Published 2010-10-25T20:16:00Z”/>
Candyce Chilson
The living dead marched onto the grounds of the downtown City Plaza in full zombie character to break the record for largest, <a href=”http://thrilltheworld.com/” target=”_blank”>worldwide</a>, simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson’s cultural phenomenon, “Thriller.”
Zombies of all ages ran amok for the second annual “<a href= “http://thrilltheworldchico.wordpress.com” target=”_blank”>Thrill the World</a>” in Chico, dressed head-to-toe in costume. From the ghastly white and black facial makeup with blood accents to clothing with rips and tears, 253 people gathered to all begin to dance at 4 p.m.
Back in 1982, Jackson released one of the most recognized songs in the nation. The 14-minute music video for “Thriller” was named the most influential and culturally significant music video of all time in 2009 by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
The video is known for its scenes of gruesome zombies dancing alongside Jackson as he himself becomes one of the dancing corpses. The screenplay received recognition worldwide, and many admit they love to show off their thrilling moves.
Senior sociology major Jennifer Ward was among the dancers in the City Plaza.
“There’s so much horrible stuff going on in the world, it’s nice just to have a good time,” Ward said.
The countdown began and the zombies took their places lying down on the concrete as the beginning sound effects of lightning and thunder began. Fitting perfectly with the weather in Chico, the dancers’ makeup and clothing began to get wet as the rain added an extra gory effect of a scary movie.
Krista Jacobson, graduate student and communications sciences and disorders major, thinks “Thrill the World” was a great event – especially since Halloween is right around the corner, she said.
Dancers began practicing the choreography for “Thriller” on Sept. 11. There were also tutorials offered online to learn the dance from home.
The creaking sounds of caskets opening signaled the zombies to awake from their slumber in full character, and they began to mirror Jackson’s epic music video.
“Thrill the World” got its start in 2006 in Toronto, Canada, according to the event’s website. Guinness World Records named the 62-person dance as the largest “Thriller” dance worldwide. Since then, “Thrill the World” has managed to gain quite a following.
In 2009, a new world record was set as 22,571 people from 33 nations performed Jackson’s hit at the exact same time.
Nursing major Jeff Reyes thought the event was a great fit for Chico, he said.
“This is one of the great things about Chico,” Reyes said. “It even gets the kids involved.”
Reyes and Ward plan to get a “flash mob” going by setting up music at the Tinseltown movie theater and at Chico State to randomly get people involved in a simultaneous dance, he said.
Despite the rain, the “Thrill the World” went off without any problems. Many showed up with umbrellas in hand to watch Chico’s attempt to help break the world record.
“I had a great time watching and I encourage people to come out next year,” Jacobson said.
Candyce Chilson can be reached at [email protected]
