Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance

[Oct 28]TORONTO,Canada--Over 40 people participated in attempting to set a world record Saturday at Atomic Ballroom in Irvine, dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" simultaneously with others in 80 cities in 17 countries.

Toronto is just one of 80 cities where the killer zombie dance moves was being performed. In 17 countries across five continents at exactly 6 p.m., hundreds of people performed the dance moves that made 'Thriller' so popular.    

Photo: Steve Zylius/The Orange County Register

   "I've never done any kind of choreographed dance like this, and it's so much fun," said Clark, a graphic designer and artist. "I dig that it's a global, international event. I think it's really cool that everybody all over the world can get together and do something totally crazy like this. And nobody's killing anybody."

   The Irvine "Thrill the World" event was organized by Irvine resident Tom Nguyen and dance instructor Jeremy Heckman. They arranged rehearsals and the main show in only two weeks, after hearing that a Toronto, Canada, dance instructor was gunning for the world record for " Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance ."

     Head organizer Ines Markeljevic decided to put together the international spectacle after pulling off a successful 'Thriller' feat last year around Halloween, the time of year the song is most often played. Sixty-two people danced to "Thriller" in Toronto and set a Guiness World Record for the Largest Thriller Dance.

    It took her two and a half weeks to get people together the first time around so this year, she decided to devote the year to spreading the word across the world. She travelled to Europe, Australia, and the United States to get people on board and even made a YouTube instructional video for people to start learning the dance.

The song
    Pop singer Michael Jackson released the song and album “Thriller” in 1982. Both became huge hits. The 1983 video for the “Thriller” single, directed by John Landis, was 14 minutes long and included a memorable dance with zombies backing a transformed Jackson, who looked like a werewolf and a zombie.

    The number of total participants will be tallied over the next few days and posted on www.thrilltheworld.com .

       Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance videos