Global attempt to break a world record; Calgary participates
Thriller, performed by Michael Jackson.(Sony)
Video by Matt O’Connor
The living dead rose to dance Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” a few days before Halloween.
In an annual simultaneous dance, Jackson fans from around the world dressed as zombies, and at 8 p.m. sharp on Oct.29, the dancers busted their groove in an effort to smash into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Thrill The World 2011 took place in more than 220 cities on 5 continents, said the Calgary event co-manager, Cheryl Gould. Gould has been managing the event since the beginning — this was Calgary’s third year participating in the global event.
Dressed as zombies, people of all ages joined in Calgary’s Thrill the World 2011 event.
Photo by: Taylor Haahr
The global dance event is an attempt to break the world record for “Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance” in multiple locations.
The event originally started in Toronto in 2006. Currently, the record is held by Mexico City, with a total of 13,597 participants.
“When you know that thousands of people, all over the world are doing exactly the same thing, it’s unifying for the entire world,” said Gould about the event.
Dressed as zombies, people of all ages joined in Calgary’s Thrill the World 2011 event.
Photo by: Taylor Haahr
“It means keeping alive the memory of Michael Jackson, who was the best dancer of all time,” said dancer Marina Madigan, who was roped into the event by her son who is co-managing with Gould this year.
This is also Madigan’s third year participating.
This year, Calgary’s portion of the event had 143 dancers. However, the total global stats are yet to be released, said Gould.