"Thriller" record breaking attempt at Bryan Center Saturday

Miami Valley to join 3rd annual worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in Yellow Springs in attempt to break world record

Yellow Springs, Ohio, October 19, 2009 – On Saturday, October 24, 2009, the weekend before Halloween, Yellow Springs will host a local space in which Miami Valley residents and beyond may participate in a tribute to Michael Jackson, in the form of a simultaneous Thriller dance, carried out worldwide in an attempt to break a world record. The event will be a part of the official Thrill the World dance events happening across the globe. The 2009 Thrill The World event is set for October 25, 2009 @ 12:30am GMT/UTC (October 24, 2009 in EST). This year's Thrill The World aims to be an unprecedented global celebration of the life and music of Michael Jackson.

Judith Wolert-Maldonado, a local disc jockey known locally as DJ Juju, and local organizer of the event, encourages Michael Jackson fans and impersonators, zombie impersonators and dancers of all ages to participate in the local event. Wolert-Maldonado hosted an outdoor world music dance party throughout the summer of 2009 as part of Yellow Springs' Summer in the Springs events and saw many local children showing their love of the dance. "Despite having the dance event be billed as showcasing world music, I had children repeatedly make song requests each night for the one and only, Michael Jackson," Wolert-Maldonado said. She added, "I felt that I had no choice but to try to have another dance event for youth (and adults) that would solely focus on the music of Michael Jackson, who clearly has local fans of all ages. When I came upon the Thrill the World website and concept in my research for such an event, I thought that it would be perfect for Yellow Springs and the Miami Valley."

Wolert-Maldonado stresses that anyone can participate, regardless of the seemingly-complex dance choreography of the 1980's classic music video and that by attending any of the two open dance rehearsals, the dance can be learned in two hours. The choreography includes many repetitive dance moves which make the learning of the dance approachable. "The most important part about all of this is to just have fun and forget about other more serious matters, even if for a short while", she stated. All events are free to the public. A video on Youtube is available from the Thrill the World website for people to watch to begin practicing in their own homes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heEFEOfAn4k

The first rehearsal will be on Thursday, Oct. 22nd, from 6:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m. at the Yellow Springs Senior Center at 227 Xenia Avenue in Yellow Springs. The second rehearsal will be on Saturday, Oct. 24th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the John Bryan Community Center gymnasium at 100 Dayton Street in Yellow Springs, to be followed promptly by the final and official group dance performance at 8:30 p.m. EST. Participants are encouraged to dress up as zombies or Michael Jackson, if they wish, and to bring plenty of water to avoid dehydration. The event will be videotaped and counted as a part of the world record-breaking attempt.

An estimated 400+ events in 42 countries are expected to dance with between 10,000-50,000 participants worldwide.

Now in its 3rd year, Thrill The World’s participant numbers have increased exponentially from the initial 62 dancers in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2006, which resulted in a Guinness World Record, to 4,179 dancers in 10 countries in 2008. This incredible tribute to Michael Jackson was founded by Ines Markelle, a dance choreographer and instructor in Toronto, Canada. It is Markelle’s unprecedented Thriller dance instructional teaching videos that make it possible for non-dancers and dancers, young and young-at-heart, to learn the dance in a very short time. New Thriller dancers have then gone on to teach other event participants.

Thrill The World achieved the ultimate recognition in 2008 from Quincy Jones. He blogs, “Proof of the Thriller album’s continuing popularity and impact comes in the form of Thrill The World, a volunteer organization that exists to stage simultaneous dances of the song Thriller around the globe.” In July 2009 after the death of Michael Jackson, Jones once again acknowledged Thrill The World in an open letter to the media. He writes, “In every language on the planet, from prison yards in the Philippines to Thrilltheworld.com, that will be the beautiful, grand legacy of Michael Jackson.”

Join us in 2009 as we Thrill The World! Visit www.ThrillTheWorld.com for complete list of events.