Harlem Shake
While the song “Harlem Shake” by DJ Baaur has existed since May of last year and a dance of the same name has been around since the ‘80’s, neither have received much exposure until they were combined as a YouTube sensation in early February.
The 30-second-long viral video starts with only one person dancing while everyone else in the shot seemingly ignores them. 15 seconds in, however, the beat drops and massive amounts of people in wearing ridiculous outfits begin “twerking,” shaking and raucously undulating to the song . At the end of the 30 second video, a tiger-like growl is heard and everything goes slow motion for a moment.
This formula remains the same whether it takes place underwater, in a snowy field or in this case, in front of Main Building at St. Edward’s University.
Freshmen Tamara Bonilla and Iliana Sarabia were co-creators of the Facebook “HARLEM SHAKE AT THE HILLTOP” event that invited more than 1500 members of the St. Edward’s community to gather at the iconic red doors of main building on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 4:30 p.m.
“I saw videos on YouTube and thought we should do one ourselves,” Bonilla said. “People always downgrade St. Edward’s and I thought we should show them how big and school-spirited we are.”
Junior Josh Phillips also saw the event as an exhibition of school spirit.
“I definitely felt some school pride,” Phillips said. “I heard more pride there than in the rest of homecoming.”
Freshman participant Brendon Hoeferkamp assumed it was only a matter of time until the sensation hit St. Edwards.
“I anticipated someone would organize a Harlem Shake here,” Hoeferkamp said. “I knew about it from YouTube and knew I wanted to be a part of the St. Edward’s one.”
However, nobody anticipated what a success it would be.
“There were probably 200-250 there,” Sarabia said. “We never expected it to be as successful as it was.”
The success only grows as the video gains more popularity online. Within 24 hours of posting, “Harlem Shake: St. Edward’s University” has received more than 7500 views on YouTube.
