Posts Tagged ‘Balinese Monkey Chant’
Philippine Prisoners Resurrect Busby Berkeley
As a videodance artist, I have to comment on the viral video sensation of the Philippine Prison dances that have rocked Youtube as of late. These massive stagings, in which up to 1600 prisoners dance to pop hits in perfect unison, are as awesome and powerful as they are campy and scary. Byron Garcia, a security consultant for the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Centre started the dance fitness program as a way to improve inmates’ behaviour and increase their participation in exercises. However the inspiration to start filming the routines came when Mr. Garcia saw prisoners exercising in the prison courtyard and noticed patterns and waves in their movement which piqued his inner Busby Berkeley. The result was a string of videos and a gigantic Youtube hit with “Thriller” performed by 1500 prisoners and featuring inmates Crisanto Nierre as “Michael Jackson,” and Wenjiel Resane as his “girlfriend”. “Thriller” has been viewed over 6 million times now on Youtube. The popularity of the videos have become a huge source of pride for the inmates, and now the CPDRC is becoming a veritable production house of grand spectacle dance films, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the heyday of American movie musicals in the 30’s and 40’s.
“Thriller” (original upload)
