If you lived in the early 2000s, the term “flash mob” might give you a vague sense of dread. This seemingly spontaneous gathering, often accompanied by some kind of performance, started out as a cool kid phenomenon and evolved into a corporate marketing tool with disappointing speed. By the end of the decade, witnessing rioters and mob videos created an eerie feeling. something was sold to you.
Years later, and after some mood changes, Flash Bob is here.
Like his older cousins, Flash Bob holds impromptu public gatherings. However, as adjusted, Bob’s Dance Shop A group of five performers that founder Vince Coconato describes as an “immersive dance crew,” the mob is silly, colorful, and delightfully queer. Featuring routines with stunningly simple choreography to the classics of the wedding playlist and performed by a diverse crowd of mostly untrained dancers, the inclusive spirit of the viral dance challenge is a breath of fresh air. bring to (The group-shared video footage of each event has since returned online.)
Those strolling along Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade a few days ago may have wandered in. recent flash bob. A mob of 80 people in colorful costumes gathered on the cobblestones and played disco-inspired tunes to a remix of Chic’s “Le Freak.” The climax was pop star Paula Abdul, who danced with the crowd and hugged everyone within reach.
Abdul, who started his career as a dancer, said in an email that he considers himself Bob’s “liver.” (She befriended Bob and the others while waiting in line at the airport.) “I’ve always been a big fan of dancers and choreography,” she wrote. “But this group represents more than just movement.”
Over the past few years, Bob’s Dance Shop has built a devoted following around the cathartic power of dance party energy. “There’s selflessness there,” said the dancer Sarah McCleaner, known as Smac, has joined two Flashbobs since connecting to the group on Instagram. “Everyone there has the same purpose, no matter who they are: to have fun.”
Fun is still a priority. But in recent months, Bob’s Dance Shop has also begun labeling its events as protests. Of the five major bobs — Coconut; Performer Jacob Garcia, known as Rito.dancer and choreographer lucas hive; musicians Cameron with Kand a dancer and choreographer Maria Baker — Everyone is queer except for Baker. (And no, there is no name Bob.)
Flashbob is gaining momentum as conservative politicians across the country push for legislation targeting LGBTQ rights. show up”Be bold and weird in publicPart of Bob’s mission, as you can see in the recent video caption.
“We like to call ourselves ‘joy activists,'” Coconato said. “And our work is about strange pleasures, because that’s exactly our story.”
Coconato, 31, said he grew up “very closed” in a small town in Florida. His first dance experience was as class president in high school, teaching his seniors to choreograph “Thriller” for a homecoming rally shortly after Michael Jackson’s death. Although he had no dance training, he found himself to be a natural teacher. At the University of South Florida, he choreographed a dance for a fraternity and held his first flash mob in front of 300 students. This was the tail end of the first trend wave.
After college, Coconato came out to his family and friends and moved to Los Angeles to work for a video post production company. One day he went to work wearing a yellow Lions Club shirt with the name “Bob” embroidered on it. An unsuspecting client said: “Hello, Bob!” What’s your story? Coconato playfully improvised the character, later realizing that it was a character inspired by his own metamorphosis. It’s a gay Southern choreographer named Bob.
Coconato had considered organizing another flash mob after her college success. “And there was a moment where I was like, ‘Oh, it’s a flash mob named Bob,'” he said. “It just rolls off your tongue.” In 2017, he and a few friends first ever flash bobThe Creepy Gambling on the same Santa Monica Avenue, served as their latest stage, and Coconato wore a yellow bob shirt.
After losing her day job, Coconato registered the name “Bob’s Dance Shop” and in December 2019 rented a studio to host pop-up dance classes, advertised on Instagram, and invited people to come and enjoy the festival. began teaching the choreography of In class, Flash maintained the spirit of his Bob jokes and some of the spontaneous vibe.
Coconato and a few friends were sheltering in their Los Angeles home when the pandemic hit. While in-person classes were not possible, let alone flash mobs, Coconato recruited roommates Rito and Hive who are interested in dancing to help them experience Bob’s dance shop virtually. .
They joined many dance creators who were offering free classes on Insta Live and started filming. Feel free choreography video According to Lito, the production had “big Bob energy”, as well as sophisticated production value. Months later, as their online audience grew, they invited their friend from the music scene, Kameron, to join their ever-growing team. (New member Baker joined this year to help with the choreography as the group’s projects have grown in size.)
In June 2021, as Covid restrictions ease, Mr. and Mrs. Bob planned a big IRL celebration. On Father’s Day, they rode the fateful Flashbob. 50 dancers performed “Around the World (La La La)” to a cheering crowd at Oceanview Park.A video of the event has been posted Instagram and tick tock Soon after, it went super viral.
“I think everyone was really happy, really desperate to be able to go out and dance together, or to know it was possible again,” Coconato said.
Since then, the Bobs have become mobs everywhere. Grand Central Terminal to in New York Buckingham Palace in London.they were invited to flash red carpet, Lollapalooza and the Austin City Limits Music Festival.Last year they were asked to ‘seed’ Flash Bob for their musical duo Sophie Tucker, planting themselves in the audience before being invited to the stage.They are now on tour with bands, DJs and producers. purple disco machine.
“They are world-class vibe curators,” Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern of Sofi Tukker wrote in an email.
Over time, the group has refined the Flash Bob formula. Each event begins with a ticketed workshop, essentially a two-hour dance class where anyone with enough enthusiasm can learn a short choreographed routine, ending in front of an unsuspecting audience. A mob-style performance will be shown. Bobs typically perform the “People’s Dance” (touching the far shoulder, touching the near shoulder, raising hands above head) or the “Flamingo” (touching index finger, middle finger to thumb, hands above head). to ).
These aren’t everyday moves for TikTok dance challenges, but the philosophy is similar. “It’s all about creating a learnable, replicable dance language,” Coconato said.
It is also a language shaped by LGBTQ culture. “Our way of performing is very inspired by the queer and drag communities,” Rito said. Much of the group’s choreography contains elements of voguing, a style produced by queer black and Latino dancers. A staple of drag shows, lip-syncing is incorporated into nearly every performance.
With LGBTQ rights under attack, the Bobs began explicitly framing their performances and videos as activism. Coconato wants to strategically choose future Flashbob locations, he said. There were plans to host it in Tennessee and it happened recently. Prohibition of gender-positive care It will be held this June for transgender youth and restricted drug performance. He also wants to mob the red-hot Florida countryside where he grew up.
“I just want to fill the area with as much joy as possible,” he said.
And in need of more joy is the harsh commercial dance industry. Bob’s Dance Shop initially existed largely outside of mainstream professional dance, with most of its members, mobs and fans coming from non-dance backgrounds. It’s now a favorite among professionals looking for a more relaxed, upbeat approach to performance.
Baker, whose credits include dancing in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and choreographing “So You Think You Can Dance,” was exposed to the intensity of professional dance competition before joining Bob’s. He said he was “disheartened and frustrated.” Smack, who competed on both “So You Think” and “Dancing With Myself”, described Flash Bob’s workshop as “a stress-free environment that is fundamentally unprecedented for professional dancers”. .
Next month, four of Bob’s five will move from Los Angeles to New York City. They hope that moving their base to the East Coast will help them build better connections with the world of theater, music, fashion and more areas they want to explore. Social media may have been the group’s route to success during the pandemic, but now the emphasis is on in-person good vibes.
“What we are most excited about growing is not the social platform, but the physical platform – the stage, the runway, the concert,” Coconato said.
Whatever other projects the group is working on, that Flashbob isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Or rather, they go to many undisclosed places at many undisclosed times.
“The pleasant surprise factor has always been at the heart of what we do,” said Coconato.
