ZUMBA flashmob

Katie D.

May 26, 2010 - 6:00 PM

Yesterday we, the Zumba participants of the University of Oregon, held a highly successful flashmob at the EMU on campus. For those of you not familiar with the concept of a flashmob, here are some great Youtube videos that will help you get a feel for them: 

Essentially, this is a pre-organized activity, such as a dance or other dramatic activity, that is held in the middle of a public place and is planned to seem as though it were a group of random individuals, all doing something spontaneously.

Well. The Zumba flashmob at the UO was extremely successful. Our instructor, Lindsay Tandingan had the campus radio station play one of our favorite songs. When it came on, she walked out into the middle of the amphitheater by herself, and began to dance alone. Then a couple of students joined in. Then a few more. By the time I joined, there were at least fifty of us. I'd say that, by the end, we had almost seventy.

Zumba is so fun. It's a cardio dance class I've joined this term: one that takes world dance moves and tempos and creates a workout. I spend so much of my time being serious and scholarly that my twice-weekly Zumba class is an extremely welcome escape. I get to salsa, shimmy, mambo, and hip-hop dance my little heart out for an hour. It's fabulous.

So imagine combining my classtime love for the dancing with an unexpected public performance. It was great. We all wandered toward the EMU, talking on the phone and pretending to read the newspaper etc, not acknowledging all the familiar faces from our Zumba class. While I was waiting for my moment to join the dancing, I got to watch everyone busting a move together. I even heard some audience members make comments like "is this a group?" and "who are these people?"

I was in super-agent-of-the-dance-world mode.

Then, once I was dancing, it was a totally goofy opportunity to be out in front of the world for all the campus to see, dancing my heart out.

Stuff like this is what makes college so fun. Obviously I love my studies and my classes, and my routines of life and the time I get to spend with my friends. But every once in a while something totally unprecedented takes place. Something spontaneous and fun. Something lots of people miss between their other commitments. Something that makes a week special.

Once our dance was over, we all walked away like nothing had happened. I resumed an interrupted phone call with my mother, my friends headed back to class, Lindsay was almost skipping back to a Zumba class, feeling so proud of the turnout and the event overall. The EMU amphitheater was clear in mere moments, and the day continued.

I hope you'll take the opportunity to watch the video of the flashmob.It starts about twenty seconds in, so you can't see the intro part. But the woman in front in jeans and a purple sweatshirt is Lindsay, our instructor. I'm on the left side of the screen, in a dark green shirt with a white tree on the front. Try to watch it and not giggle a little bit. I dare you.