Forget flash mobs. Move over Gangnam Style.
The Harlem Shake is the new public performance art gone viral.
Even the real estate industry is getting into the act.
Take a look at Movoto’s fun gang of real estate people behaving badly – and having a heck of a good time in the process.
The housing recovery must be here.
A little history lesson.
The song, the video meme
According to Wikipedia, the current viral uploading ‘Harlem Shake’ meme was first introduced by The Sunny Coast Skate group who borrowed a bit from a video by Filthy Frank. FF’s video featured a section where several costumed people danced to a No. 1 Billboard song, “Harlem Shake” by Baauer.
The original Harlem Shake, wasn’t a song, but a dance (some Harlem Shake videos include performers doing versions of the original dance) that began in, you guessed it, Harlem, New York back in 1981.
The dance
Some accounts say the dance has historical roots in an Ethiopian dance called “Eskista.”
Other accounts say the dance was originally crafted as the “albee,” named for its creator, a Harlem resident known as “Al B” (Cisco).
Al B reportedly said the shoulder popping dance has its roots in ancient Egypt and is described as how mummies would dance. Al B surmised, given their wrapped up condition, all mummies could muster would be a simple sway and shake.
Here’s a video of a dance lesson on the original Harlem Shake.
And here’s the original Harlem Shake with a more urban arrangement, right from the streets where the dance was born.
