Since its inception, street dance has benefited from it’s organic connection to hip hop music and urban culture. Arising in the 1970’s out of disco, funk, and the black and latino urban cultures in America’s inner cities, hip hop culture encompasses all the art forms including music, visual art, dance, and poetry, as well as fashion and design. As hip hop has spread from the underground to the mainstream culture, it has gained a foothold in large entertainment and media industries as well. The Sugar Hill Gang and Run DMC became some of the first Billboard topping hip hop music groups, sparking megastars like Michael Jackson and Blondie to embrace and emulate this new vibrant street culture in their music and videos. Along with hip hop’s rise in popularity, street dance forms such as break dancing (or bboying) became well known and dance crews arose on every street corner and club where hip hop music spread.

Still to this day, street dance styles develop in tandem with new strains of hip hop, electronic and club music. The two disciplines of dance and music virtually exist to support each other. Club music is made to get people dancing, and the dance styles form around the different rhythms and vibes of the music. Since the decline of hip hop music sales, simultaneous with the rise of video’s popularity online, the power dynamic of the two art forms are shifting. Previously the hip hop music industry was the giant, and hip hop dance played a supporting role in music videos and stage shows. Now however, hip hop dance seems to be moving ahead through its popularity with viral video hits. Today dance videos are becoming important ways for music tracks to get noticed, rather than the other way around.

Marquese Scott, aka Nonstop, is a streetdancer from Inglewood, CA. He started dancing in high school after jumping in a dance circle at a local skating rink and getting “maxed” (laughed at and humiliated in front of his friends), which spurred him on to practice and win other dance battles. Today he is part of the Atlanta-based dance crew RemoteControl and his specialty is “animation”, a robotic style of motion that comes out of poplocking and autobot dance styles.

After a special appearance on So You Think You Can Dance with Remote Control, Nonstop began posting solo videos on YouTube that garnered a great deal of attention. His biggest hit was a solo performed to Butch Clancy’s dubstep remix of “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People. Seen over 24 million times, Nonstop’s simple video was done in a single take from a camera he left on a tripod. What follows is a mindblowing display of movement that seems to defy gravity, time, and any other human constraints. The video was immediately picked up by bloggers and major media outlets who fueled its viral fire. While Foster the People’s single was already a break away hit, Nonstop’s video elevated the dubstep remix version to chart topping levels as well.

Since his YouTube success, Nonstop has become a sought after dancer for commercials, music videos, and live appearances. His story reveals an alternate path to a career in dance that is becoming more common in the era of online video. As streetdancers continue to post viral video hits online, videodance is poised to become a major pop culture phenomenon, akin to music video on MTV thirty years ago. Dance and music will still be inexorably intertwined, but this time, the dancers will get credit and esteem as well.

Encompassing a multitude of urban dance forms from breaking to crumping, and from popping to jerking, street dance is a thriving movement with both a strong amateur community and a robust industry of professional artists. Since the launch of social media and web video technology, street dance has had an artistic renaissance. No longer relegated to local street corners and individual club scenes, street dancers have fully exploited new media outlets to share their moves with a global community eager to see and learn more.

In this three part series we will discuss:

1. The artistic effects of media sharing on the development of street dance forms.
2. How media sharing is changing the value proposition of street dance.
3. What the concert dance world can learn from street dance in the video age.

Pt 1: The artistic effects of media sharing on the development of street dance forms

In October 2009 a crew of young Oakland street dancers uploaded a video on YouTube that showed four of them meeting on a street corner in the rain. The music was solemn and reverential, and their moves were graceful and emotional. Unlike most street dances, these dancers weren’t battling it out, instead they were paying tribute to a brother who had died on that street corner, and expressing their grief the way they knew best, by dancing. Unbeknownst to them, this video would put these artists on the international map and set the course of their careers.

The crew is TURF FEINZ, and they were filmed by their long time friends and collaborators, the Oakland-based video production company, YAK FILMS. Within a few weeks the video had gone viral in Europe, spreading from Germany to France, then to Brazil, Russia, and Denmark. Ten months later, the video took off stateside and today it stands at 3 million hits and counting. YAK FILMS have gone on to produce a weekly video series cataloging the street dance from around the world, and TURF FEINZ now has their own internationally recognized dance style called Turfing. Among other things, YAK FILMS puts out a very popular series of street dance tutorials taught by rising talents. Here is one on how to do the wave taught by Chonkie from TURF FEINZ.

In street dance, the goal is to be seen as the biggest, baddest dancer out there. One of the ways to do that is to coin a new move or a unique style that everyone tries to copy. Street dance choreography is generally made in a competitive environment, with dancers literally battling each other. The more their moves are copied, the better bragging rights the originator has. As moves get copied, each imitator tries to put their own stamp on the choreography, resulting in many mutations and variations on the original. With the advent of YouTube and online video sharing, this evolutionary process has gone into overdrive. Now a single video can be seen by millions of viewers worldwide in a matter of days or hours. When a street dance video goes viral, the choreography will be copied by hundreds if not thousands of other dancers and tweaked each time. These imitators will post their own videos online, and if even a couple of these go viral again, it starts a new wave of mutations. In this way, street dance forms are evolving at a breakneck speed. If an evolutionary biologist were to study street dance, they would be astounded at the rate of new moves, genres, and styles being made all the time. The developments in this form are growing at an exponential pace. As a result more has happened in street dance in the past five years than in the 30 years prior.

Chris Anderson, the curator of TED conferences, mentioned the phenomenal growth of street dance in his TEDtalk “How web video powers global innovation.” Anderson presented his theory of “Crowd Accelerated Innovation” to explain the rapid evolution occurring in many cultural and scientific sectors today. The way street dance spreads is a perfect illustration of the three components that make up “Crowd Accelerated Innovation.” First you need a CROWD of people that share a common interest, then LIGHT or clarity need to be shed on the crowd so that they can all see each other, and lastly you need the DESIRE to excel. Street dance was already a global movement when YouTube appeared, but the light that web video was able to shed on dancers everywhere from rural villages to inner city street corners enabled dancers to reach for greater recognition and influence on a scale never possible before. Anderson says that “Crowd Accelerated Innovation” is a kind of positive feedback loop where the more light that gets shed on the street dance movement, the more people desire to become dance stars in their own right and join the ranks of the crowd.

Jon M. Chu, filmmaker and creator of the popular web series, The LXD (The Legion of eXtraordinary Dancers) spoke of the new renaissance happening in street dance in his TED talk by saying, “Dance has never had a better friend than technology…Dancers have created a whole global laboratory online. Kids in Japan are taking moves from a YouTube video created in Detroit, building on it within days and releasing a new video, while teenagers in California are taking the Japanese video and remixing it to create a whole new dance style.” Chu speaks from experience as the director of the blockbuster hit movie, Step Up 2: The Streets and his latest success with The LXD, that was cast entirely through YouTube audition videos. Chu believes that what is happening right now in the “underground” street dance community will resurrect the popularity of dance to its status during the Golden Age of movie musicals. Once again kids will grow up with dance heros like past generations had with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Michael Jackson.

What is immediately apparent when watching TURF FEINZ’s video is that the dancers are well versed in many dance techniques including ballet, jazz, and modern, as well as street dance forms like breaking and locking. In an interview for the Bay Citizen, YAK FILMS director, Yoram Savion said that YouTube has been important in the development of TURF’s signature style. “The dancers would come to my office and watch YouTube videos,” Savion said. “They’d watch everything. Once we even saw a random video of 1950s jazz dancing in Chicago that the dancers would incorporate into TURF.”

As street dance continues to garner devoted fans on YouTube, and new moves spread like wildfire across the internet, big media industries are taking note of it’s rising popularity. Street dance professionals are finding plenty of demand for their work, and an entire indie dance/film industry is rising up around the culture. YAK FILMS is an example of how one production company got its start by specializing in urban street dance. In the next segment of this series, we’ll examine how the video age is effecting the commercial potential for street dance giving it an economic edge over other many other dance forms.

To see the quotes clearly, some fans of de Keersmaeker put together this video showing Beyoncé’s video and the original material by de Keersmaeker side by side. Incredibly, it is the second video that comes up when you search for “Countdown beyoncé” in YouTube!

In a statement for the social network, Dance-tech.net, de Keersmaeker responded to the hubbub by saying that she is neither flattered nor upset by the heavy borrowing from Beyoncé, rather she is sad that it has taken so long for the world to recognize her dance experimentations from 30 years ago.

Personally, I think it is great that Beyoncé and her creative team have brought these dance works into mainstream consciousness. I’m also happy that the arts community has responded with a flurry of comments on YouTube because it is leading Beyoncé’s fans to see de Keersmaeker’s work for themselves.

This is not the first time Beyoncé has quoted great choreography. Her viral video hit “Single Ladies” was clearly inspired by Bob Fosse’s choreography for “Mexican Breakfast” (Beyoncé found as a video mash-up with the rap song “Walk it Out” and has since been removed from YouTube). What was wonderful about “Single Ladies” was all the subsequent copying that happened around the world with millions of fans reconstructing the choreography and posting it online. From fat men to 3 year old kids, everyone and their brother learned that piece of choreography to perfection. Can one wish for anything more as a choreographer? It was a stroke of marketing genius for Beyoncé to give that choreography away for millions to copy and share. I can only hope that “Countdown” does the same.

What do you think? Are you outraged or overjoyed? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Update 10-26-11: Here’s a news clip from Reuters announcing de Keersmaeker’s pending law suit against Beyoncé. Doesn’t look like she’s taking the imitation as flattery!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out more featured web dances on our YouTube Channel.

Announcing Movement Media’s YouTube Channel: FilmingDance4web Video Dance Channel

Featuring Artistic Video dances made by amazing choreographers, dancers, video artists, film directors, dance companies, and beginning film makers interested in making dance for camera.

Join Our Videodance Community of Artists by sharing your work with us.

Choreographer, Christine Soriano. Photo by Rex Miller

Types of videos featured on Video Dance Channel:

• Dance Installations from Museums
• Works created for Video Art Festivals
• Dance Films featured in Dance Film Festivals
• Urban Dance Projects
• Dance Company Artists: Choreography and Movement for Camera
• Creative Stories and Video Art developed by Artists from across the Globe.
• Flashmob Dance Videos
• Dance ‘Webisodes’
• Silly, ‘Just for fun videos’
• Videos by Emerging Artists within the Videodance Community

Movement Media helps Emerging Film Artists develop creative projects.

Photo by Lois Greenfield

• Attend our Meet-up Groups to Practice Filming Dance (dates and locations to be announced in up-coming weeks).
• Your videos can be featured on our channel for viewing, feedback, and discussion by artists in the videodance community.

Your videodance may be:

• featured on our Video Dance Channel
• chosen for our Kinetic Cinema Screenings,
• or showcased at our annual UMove Online Videodance Festival

Movement Media also offers services to help dance companies, choreographers and other artists develop work for film festivals, art installations, and other film projects.

Urban Playground Quartet at the Awesome Arts Festival

• After the touring of your work, we would be happy to feature your work in Movement Media’s Kinetic Cinema Screenings or for other educational purposes.

• If you would like to work with Movement Media on a dance film, contact us at movementmedia@pentacle.org

from Moscow’s 2007 Video Art Festival PUSTO

http://www.youtube.com/user/FilmingDance4web  

Choreographer and Dancers:  Dina Khusejn, Olga Dukhovnaya

Video Art:  Konstantin Telepalov

FilmingDance4web:  Movement Media’s NEW Video Dance Channel 

Makers and marketers alike have been fascinated with how to make videos massively popular and ‘go viral’ on the web since the birth of YouTube.  For her Kinetic Cinema program, Oberfelder will explore this phenomenon and hypothesize how dancers can make their videos be seen by thousands or even millions of viewers.  In her survey, Oberfelder will present an array of stunning clips ranging from hilarious “fail’ videos, bloopers, video-blogging, and a few dance-centric films, to explore content that captures our attention– what gets the most hits and why?

In conjunction with this Kinetic Cinema screening, Movement Media has posted a challenge to our audience and readers to create a viral video of your own (see our previous post: Viral Videos on YouTube!!). The person whose video receives the most hits on YouTube by December 9th will have their video screened at Kinetic Cinema and receive a special prize.

In addition to YouTube, Movement Media and Oberfelder will discuss how dancers and video artists can enhance the reach of their work by submitting their videos to blogs (such as MovetheFrame.com),  screenings (such as Kinetic Cinema), and online festivals (such as the UMove Videodance Festival).

About Jody Oberfelder’s Dance for Camera: Artistic Works
Jody’s dance films have been shown in New York City at HBO Studios, Dance Theater Workshop’s “Captured” series, Tribeca’s VisionFest, and at the Walter Reid Theater in the Dance on Camera Festival; elsewhere in the U.S. at the American Dance Festival’s “Dancing for the Camera,” Dance Camera West, and at the San Diego-Tijuana DANCEonFILM Festival 2009; as well as abroad at Cinedans (Audience Choice Award), EDIT2009 in Budapest, Milano Doc Festival, the Zodiac Center in Helsinki, and OUTVIDEO in Russia. This spring Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects mounts HEADS or TALES, an eccentric retrospective celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects, to be premiered at the Abrons Arts Center (Henry Street Settlement) March 11-13, 2010.

About Kinetic Cinema
Kinetic Cinema is a co-presentation of The Tank and Pentacle’s Movement Media project, and happens on the second Wednesday of each month. Kinetic Cinema explores the intersection of dance and the moving image. For each screening Anna Brady Nuse, Pentacle’s director of Movement Media, invites a different guest artist from the fields of dance and media arts to share a selection of films and videos that have inspired them. These could be works for screen that feature dance, are kinetic-based, or have been influential on their work in some way. The guest curators come from a range of backgrounds as performers, choreographers, critics, video artists, and film-makers.

For more info on Pentacle’s Movement Media Project and news about Kinetic Cinema, please visit our blog: Move the Frame and our website: http://pentacle.org/movement_media.asp

I Tube, You Tube, We all Tube for YouTube

Curated by Jody Oberfelder

Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 7:30pm
Tickets: $10
Reservations: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/91392

The Tank
354 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
212.563.6269
Directions

*A co-presentation of Pentacle’s Movement Media and The Tank

Do you think you have what it takes to create a ‘video response’ to a popular dance video?

We challenge dance artists to try their hand at going viral on YouTube!

In case you’re not aware of the phenomenon of viral videos, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more.

Often, people who create ‘video responses’ attract THOUSANDS of viewers, and Movement Media wants to see how many ‘hits’ you can get with your video by participating in this contest!

We have chosen a dance video that has already gone viral, so you can make your own version of the video, to put up “side-by-side” online with the original version.  This means that you also have the chance to be viewed by hundreds or thousands of viewers…..possibly making your video as popular as the original video!!!

The winner of the contest will be announced and have his or her video screened at the “I Tube, You Tube, We all Tube for YouTube” Kinetic Cinema screening in NYC on December 9th.  Following the screening, Movement Media will also post the winner’s video on our blog, Move the Frame to help give your video even more exposure to viewing audiences.

The video we have chosen for Contest participants to create a video response to is:

Click here to view the embedded video.

YouTube Viral Video:  ‘Decale Gwada Blondinette (Vitesse Normale)‘

How to participate in the Contest:

• Make a 30 sec video response to this YouTube Viral Dance video.
• Upload your video response to YouTube, send the link and your contact information to:  movementmedia@pentacle.org by December 8th 2009.
• Whom ever gets the most hits with their video response between Thanksgiving (November 26th) and Dec 8th wins the contest!
• The sooner you upload your video response to YouTube, the easier it will be to increase the number of viewers or ‘hits’.

The winner is welcome to attend the Kinetic Cinema screening on December 9th, to discuss the results of this ‘YouTube experiment’.

The winner will also get free admission to our next Kinetic Cinema screening, and a handy book: “YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts” by Alan Lastufka and Michael W. Dean. 

When we post the winner’s video on our blog, Move the Frame, we will share what the winner did to help make his or her video go viral on YouTube.

Up Next at Kinetic Cinema:

I Tube, You Tube, We all Tube for YouTube

Curated by Jody Oberfelder

Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 7:30pm

Tickets: $10

Bring your friends and family to Kinetic Cinema!  Enjoy the Contest winner’s video and learn from dance film maker, Jody Oberfelder, about how videos become extremely popular and “Go Viral” online.

• Kinetic Cinema Film Screenings each Month in 2009
• UMOVE Festival Screening & Launch Party on October 4th
• Workshops and Webinars on Filming Dance in 2009
• Kinetic Cinema Screenings and Workshops at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia.

CALENDAR of Events in NYC

SEPTEMBER 9th (Wednesday) at 7:00 7:30pm – Kinetic Cinema

“Kill the Ego” curated by Lisa Niedermeyer – Tickets $10

Location: The TANK, 354 West 45th Street, NYC  (btw 8th/9th Avenue)

© 2008-2009 Soundwalk, Rostarr & Label Dalbin - Photo by Ron Patane

Join us for the kick off of an exciting new season of Kinetic Cinema in which choreographer, performer, and videographer Lisa Niedermeyer curates an evening that explores a kinetic portrayal of New York City.  Conceived originally as a sound collage by Stephan Crasneanscki and Doug Winningham of the new media firm Soundwalk, ‘Kill The Ego’ draws on a decade’s worth of New York City field recordings “voices of pimps and engineers, poets and dominatrixs, visionaries and children, hope and sorrow.”

© 2008-2009 Soundwalk, Rostarr & Label Dalbin - Photo by Atsushi Nishijima

Fueled by this sound,   underground visual artist Rostarr experiments with gravity, momentum, torque and combinations of all three (break dancing on his canvases) as directors Jim Helton and Ron Patane bring to cinematic life Soundwalk’s original audio collage and Rostarr’s visual work, culminating in a uniquely kinetic representation of New York City.

© 2008-2009 Soundwalk, Rostarr & Label Dalbin - Photo by Atsushi Nishijima

View the Trailer
Soundwalk’s website

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SEPTEMBER 24th (Thursday) 1:00-2:00pm (EST) – Webinar on ‘How to Make a Great Dance Promo Video’

DanceBrazil - Promo reel by Reels4Artists

Videographer and founder of the production company Reels4Artists, Gerrit Vooren will present a live online seminar, or ‘webinar ‘ on how to produce a great promo video. Learn how to best frame and edit your work to help you acquire bookings, funding, and audience support. This one hour webinar will take place in real time, so that you have ample time to ask questions and get feedback from Gerrit.

Have a scheduling conflict? No worries, all registrants will have access to a recorded transcript of the webinar to view and listen to anytime.

Registration is limited to 50 ppl. Please contact: movementmedia@pentacle.org to register. Workshop fee $18 USD.

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OCTOBER 4th (Sunday) 7:30 & 9:30pm – The First Annual UMOVE Online Videodance Festival Screening and Launch Party.

As the First Annual UMove Videodance Festival kicks off online, join us to celebrate the launch with a live screening and party in New York City. Featuring a selection of cutting edge digital animations, 60 sec shorts, surprising combinations of dance and technology, and low budget wonders that represent the best of Youtube. Multimedia performances will entertain and inspire, and drinks and popcorn will flow!

Tickets -$40 Donation with Reserved Seating or $5 At the Door-Very Limited Seating.

To reserve a seat with a $40 donation, please go to our donate now page on our website or contact us at movementmedia@pentacle.org.

Location: The Tank, 354 West 45th Street (btw 8th/9th Avenue) . Directions to The TANK.

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OCTOBER 22nd (Thursday) 7:00pm – Kinetic Cinema

Title:   “Choreographic Portraits on Film” by Victoria Marks.

Tickets- $10 (at the door)

'Outside In on Mirror'-photo by Mark Lewis

Victoria explores ‘what moves us’ versus the specific ‘moves a dancer makes’…and the way in which this concept can be captured by the camera.  For Kinetic Cinema, Victoria showcases works which capture what she terms ‘Choreographic Portraiture’, and she offers 2 separate workshops in NYC and Philadelphia to teach others how to work with the camera to capture more intimate aspects of dance on film.

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OCTOBER 23rd (Friday) 10:00am-2:00pm - Workshop on Filming Dance.

Victoria Marks and dancers

Choreographer and award-winning dance film-maker Victoria Marks will teach a movement-based workshop on how to capture the essence of the dancer on film.

Open to dance and film professionals and students, registration is limited to 20 ppl. Please contact: movementmedia@pentacle.org to register. Workshop fee $35.00.

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NOVEMBER 11th (Wednesday) 7:30pm – Kinetic Cinema

Amy Greenfield -Flesh into Night

Cinedance pioneer Amy Greenfield presents poetic and alluring dance films.

Tickets – $10 (at the door)

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DECEMBER 9th (Wednesday) 7:30 pm – Kinetic Cinema

Dancer-Carlton Ward, Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects

Choreographer and dance-filmmaker Jody Oberfelder presents: The Phenomenon of Viral Dance Videos.

Tickets – $10 (at the door)

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CALENDAR of Events in Philadelphia

OCTOBER 21st (Wednesday) 6:00pm – Kinetic Cinema at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia

'Outside In Tango'-Photo by Mark Lewis

In conjunction with the ground-breaking Dance with Camera exhibition at the ICA, Victoria Mark’s curates a Kinetic Cinema screening in Philadelphia.  “Choreographic Portraits on Film”.

FREE

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OCTOBER 24th (Saturday) 10:00am-5:00pm – Workshop on Filming Dance in Philadelphia.

Dance with Camera-ICA in Philadelphia

Victoria Marks is offering her workshop on filming dance a second time in Philadelphia.  Open to dance and film professionals and students, registration is limited to 20 ppl.

Please visit www.icaphila.org to register.  Workshop fee $25.00.

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ABOUT MOVEMENT MEDIA

For more info on Pentacle’s Movement Media project and news about our upcoming Kinetic Cinema season, please check here regularly and visit our website: http://pentacle.org/movement_media.asp

ABOUT KINETIC CINEMA

Kinetic Cinema is a co-presentation of The Tank and Pentacle’s Movement Media project.  This screening series explores the intersection of dance and the moving image.  For each screening Anna Brady Nuse, Pentacle’s director of Movement Media, invites a different guest artist from the fields of dance and media arts to share a selection of films and videos that have inspired them.  These could be works for screen that feature dance, are kinetic-based, or have been influential on their work in some way.  The guest curators come from a range of backgrounds as performers, choreographers, critics, video artists, and film-makers.

The world is responding to dance more than ever, as individuals from across the globe share their love of dance publicly and through video arts.

We are finding more and more people documenting their celebrations of dance icons through dance and video, and their dances continue to resonate with Internet viewers looking to connect artistically, locally, and universally to create MORE dance.

This new social movement through dance is liberating and profound.  World records are being broken as more and more people come together to dance for a common goal–the celebration of dance.  The growing numbers speak volumes, and as we continue to learn from dance, we will continue to grow to our full potential as artists and communities.  At the end of this posting you can learn how to get involved in this new social movement and dance phenomenon and help Thrill The World by dancing with the WORLD to Michael Jackson!

Dance legends have impacted me greatly, as I see them teaching us how to connect with ourselves, others, and the world.   This week we pay tribute to Michael Jackson who continues to affect the world as seen through the arts.  Dancers and media artists have been making documented tributes to his legacy.

Michael Jackson-the King of Pop

Michael Jackson is remembered fondly for his impact on dance.  Out of the hundreds of videodances recently created to celebrate the beloved Michael Jackson, these are some of my favorites.

As a dancer, this next videodance speaks to Michael Jackson, the man who made me want to dance freestyle and hip hop every day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video artists have also done their part to pay tribute to Michael, as seen in this adorable video to the song ”Don’t stop til you get enough“…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Michael Jackson dance tributes continue to hit the street, as seen in this videodance tribute to Beat It done in Stockholm.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In addition to these popular songs and dance moves, there are continuous dance tributes to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  Never before has there been more ZOMBIE walks and events, as demonstrated by the zombie networking website http://www.ThrillTheWorld.com.  ‘Thrill The World’ has organized 72 dance tribute events, breaking a world record last year with 4,179 dancers participating from 10 different nations.  They are hoping to reach their goal of 270,00 people to dance to Thriller in 2009 and pay tribute to Jackson’s life and dance. Thrill 2009 looks to be a big year for zombies doing the crawl of the dead!

This videodance tribute from 2008 showcases the individuals who came  together as dancing zombies to celebrate Michael Jackson’s influence on the world.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Anyone can learn the dance moves to Thriller, and participate in Thrill The World 2009.  There are various videos available online, such as this one.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In addition to thousands of people who are learning dance moves from online video, more and more people are learning Michael Jackson’s dance moves in dance studios around the world.  Leaders in the Hip Hop genre are doing their part to perform and teach Michael Jackson’s moves to current and future generations of dancers.  The following videodance tribute features Hip Hop Masters Lil’ Mama, Taeko, Feng, and The Beat Freaks.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The King of Pop was one inspirational gentleman, and will be remembered on a global scale…as evidenced by the videodances shared in this posting and the hundreds available on the Internet.  I look forward to continued celebrations of Michael Jackson through dance…so whenever you can, by yourself, with a partner, or with a group–get out there and dance!

Tune in next week for more posts in tribute to Pina Bausch and Merce Cunningham.