"How to plan a flashmob"

How To Organize a Flash Mob
I found this website that gives step by step guides on how to plan a flashmob. This has been useful in my planning as it has given me guidance and so that I'm not just planning with no goal. These are the steps on the website.

1. Understand the purpose of a flash mob.
2. Decide what you're going to do for your flash mob occasion.
3. Watch previous flash mob events on YouTube.
4. Organize your flash mob
5. Provide clear instructions to your group of people.
6. Arrange any props or costumes needed
7. Know the limitations of your location.
8. Organize quality videography for the event
9. Let go.
10. Finish as if nothing ever happened.

Dance Flashmob:

1.  Choose a song

. Do you want it to be something up-tempo or more mellow? Do you want something well known or something that displays a certain style of music, such as opera?

Find someone able to choreograph. If this is you, great. If not, get someone who knows how to help turn a group dance into something spectacular.

Choose your spot for the dance. A park in a major city is a great spot, especially during lunch hour or after work when everyone is heading home.

Gather a group of dancers. Flash mob dances can be any number of people but try to aim for at least 50-75. It may sound like a lot to arrange but the more people you have, the more effective the flash mob dance becomes.

Teach them all the dance in smaller groups of 4-30

. This way you don't have to get too many people in the same room or area at once and they can also entertain the crowd from different perspectives. This is good for people who can't see the whole scene in front of them.

Choose a flash mob leader. This will be the best dancer in the group, the person who sets the beat and provides a following point for the remaining dancers. The leader can start the routine with a solo dance move, then attract the next group of 9 to 15 dancers who join in with the next move. Then, double the group's size with 16 to 30 dancers joining in. The trick to a good flash mob is to gradually get all of the dancers involved in the routine. Get the rest of them to join in in the last part of the song so that the entire group is finally involved.

Pretend as if nothing has happened. As soon as the song has finished, the dancers must disperse as normal members of the crowd to act as if nothing has happened.

Flashmob Challenge - The Venue

To host a flashmob, first you have to have a venue to perform it in. I decided to go with a nearby area to make it more possible for people to make it thee. I then googled the three main cities nearby: Cambridge, Peteborough and Bedford. My criteria for the venue is for it to be a large space where a lot of people are. Using this I narrowed my choices down to two shopping centres. Queensgate in Peteborough and the Grafton Centre in Cambridge. I then looked for as many different images of these venues as possible. These are the images of the Grafton Centre I found.

I liked this venue as it has a large open space, as well as the escalators which could be featured in the flashmob. The centre also has multiple layers, meaning we could base people who do not want to be used in the dance as much on higher levels. Also, I've done a flashmob in this space before, so contacts may be easier and I know we can get the music fed through.

Then there is Queensgate in Peteborough.

                                          
I like this area as it has a big open space, as well as having multiple levels and an escalator. Also I go to Peteborough a lot so it would be fairly easy to travel to as a large group. I am aquainted well with the area and the dimentions of space avaliable.

To decide a venue for certain, I will need to make contacts with both centers and get permission to perform the flashmob there. Then I will have to discuss a date. I am aiming to perform the flashmob around easter/summer, as although the christmas period is usually the busiest and would attract the most attention, this does not give me a lot of time to choreograph and teach to perfection a full flashmob, especially as I am looking to include local dance companies I am involved in. Also, during the christmas period there are usually large christmas trees and santa's grottos which could decrease the amount of space avaliabe.

Choreography - Stage 1

Shout - Glee Version

In my first choreography rehearsal of the flashmob, I began to work out the first section. I decided that a good song to start with from the list would be Shout, as it begins with no music and just a vocal riff. Then, when I was looking for a version of a track to choreograph to, I found the glee version, sung mainly by Darren Criss and Heather Morris. I decided that this song would be good to use as it is very bouncy and fun. I created the first section and designed who will be coming into the performing area when.

Introduction to Arts Award

DIVERSITY FLASHMOB
For my Silver arts award I aspire to put together and present a dance flashmob, isnpired by those done by Diversity and T-Mobile.

A flashmob is defined as: "A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression"

I have chosen to do a flashmob for my challenge as putting together the dance would be a great opportunity for me to further my skills in leadership, choreography and mixing music. I chose to take a lot of inspiration form Diversity, as they so driven by what they do and what they stand for. I have been taught by two of the members, Perri and Warren, as well as people who work in their studio such as Warren. I also take inspiration from Twist and Pulse, as they are my inspirations. I have also been taught by them, and they are behind me in my flashmob plans.

The first stage of creating my flashmob is to create the music. These are the first few songs I have decided to try and use for my flashmob. These are only initial ideas and may change as I get to making the mix.
I got a lot of inspiration for my flashmob from dance troupe Diversity. I followed the theme of songs they have danced to throught my ideas.
War
Applause
Shout
Scream and Shout
They don't care about us
Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough
Hero
My Heart Will Go On
Low

The next thing I will have to do is choreograph the routine. This is the main part of planning the flashmob as this is the part that people actually see, so the choreography has to be to a high level. It will be difficult to create this dance as there will be different levels of ability, meaning that the choreography has to be accesible to all levels.

Then I have to find a suitable area for the flashmob to be held in, and contact them to organise a date. I'm looking at performing the flashmob in the Easter term as it will be fairly busy, and also in this term I can incooperate classes from the dance schools I teach in, as they do not start to work towards anything in particular until the summer term.

I then have to organise the people that will be involved, teach them the dance and put the whole flashmob together. This will be by far the hardest stage of the planning and creation as I will have to find a way to get people involved, and get them all together for at least one rehearsal.