A Year of Raising the Village - Week #9
What is the point in a Flash Mob Dance?
It was one of those “what fun” kind of ideas that caught a spark and quickly spread...a Flash Mob Dance in our local community. Yes, we wanted to take part in a mob but couldn’t picture Tracy and Tammy choreographing this kind of village raising movement! What are two community builders to do? We looked beyond our personal set of strengths and passed the sparky idea onto someone else! Enter Ellie Badham... who picked up the dancing reins and became the fearless leader, choreographer, and coordinator for the Alberni Valley Footloose Flash Mob Dance. Ellie was an expression of confidence and passion for dance – quickly bringing people into the mix. There didn’t seem to be a bump into the road until one colleague asked... “Sounds fun but what’s the point”?
A great question! What was the point? Why organize a flash mob dance? How does this build community?
A flash mob, defined by Wikipedia as “a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse”.
Think about the possibilities in that!
A Flash Mob Dance can:
- Encourage people to break out of the “box” together
- Promote health and wellness (a community moving together)
- Illustrate a ripple effect – how a small group can spread enthusiasm and energy that “catches” to others. A living picture of synergy
- Express strengths – in this case an individual (yeah -Ellie) stepped up to share her strengths, passion and leadership
- Generate a buzz – business, non profits and social causes are using this non-traditional way to promote awareness of products and issues
- Spread a message in a positive economical way – using available social media! For example: a Vancouver school organized an anti-bully flash mob dance where participants wore a shirt that said “Acceptance: Just the way you are”
- Get people talking! Not only those participating but those watching are likely to take photos or videos and share with their connections.
With this in mind we became backstage helpers by spreading the word and promoting the event as a way to infuse a burst of community energy and spirit in celebration of children, families, community and our local Arts District. Several schools came on board by teaching the dance in their schools and in one case an entire school gathered in a field on anti-bully day and performed the dance together! A local senior’s group didn’t hesitate to put on their dancing shoes and join the community beat. On the day of the dance it was interesting to watch a quiet corner of the community suddenly come alive with a footloose buzz. Multi-generations, a city councillor, teachers, families, early year’s table members... all gathered to dance together in the street!
We are sold on the idea of Flash Mob’s (not just dances – search the web for the many types of flash mob’s) as a creative and fun way to bring community together and to spread positive messaging!
Here is the link to our local dance (yes - we are in there).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtBIS-OhNS8
Village Raising Questions
What is a non-traditional approach your community could take to generate a buzz?
If you were organizing a flash mob ....what message would you send?
What creative ideas do you have for bringing people together?
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