What A Flash Mob Is & How You Can Participate. Flash Mobs are an internet phenomenon of the 21st century. Although Flash Mobs don’t happen online, they are organized using social media, viral emails, or websites in general. Consequently, the first ‘official’ gathering of this nature was attempted in Manhatten in May 2003, the early days of social media. The phenomenon has since spread across the globe and Flash Mobs are open to anyone to join. Would you like to participate in a Flash Mob? How Does It Work? Flash Mobs are initiated online. An example of an upcoming worldwide Flash Mob is Thrill The World, a tribute to Michal Jackson.
This is what the practicing session looked like in Vancouver in 2010: To participate in October, learn the dance here: Now let’s look at some ways you can find other upcoming Flash Mobs in your area. Improv Everywhere & The Urban Prankster Network Improv Everywhere, aka IE, is a performance art group based in New York City.
One of Improv Everywhere’s most famous pranks is the ‘Frozen Grand Central’ mission: Anarchy rules! Flash mobs -- big, spontaneous crowds that celebrate organized chaos -- are fast growing around the world. Their mission: to have fun. Their message: There isn't one. Saturday afternoon in Dolores Park feels bucolic. Dog owners walk their pets past groups of friends clustered around benches, chatting. Strolling couples steer around sun-lovers sprawled on the grass. Chaos erupts at exactly 2:07 p.m. Sun-bathers suddenly leap to their feet and friends break formation. Strangers begin grabbing one another's hands and running toward a central point in the park.
Pedestrians on Dolores Street and patrons of a sidewalk cafe charge up the hill to join them. Together, they form a series of enormous circles that fill the grassy expanse beside the park's playground. Then, as quickly as they formed, the circles break. They probably don't realize it, but they've just witnessed San Francisco's second "flash mob," a phenomenon that was born in New York and is spreading across the United States and Europe with the speed of an Internet virus.
For Saturday's mob, participants -- At precisely 2:07 p.m., form giant standing circles, holding hands, on the main lawn. ReWeb | Is this the final nail in the coffin for flash mobs? The University of Washington Alumni Association has posted on its website a call for participants in a "flash mob" during halftime of the homecoming game on Oct. 16. "Dance on the field during halftime to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" as part of the Husky Marching Band's first-ever flash mob," the post reads. Isn't there a point when such widespread communication about a flash mob makes it a "planned dance show" instead?
What happened to the days when flash mobs were truly inspired performance art that relied on social networking and text messages for planning? Was it the plethora of "Glee" flash mobs that flooded YouTube last year? Husky band coordinates flash mob, practice required. Do you want to see these guys dance on the football field? (Seattlepi.com file photo) The term “flash mob” seems to be taking on a new meaning. Once upon a time, these were secretive gatherings that often had political undertones.
Now when people talk about flash mobs, they’re often talking about a quick, not-so-impromptu dance party. That’s what the University of Washington’s marching band is planning during the football team’s homecoming game on Oct. 16. Here’s what the UW Alumni Association is advertising: Dance on the field during halftime to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” as part of the Husky Marching Band’s first-ever flash mob. Flash mob. A flash mob (or flashmob)[1] is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression.[2][3][4] Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails.[5][6][7][8][9] The term, coined in 2003, is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisement, publicity stunts that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals.[7][10][11] In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term smart mobs is often applied instead.
History[edit] First flash mob[edit] Flash mobbing was quickly imitated outside of the United States. This picture is of "sydmob", the first flashmob held in Sydney, Australia Precedents and precursors[edit] Use of the term[edit] Legality[edit] Crime[edit] See also[edit] Happening. A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings occur anywhere and are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience. Key elements of happenings are planned, and artists sometimes keep room for improvisation. This new media art aspect to happenings eliminates the boundary between the artwork and its viewer. In the late 1960s, perhaps due to the depiction in films of hippie culture, the term was much less specifically used to mean any gathering of interest from a pool hall meetup or a jamming of a few young people to a beer blast or fancy formal party. History[edit] Origins[edit] Happenings are difficult to describe, in part because each one is unique and completely different from one another.
Happenings can be a form of participatory new media art, emphasizing an interaction between the performer and the audience. Difference from plays[edit] Around the world[edit]