Thrill the World
Thrill the World is an annual international dance event and world record breaking attempt, in which participants simultaneously emulate the zombie dance seen in the music video of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", originally choreographed by Michael Peters and assisted by Vincent Paterson.
The idea to create an international event, in which participants simultaneously emulate the zombie dance in the music video of Michael Jackson's "Thriller", came about in 2006.
[1] At the time, a group of 62 zombies set a Guinness World Record for Largest Thriller Dance in one location, at a community hall in Canada.
The world record, however, was subsequently broken, when 1722 people from 52 cities on five different continents emulated Jackson's zombie dance.
"[2] On Sunday, October 29, 2006, Thrill Toronto's 62 zombies officially set the first Guinness World Record for "Largest Thriller Dance!"
[5] During the event, Nguyen and Heckman collected donations for the American Red Cross, which would then be used to aid victims of the October 2007 California wildfires.
Their Brisbane event was coordinated by Andrew Curnock, a Queensland University of Technology tutor and gaming software sound engineer.
[1] "We basically came across that viral video that featured a bunch of (prison) inmates performing the Thriller dance", Curnock revealed.
"[1] Participants went through weeks of dance classes and costume preparation before the event, although Curnock added that those involved didn't have to be great dancers.
"[1] Curnock stated that he hoped Thrill the World wouldn't be a passing fad for Brisbane, but would be a permanent fixture on their social calendar.
"[8] Indiana Adams, who also helped with the Austin dance, remembered being so obsessed with Thriller as a child that she started to tell people her mother had been one of the zombies in the video.
[9] The event raised considerable publicity across most forms of media, including TV,[10] radio,[11] online[12] and print.
[14] On October 27, 2012, around 9,450 dancers took part in 174 locations, raising money for causes such as the NSPCC, SOS Children's Villages and Animal Aid.
[citation needed] On June 6, 2011, an organized flashmob "Thriller" dance was performed in front of the presidential palace of La Moneda in Santiago, Chile as a peaceful protest against the government's education policies.
