My friend sent me a video of his friend's marriage proposal. The groom-to-be did not just get down on one knee. Instead, dancers and a marching band broke out in song and dance around the oblivious gal, before her man popped the big question. A flash mob. Nice.
Apparently flash mobs are becoming more and more popular as a means of proposing and just for general merriment. The first time I'd really seen a flash mob was on the television show: Modern Family (great show, by the way). On the show, two of the characters are at the mall, and suddenly one of them breaks off into dance as part of a Flash Mob. He'd said he'd been working late, when really he'd been rehearsing.
I'd heard about flash mobs just here and there, but never seen one in real life. It kind of reminded me of high school, when my friend and I wanted so badly to live in a musical reality, that for one whole day, every time we saw each other we sang instead of spoke, and made up dances. It was super dorky but obviously super fun.
I decided to become part of a flash mob. After doing some internet research, I found Flash Mob West LA on Meetup.com. There were tons of mobs, almost one every weekend. I found the one that interested me the most...Mary Poppins themed!
First was the rehearsal (there are several, but they recommend you attend two). Well actually, first I watched the training video, and tried to familiarize myself with the steps. Then I drove to a park in Studio City where our first meeting was.
When I drove by the area, I thought "what have I got myself into". Literally. I thought that. I might have even said that out loud as I drove past the four or five scattered people dancing in the grass. I parked my car, and watched for a minute. There were about ten people at this point. According to Meetup, over 100 people had signed up to do the Flash Mob. I was confused, but I had driven all the way there, so I took a deep breath, and exited the car.
I was a bit trepidatious about doing a flash mob alone. It seemed like a really fun activity to do with friends. But once I joined the group and we got into the moves, I started to loosen up and giggle...because it is kind of silly...and it didn't matter that I was laughing with myself.
The choreography was basic, but it wasn't easy. There were some bossier/extroverted people in the group, enjoying themselves a little too much and stealing the thunder away from the instructor, but it was all in good fun.
What interested me the most was the diverse group of people that this kind of medium (?) grabs. In my particular group there was an older white couple, a young punky Mexican couple, four middle-aged women of varying ethnicities, a little six-year-old girl and her large mother, a 20-something actor guy from a theatre company that is putting on a performance of Mary Poppins, and...me. There were other people scattered throughout, but they were behind me in the formation so I couldn't focus my attention on them, but it was pretty vast, and very interesting. Who knew flash mobs could bring such different people together?
By the end of the rehearsal, I'd become one of the annoying people (counting aloud because I wanted those not paying attention to get the beats right), which made me realize that I was really into it. It reminded me of musical theatre performances in high school, which was a real treat, since I so miss those days.
The next rehearsal I attended was the day of the performance. We met at a Roxbury Park, near the Century City Shopping Center. Parking was a hassle because it was a Saturday and lots of people were enjoying the beautiful day. Other than that, the rehearsal was a success. Paula, the organizer, brought donuts, and everyone was laughing and having fun, with nervous anticipation for our big show. I spoke to some interesting people, an actor and a older woman who'd done 12 flash mobs!
We rehearsed a few times, discussed the layout of the mall and where we'd be standing, and then left to go to our prime location. Once there, we had to pretend we were shopping or just perusing the shops, you know, hanging out. But, we all kind of gathered in the same area, and it might have looked a bit suspicious. I was a little nervous that I'd screw up, and some passerby would film it, and I'd become an overnight youtube sensation "Flash Mob Fail".
Paula tested the music on the loud speaker, so if shoppers were paying close attention they might have heard a bit of Mary Poppins "Step in Time" intertwined with the Top 40 music that typically wafts through the speakers.
Then the music started, for real, and thus the festivities began, and promptly at 2 PM, our set time. People gathered by the food court and looked over the balconies, filming our dance with their phones. Luckily, it wasn't nerve-racking once we started dancing. Just enjoyable.
I do think the mob was a bit underwelming, simply because there were only about 30 of us, and there were supposed to be 100, which would have been much more exciting. I also messed up a bunch of times, because this mob called for children, and they weren't sure where to stand, so I kept trying to avoid hitting into them.
Overall, it was a really fun experience. Luckily my friends were at the mall that day, so I felt like I had my own little, personalized audience.
I met people, danced (which was surprisingly a great form of exercise - we were all pretty sweaty after dancing in the heat), and felt part of an experience. I heard that Flash Mob America garners bigger groups, so I might try that organizer, but I think doing this was a one time thing for me. I got my experience, and I feel satisfied.
Watch a video of the mob here:
If you want to learn more about Flash Mobs go here: www.dancemobnation.com/
You can also learn more by joining a West LA (or any location) Meet up group, which is how I found out about this particular mob.
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