Fuzion Dance Artists, along with Whole Foods and Sarasota Season of Sculpture, will host a Thriller Dance Party beginning at 7 p.m. Friday. The event features a partial performance of Michael Jackson’s iconic music video, “Thriller,” outside of Whole Foods. The community is invited to participate in the zombie-like dance that helped make Jackson a star.
EPIC RECORDS A recreation of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance will be performed in Sarasota and St. Petersburg.
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No previous dance experience is required. Interested residents can show up for a 6 p.m. rehearsal — in zombie costume or without.
“If you want to go all-out Thriller, go for it,” said Fuzion Dance artistic director Leymis Bolanos Wilmott.
Just be sure to wear comfortable shoes for dancing.
Registration is $10, which includes instruction, performance and refreshments at Last Call Gallery.
It’s a fitting way to usher in the Halloween season while meshing the art of dance and music together in a way that pays tribute to Michael Jackson, who died in June.
“We wanted to do a community event,” Wilmott said. “Something outside, that’s multi-generational and to bring interest to the Last Call Gallery.”
Jackson’s legendary “Thriller” has remained in the pop culture sphere since it’s debut in 1982, touting ingenious music video choreography. The album, also titled “Thriller,” became the best-selling album of all time, featuring hits such as “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.”
With the arrival of You Tube, fans around the world have filmed themselves performing the “Thriller” video with a twist. They include university marching bands, wedding parties and inmates from the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center . . . in the Philippines.
St. Petersburg also plans to take on “Thriller” by participating in “Thrill the World” Day Oct. 24. The event, set for 8:30 p.m. at The Pier, is an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous “Thriller” dance in the world. A record for the largest group performing the dance in one place is currently held by residents in Mexico City, Mexico, where 13,597 people performed the routine Aug. 29, the Associated Press reported.
The “Thrill the World” challenge will be for the having the most people perform the dance around the world at the same time, not just in one place, said Coralette Damme, an organizer with the St. Petersburg event. Last year’s “Thrill the World” record was 4,179 dancers in 10 countries, according to the Record Holders Republic.
So far, 70 people have signed up to participate in St. Petersburg. In Sarasota, organizers are hoping for 100. While the local event isn’t a part of “Thrill the World,” it still pays tribute to Jackson.
“The ‘Thriller’ dance was so theatrical,” she said. “There was a story line and also the movements — everyone was imitating it whether you knew how to do it or not. You could be goofy with it.”
Wilmott said she’s picked an easy part of the 14-minute dance routine to teach participants.
She doesn’t want anyone to be intimidated. It’s really a chance for people to have fun, she said.
The idea for the community-wide “Thriller” party was in the works before Jackson’s death.
Organizers were thinking of a way to build the sense of community through art, said Brenda Terris, executive director of Sarasota Season of Sculpture.
“I love when you mix the arts together,” she said. “I think art at its very nature is intellectual. It demands your participation.”
Jackson’s dance videos often put viewers in the mood to get involved.
Wilmott believes Jackson was not only a pioneer of music videos, but of dance as well. Through his videos, he made dance more accessable to the world. Especially to those who couldn’t afford to take dance lessons. They would watch and learn by watching him on MTV instead.
While Damme believes “Thriller” was the breakthrough video of the time, she’s just in it for the fun.
“For me personally, it’s more about Halloween and zombies,” she said. “Not so much about Michael Jackson. But I want to learn (the dance). I think it’s great.”
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