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June 11, 2020 12:55 AM   Subscribe

Just a short clip of Mrs. Hawkins the K-8 dance teacher leading the students down a hallway at the Birney School in Southfield, Michigan to Michael Jackson's Thriller (SLYT, pre-COVID-19)
posted by Harald74 (18 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thank you. That was lovely. And the teacher in particular is an amazing dancer.
posted by lollusc at 2:00 AM on June 11, 2020 [6 favorites]


No way in hell I would have tried something like that when I was in school. But the kids these days . . . Are fucking amazing! They really are. They are not as good at some thing's as we were, but are way better at things we didnt know existed.
posted by nestor_makhno at 2:11 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


They seem to be having a very good time, and they have clearly learned things. Yay, school!
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:52 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Loved the joy on the other kids faces. An amazing environment. When I went to school, some 300 years ago, it was all about being the coolest and mocking/bullying anyone who expressed themselves.
posted by greenhornet at 4:06 AM on June 11, 2020 [7 favorites]


This makes me happy! As a man who loves to dance, I just wish I could spot some young men to step up for this. I'll settle for the joy in the crowd on that one.
posted by meinvt at 5:15 AM on June 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


You can learn this dance yourself. The whole thing is broken down into sections with instruction and demonstrations here, at Thrill The World.
posted by hippybear at 6:02 AM on June 11, 2020 [9 favorites]


That made my morning :)
posted by Foosnark at 6:26 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


So much joy and that teacher is an incredible dancer. Needed that this morning!
posted by leslies at 7:05 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Joy! :D
posted by mazola at 8:33 AM on June 11, 2020


Guess who they're going to remember as their favorite teacher?
posted by NorthernLite at 9:32 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Those are some happy zombies!
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:40 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


God, that's good choreography. I'm impressed with the kids (especially that they do the passing lines!), but the Thriller choreography deserves some kind special commendation. It's not that hard, and if you do it sincerely, it looks fantastic.
posted by gladly at 11:13 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


The choreography in the Thrill The World lessons isn't quite exactly what is done by the troupe in the music video short film, but what is left out is body element isolation stuff that normal people can't just do. But it's very close, and is a lot of fun to learn.

I decided to learn it after seeing 13 Going On 30, which has a great scene involving the Thriller dance in it. Unfortunately, I have never been in a situation where could just unleash it unexpectedly in public, and I've sort of forgotten a lot of it.

I should practice it back up. It was fun to do.
posted by hippybear at 6:59 PM on June 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


Thanks for posting this. What a much-needed spot of brightness!
posted by Majorita at 8:18 PM on June 13, 2020


Wow! that's great dancing and great teaching.
posted by theora55 at 6:12 AM on June 14, 2020


I didn't catch that Ms. Hawkins is the dance teacher when I first watched the video, and was like, damn, that classroom middle school teacher can really dance. I love that she has her students dancing in the hallway, what a terrific way to show all the other students that dance is about the joy of expressive movement to music, in any context or setting--and that there is additional joy in sharing it.
posted by LooseFilter at 7:35 AM on June 14, 2020


So amazing - not just the dance but watching middle schoolers let loose and have un-self-conscious fun in front of their peers.
posted by Flannery Culp at 8:45 AM on June 14, 2020


I love that all these years later, the choreography in Thriller is such that it's just *instantly* recognizable. You can't mistake it for anything else. That's what being truly iconic is.
posted by replayer at 1:56 PM on June 17, 2020 [1 favorite]


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