Sunday, April 26, 2020

Kay Hively: Thoughts about flash mobs

Remember flash mobs. They used to be quite popular but I haven’t heard of one lately.

A flash mob is when a group of people show up in a public place, unannounced, and do something as a mob. Of course there are flash mobs that are bad, even criminal. Flash mobs of kids converging on a store and completely overwhelming the clerks, stealing and running away, are heartbreaking.

These scenes are often carried out after disasters when stores are looted.

But there are some very good flash mobs.








I saw a video of one in a large train station in Belgium where at least a hundred people showed up to dance. The group had coordinated with the depot because the loud speaker played music from “The Sound of Music.“ The song was “Do Re Me,” sung by Julie Andrews.

As soon as the music began, a young man began dancing and was immediately joined by a little girl, and very soon other folks got into the act. The performers appeared on the giant floor, coming from every direction, from down stairways and from within the regular crowd.

It was a magical display as dancers, in regular street dress, were lively and full of energy. Eventually there were at least a hundred dancers on the floor, perfectly synchronized.

The crowd absolutely loved it. They all moved to the edges of the floor and watched and applauded. Being an international train station, the crowd included every color and race and place of origin. People on their way across the globe were there. When the music ended, the dancers just melted away into the crowd as if nothing had happened.

Another flash mob I have watched was performed in a food mall in Canada. It was close to Christmas and the mall was filled with shoppers. Suddenly a young woman stood up with a microphone and began singing the “Hallelujah Chorus.” At another table, quite a distance away, a young man stood on the table and joined her. People were astounded as more and more “shoppers” and “diners” stood and joined the chorus. It was difficult to count the singers but I think there were at least 75.

People stopped eating, shoppers in the mall came to the food court to listen, and people were explaining the event to small children who were thrilled.

When this rousing, uplifting rendition of this great piece of music ended, the singers simply sat down and finished their meal. What a Christmas gift the singers gave to all who heard.

I think this flash mob was organized by the music department at a local college. It was grand.

One more example I want to share came from Spain. It was in a large courtyard and a man in a tuxedo walk out of a shop onto the plaza with a large bass fiddle and started dragging his bow across the strings. People started to watch and he was quickly joined by a lady with a cello, then some violins, horns, a set of drums and all kinds of orchestra instruments. All the performers came from out of the shops around the plaza.

They performed “Ode to Joy,” a Beethoven composition which is one of the most beautiful pieces of music in the world.

Some of the best parts of this were the children who were wide-eyed at all the instruments.

One young boy, dressed in red, shimmed up a lamppost to get a better look. He became so taken with the music that he wound his legs around the post, held on with his left hand and “conducted” the musicians with his right hand and arm. A beautiful sight.

Just between you and me, I hope you go to your computer and watch these great flash mobs and others you may find. Search for flash mobs.
(Kay Hively is a historian, author and former reporter, editor and columnist for the Neosho Daily News and the Neosho Post.)


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see on the teevee the Confederate sympathizers have started having these flashmobs. The bring their guns to the state capital and commence to acting like they are getting ready to attack Fort Sumpter and leave the Union again.

They act like they have a bad cases of constipation and think there a commie or socialist behind every virus precaution and that the world will end if they can't go and get another tattoo or their wife can't get her hair dyed or her nails done.

Although at least when it's white republicon voters yelling and waving their guns it can be called a flashmob instead of a riot.

Robb said...

My favorite flashmob, easily found on YouTube, occurred in the city of Breda in Holland in 2013. A Dutch bank hired performers to recreate Rembrandt's famous painting, "The Night Watch," in a shopping center. The occasion was the re-opening of The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam on April 13 after a long 10-year renovation. The shoppers looked amazed. I wish I had been there!