Bluefromfrance
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http://mjdatabank.com/news/projecteur/ttw_eng.htm
THRILL THE WORLD: Thrills, Dance & Unity
THRILL THE WORLD is a worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to set a new record for Record Holders Republic (RHR)*. Thousands of people in cities around the world will learn the "Thriller" dance and perform it at the exact same time on October 27/ 28, 2007. This ambitious project would not exist without Ines Markeljevic. Ines began dancing at age 3 to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Her formal dance career began at age 16 at Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario. It was here that Ines first learned the choreography for Thriller from her dance teacher Janis Price, and she then taught the dance to other dance and drama students to perform it for the Hallowe'en Spirit Assembly.
Ines completed her dance studies at York University. She went on to become a certified STOTT Pilates Instructor, a CAN-FIT-PRO Fitness Instructor Specialist and a dance instructor and choreographer of Hip Hop, Salsa and Contemporary Dance. Ines has choreographed for Mambo Mosaic Salsa Company at the Canada Salsa Congress, placed first at the STOMP competition 2006 with her kids Hip Hop company the "Lil' Miss Fitz", and was acknowledged for her exceptional work as a Fitness Instructor at York University. She is "thrilled" to see the excitement Thrill the World is creating. It was time for MJ data bank to ask Ines more about THRILL THE WORLD during a very short break in her very tight schedule.
How TTW was born? Where does the idea come from?
I grew up on the THRILLER album. We have home videos of me dancing to the Thriller album and trying to do the moonwalk since age 3 or 2. Then, when I was in High School, I learned the dance from my high school dance teacher and I taught it to other drama students and we performed it. Every year, I just did the Thriller dance for Halloween. People would say: « wow that's cool, I wish I could do that ». So I tried to tell them that they could and that it was easy but they wouldn't believe me.
So I did that 9 years - every year - and I read an article in 2005, just before Halloween and it said 'Thriller at Dundas Square'. I was all upset. I thought it was about some huge performance of Thriller and somehow I'd missed it. So I read the article and it turned out that it actually was the Toronto Zombie Walk: they went through Dundas Square where some other event was being held.
The DJ played the THRILLER song and there was a zombie doing a few of the dance moves (it was a friend of mine from high school that I had taught the dance to when we performed it for the very 1st time when I was in grade 11). So I finished reading it and thought "Glad I didn't miss it!" Then I went to the Landmark Forum 3 days later - a weekend program that was amazing, if I hadn't been there I don't think I'd be doing all this right now - and I decided to create the Large THRILLER dance. I wrote to Guiness and filed an online application for Largest Group Dance. They wrote back saying the largest group dance was the Chicken Dance done with over 4,000 people at a state county fair. I thought "Forget it. How can I get 4 000 people doing THRILLER? Come on, are you crazy? It's ridiculous", so I gave up.
Oct 13th, 2006: I got an email from Guinness. They wanted photos of the THRILLER Dance for their international press release for Guinness World Record Day as well as to be considered to be included in next year's book. So, on that day, I decided to go for it, I didn't know how it would all work out, but I had two weeks to put the whole thing on. We had 62 people dance THRILLER and we set the first record for Guinness record for Largest THRILLER Dance - they made a category just for our event. And as soon as that was done I started planning for Thrill The World because I knew that there were more than 62 people from Toronto who would have come but they did not know about it, and more people around the world, as well, who would love to learn the dance. And, I know that the way that I teach makes the difference and makes it possible for anyone to do the dance, for I use language and not numbers. So it's been more than a year that I've been in THRILLER mode.
As a dancer, how would you describe the dance of the THRILLER video?
That's a good question and no one actually asked me that before. It's sort of hip hop, pop, jazz choreography. Michael Peters is the main choreographer. I know that when he worked with artists he tried to create movements that looked good on them. So it was not really intricate dancing and complicated stuff. It was simple, strong movements that were always distinct to whatever song or artist he was working with. They are very iconic because they are simple movements and that use the whole body. The movements are really recognisable and it's really stylised as well.
What do you feel when you perform it ?
When I perform it, by the end of it I feel a little tired (LOL). We're doing the 5 minute version. When I perform it. it's just like everything stops. When you hear the audience that is going insane yelling, cause they love the video, so much, they love the dance, they love the song. It feels good to know that audiences still enjoy watching it, and that now more people around the world get to enjoy performing it!
What makes THRILLER a timeless piece in your opinion?
25 years later it s still popular. Kids who weren't even born when it came out know the video and know the song, and they wanna learn the dance. And I think there's a lot of things that go into that; in summary they got everything right. They had all the strong elements needed to have 25 years staying in power. 1st thing: Michael Jackson, a pop icon. Musical achievements beyond any other artist that we have today. The video itself is revolutionary. It was not just a band on a stage singing with maybe a little bit of choreography. It was a movie, there was a story, there were characters. There was an elaborate set, it was a feature in itself.
That was huge. You instantly recognize the signature bass beat: you know it's Thriller. Same thing with the dance: it can be any song played, when you perform the choreography people go: 'Oh my God, it's THRILLER !' I haven't seen anything repeated to that calibre since then.
Michael Jackson - Thriller: What do you think about the Artist and his artistry ?
His music, his artistry and his passion, regardless of what happens, still come across. People still appreciate it, value it and enjoy it. It speaks for itself: 25 years and Thriller is still popular.
What are the difficulties you can face when you go into such an ambitious project?
Well one challenge is re-creating the excitement for and commitment to the project on a daily basis. Every day, I could've quit. And I did quit on maybe 6 different days.
Every day, I remind myself why I'm doing this, and read the emails from people who are appreciative of the Teaching Videos and I find something to keep me going. At the beginning, there seemed to be more people saying, "This is impossible," than people saying, "this an incredible idea!" But the closer we got to the event, the more people we had supporting TTW. well, I haven't heard anyone say it was impossible, or silly or ridiculous in months now!
And, honestly, it's been hard financially this past year, I won't pretend it's been easy. Yes, I had help here and there from friends, but for the most part it's been all the work falling on me, so I didn't have time for a job this year. Just a few workshops taught here and there. I'm hoping that next year we will have corporate sponsors partnering with TTW so that I CAN afford to create TTW 2008 even better and bigger than this year!
When anyone dares to take on anything they have never done before, or that they have no reason to believe they will be successful in, it's hard to see HOW it's all going to work, how it's going to happen. I had no idea when I started what the path would look like, I just knew where I wanted to end up. People often wait to take action until they KNOW everything, until the know how to do it. I say start now, and the how will follow! If I had waited till I knew how, it'd likely be 10 or 20 years from now that you would've even heard of Thrill The World.
You mentioned on your website that next year TTW will be back to celebrate THRILLER - THE VIDEO 25TH anniversary. I think TTW should be organized each year, that would be a great moment to get people together and celebrate dance and music, thus acceptance and peace. What do you think ?
Yes, I think it should be organized each year as well, and I plan on doing that provided I have the capacity to. We're gonna work on getting a couple of sponsors and funding next year cause I can't do it by myself again. It took a crazy amount of work, but it will have been worth it when I see the zombies all over the world dancing!
Is there any message or something you'd like to say to our readers?
We don't have an event in France yet and I'd love to see an event in Paris or anywhere else in France. So go to the website and check out the Event Registration. Even if it's 5 or 10 people dancing, I want to put France on the map, and hoping we can make it bigger next year. What would be cool is that one day enough people know this dance with the words that I use when I teach that I could be anywhere and I'd start doing the dance and people would join me cause they also know the words from the dance. And you just see this chorus of people who never met on the street, somewhere, dancing together. It's another level of transcending culture, boundary, language through the dance. I wanna show that anyone can dance. My mantra is that 'Impossible equals hasn't been done yet.' And I say that cause when I started people said 'this is ridiculous, this is crazy, this is stupid idea, this is impossible blah blah.'. Well, it's now more then a year since I started and we have events in 79 cities and I know there'll be more next year. Thanks for supporting THRILL THE WORLD!
////////////////////
Ok, since that interview, France finally made it and is now part of THRILL THE WORLD: Franck Lucide and his school TARABERCILIACK based in Alès (Gard, South of France) is bringing his zombie team for this year's THRILL THE WORLD edition (the event will take place this oct. 27th, midnight!). 89 events, 79 cities around the world: and it's only the beginning... Stay tuned for some THRILL THE WORLD !
*: Record Holders Republic is devoted to world records, unusual stunts and/or feats. Created by record holders for record holders, it's goal is to provide a place where other record holders can point to their accomplishment on the world wide web and at the same time display their accomplishment with an attractive Official World Record Certificate. TTW was aiming for a Guinness, but will not meet criteria for the category it applied to "Largest Simultaneous Dance (in multiple locations"). The TTW team has decided to create a new category with RHR. Even if TTW, the entire organization, is NOT going for Guinness this year, a few TTW events are making claims to Guinness, independent of TTW, for the category of Largest Thriller Dance (in one location).
Text: Richard Lecocq
Additional text and reference: TTW
Special Thanks to Ines: THRILL THE WORLD is the Next Level!
© October 2007, MJ data bank. All Rights reserved
THRILL THE WORLD: Thrills, Dance & Unity
THRILL THE WORLD is a worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to set a new record for Record Holders Republic (RHR)*. Thousands of people in cities around the world will learn the "Thriller" dance and perform it at the exact same time on October 27/ 28, 2007. This ambitious project would not exist without Ines Markeljevic. Ines began dancing at age 3 to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Her formal dance career began at age 16 at Eastwood Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario. It was here that Ines first learned the choreography for Thriller from her dance teacher Janis Price, and she then taught the dance to other dance and drama students to perform it for the Hallowe'en Spirit Assembly.
Ines completed her dance studies at York University. She went on to become a certified STOTT Pilates Instructor, a CAN-FIT-PRO Fitness Instructor Specialist and a dance instructor and choreographer of Hip Hop, Salsa and Contemporary Dance. Ines has choreographed for Mambo Mosaic Salsa Company at the Canada Salsa Congress, placed first at the STOMP competition 2006 with her kids Hip Hop company the "Lil' Miss Fitz", and was acknowledged for her exceptional work as a Fitness Instructor at York University. She is "thrilled" to see the excitement Thrill the World is creating. It was time for MJ data bank to ask Ines more about THRILL THE WORLD during a very short break in her very tight schedule.
How TTW was born? Where does the idea come from?
I grew up on the THRILLER album. We have home videos of me dancing to the Thriller album and trying to do the moonwalk since age 3 or 2. Then, when I was in High School, I learned the dance from my high school dance teacher and I taught it to other drama students and we performed it. Every year, I just did the Thriller dance for Halloween. People would say: « wow that's cool, I wish I could do that ». So I tried to tell them that they could and that it was easy but they wouldn't believe me.
So I did that 9 years - every year - and I read an article in 2005, just before Halloween and it said 'Thriller at Dundas Square'. I was all upset. I thought it was about some huge performance of Thriller and somehow I'd missed it. So I read the article and it turned out that it actually was the Toronto Zombie Walk: they went through Dundas Square where some other event was being held.
The DJ played the THRILLER song and there was a zombie doing a few of the dance moves (it was a friend of mine from high school that I had taught the dance to when we performed it for the very 1st time when I was in grade 11). So I finished reading it and thought "Glad I didn't miss it!" Then I went to the Landmark Forum 3 days later - a weekend program that was amazing, if I hadn't been there I don't think I'd be doing all this right now - and I decided to create the Large THRILLER dance. I wrote to Guiness and filed an online application for Largest Group Dance. They wrote back saying the largest group dance was the Chicken Dance done with over 4,000 people at a state county fair. I thought "Forget it. How can I get 4 000 people doing THRILLER? Come on, are you crazy? It's ridiculous", so I gave up.
Oct 13th, 2006: I got an email from Guinness. They wanted photos of the THRILLER Dance for their international press release for Guinness World Record Day as well as to be considered to be included in next year's book. So, on that day, I decided to go for it, I didn't know how it would all work out, but I had two weeks to put the whole thing on. We had 62 people dance THRILLER and we set the first record for Guinness record for Largest THRILLER Dance - they made a category just for our event. And as soon as that was done I started planning for Thrill The World because I knew that there were more than 62 people from Toronto who would have come but they did not know about it, and more people around the world, as well, who would love to learn the dance. And, I know that the way that I teach makes the difference and makes it possible for anyone to do the dance, for I use language and not numbers. So it's been more than a year that I've been in THRILLER mode.
As a dancer, how would you describe the dance of the THRILLER video?
That's a good question and no one actually asked me that before. It's sort of hip hop, pop, jazz choreography. Michael Peters is the main choreographer. I know that when he worked with artists he tried to create movements that looked good on them. So it was not really intricate dancing and complicated stuff. It was simple, strong movements that were always distinct to whatever song or artist he was working with. They are very iconic because they are simple movements and that use the whole body. The movements are really recognisable and it's really stylised as well.
What do you feel when you perform it ?
When I perform it, by the end of it I feel a little tired (LOL). We're doing the 5 minute version. When I perform it. it's just like everything stops. When you hear the audience that is going insane yelling, cause they love the video, so much, they love the dance, they love the song. It feels good to know that audiences still enjoy watching it, and that now more people around the world get to enjoy performing it!
What makes THRILLER a timeless piece in your opinion?
25 years later it s still popular. Kids who weren't even born when it came out know the video and know the song, and they wanna learn the dance. And I think there's a lot of things that go into that; in summary they got everything right. They had all the strong elements needed to have 25 years staying in power. 1st thing: Michael Jackson, a pop icon. Musical achievements beyond any other artist that we have today. The video itself is revolutionary. It was not just a band on a stage singing with maybe a little bit of choreography. It was a movie, there was a story, there were characters. There was an elaborate set, it was a feature in itself.
That was huge. You instantly recognize the signature bass beat: you know it's Thriller. Same thing with the dance: it can be any song played, when you perform the choreography people go: 'Oh my God, it's THRILLER !' I haven't seen anything repeated to that calibre since then.
Michael Jackson - Thriller: What do you think about the Artist and his artistry ?
His music, his artistry and his passion, regardless of what happens, still come across. People still appreciate it, value it and enjoy it. It speaks for itself: 25 years and Thriller is still popular.
What are the difficulties you can face when you go into such an ambitious project?
Well one challenge is re-creating the excitement for and commitment to the project on a daily basis. Every day, I could've quit. And I did quit on maybe 6 different days.
Every day, I remind myself why I'm doing this, and read the emails from people who are appreciative of the Teaching Videos and I find something to keep me going. At the beginning, there seemed to be more people saying, "This is impossible," than people saying, "this an incredible idea!" But the closer we got to the event, the more people we had supporting TTW. well, I haven't heard anyone say it was impossible, or silly or ridiculous in months now!
And, honestly, it's been hard financially this past year, I won't pretend it's been easy. Yes, I had help here and there from friends, but for the most part it's been all the work falling on me, so I didn't have time for a job this year. Just a few workshops taught here and there. I'm hoping that next year we will have corporate sponsors partnering with TTW so that I CAN afford to create TTW 2008 even better and bigger than this year!
When anyone dares to take on anything they have never done before, or that they have no reason to believe they will be successful in, it's hard to see HOW it's all going to work, how it's going to happen. I had no idea when I started what the path would look like, I just knew where I wanted to end up. People often wait to take action until they KNOW everything, until the know how to do it. I say start now, and the how will follow! If I had waited till I knew how, it'd likely be 10 or 20 years from now that you would've even heard of Thrill The World.
You mentioned on your website that next year TTW will be back to celebrate THRILLER - THE VIDEO 25TH anniversary. I think TTW should be organized each year, that would be a great moment to get people together and celebrate dance and music, thus acceptance and peace. What do you think ?
Yes, I think it should be organized each year as well, and I plan on doing that provided I have the capacity to. We're gonna work on getting a couple of sponsors and funding next year cause I can't do it by myself again. It took a crazy amount of work, but it will have been worth it when I see the zombies all over the world dancing!
Is there any message or something you'd like to say to our readers?
We don't have an event in France yet and I'd love to see an event in Paris or anywhere else in France. So go to the website and check out the Event Registration. Even if it's 5 or 10 people dancing, I want to put France on the map, and hoping we can make it bigger next year. What would be cool is that one day enough people know this dance with the words that I use when I teach that I could be anywhere and I'd start doing the dance and people would join me cause they also know the words from the dance. And you just see this chorus of people who never met on the street, somewhere, dancing together. It's another level of transcending culture, boundary, language through the dance. I wanna show that anyone can dance. My mantra is that 'Impossible equals hasn't been done yet.' And I say that cause when I started people said 'this is ridiculous, this is crazy, this is stupid idea, this is impossible blah blah.'. Well, it's now more then a year since I started and we have events in 79 cities and I know there'll be more next year. Thanks for supporting THRILL THE WORLD!
////////////////////
Ok, since that interview, France finally made it and is now part of THRILL THE WORLD: Franck Lucide and his school TARABERCILIACK based in Alès (Gard, South of France) is bringing his zombie team for this year's THRILL THE WORLD edition (the event will take place this oct. 27th, midnight!). 89 events, 79 cities around the world: and it's only the beginning... Stay tuned for some THRILL THE WORLD !
*: Record Holders Republic is devoted to world records, unusual stunts and/or feats. Created by record holders for record holders, it's goal is to provide a place where other record holders can point to their accomplishment on the world wide web and at the same time display their accomplishment with an attractive Official World Record Certificate. TTW was aiming for a Guinness, but will not meet criteria for the category it applied to "Largest Simultaneous Dance (in multiple locations"). The TTW team has decided to create a new category with RHR. Even if TTW, the entire organization, is NOT going for Guinness this year, a few TTW events are making claims to Guinness, independent of TTW, for the category of Largest Thriller Dance (in one location).
Text: Richard Lecocq
Additional text and reference: TTW
Special Thanks to Ines: THRILL THE WORLD is the Next Level!
© October 2007, MJ data bank. All Rights reserved