coats.