At 7:30 p.m., First Wednesday Street Party patrons witnessed a flash mob of about two dozen young adults performing a choreographed dance on the corner of West Angela and Main Street, in front of .
The flash mob—a spontaneous gathering of people at a public location—was organized by alumnus Adam Siegel and approved by the .
“I've always loved watching flash mobs on the Internet,” he said. “I thought it’d be time for Pleasanton to have our own.”
The flash mob phenomenon became a YouTube-driven sensation starting in the early 2000s, with mobs performing acts such as choreographed dances, pillow fights in Union Square or simultaneously freezing in place in the middle of Grand Central.
Downtown Pleasanton’s flash mob began with a solo dancer, Jillian Butler, who recently graduated from Liberty High School in Brentwood. The mob grew as more and more supposed “bystanders” joined in the project.
The group performed the Glee version of "Safety Dance," which was a flash mob scene on the show.
While the dancing lasted only about two minutes, it was long enough to draw a crowd from curious passersby.
For the flash mob, Siegel recruited several friends and members from the local Young Actors’ Theatre Camp (YATC), a training program for aspiring actors and performers in the San Francisco Bay Area. He taught and rehearsed the choreography with YATC members earlier Wednesday.
“Since [YATC] already had a booth at the street fair, it only made sense for a kids’ theatre camp to try and perform,” Siegel said.
The YATC program is a weeklong intensive camp that operates in the summer and winter. YATC recruits professionals in the film, television and theatre business to give workshops to young students about how to enter their industries.
“At this camp, we have tons of kids who want to be dancers,” said Siegel, who participated in YATC for five years.
“We even had Heather Morris, who plays Brittany on Glee to come teach us the actual flash mob choreography from an episode.”
Other professionals who've visited the camp recently include the casting directors of Lord of the Rings, Mad Men and commercials for companies such as Burger King and Pepsi.
To see the a professional video of the performance produced by Yount Actors' Theatre Camp, click here.
