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St. Pete zombie crew hopes to dance its way into history

Staff photo by WALT BELCHER

Coordinators Terry Rimer and her husband Todd Germann say they got involved because they are big zombie fans and always thought the "Thriller" dance was cool.

By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 11, 2009

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ST. PETERSBURG - It's not easy for some people to shake, rattle and roll like a zombie.

"It's not that hard compared to other dances; and it only lasts 5 minutes and 58 seconds," said fitness instructor Gemma Hughes, who is coaching 400 wannabe zombies on how to dance in unison to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Tampa siblings Amaya Gilbert, 5, and her brother Micah, 9, say they dance to the classic 1982 hit all the time at home. They weren't around when the ground-breaking 14-minute "Thriller" music video first played on MTV.

But Kim Harwell and Elaine Bagwell, two fortysomething medical sales representatives, remember it well. They say they like to dance but they are not used to these moves.

"I am a big Michael Jackson fan and I want to be a part of the Guinness book of world records," said Harwell, who was working up a sweat at a "Thrill the World" rehearsal last week.

They are among the volunteer dancers who will dress up in costume Oct. 24 to participate in the annual worldwide event during which thousands of people will simultaneously do the zombie stomp and other moves from the "Thriller" video.

St. Petersburg is one of 349 official dance sites for the event, which is being organized by Jackson fans who have been attempting to set a world record for dancing simultaneously since the 25th anniversary of "Thriller" in 2007 (see www.thrilltheworld.com).

The event has grown each year but they still have not topped the current world record of 197,569 elementary school students doing the Hokey-Pokey in 681 locations across Canada in April 2002. The goal this year is 207,000 zombie dancers.

"We're lucky that our time will be 8:30 p.m. because some places in the world will be 2 a.m.," said Terry Rimer, assistant coordinator for the St. Petersburg event. The time is based on 12:30 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, where daylight saving time ends on the last Sunday in October. It ends in the United States on the first Sunday in November.

Rimer and her husband Todd Germann say they got involved because they are big zombie fans and always thought the "Thriller" dance was cool.

"When we found out about the worldwide effort we thought we would just get some friends together and have a dance party," Rimer said. "But it has turned into something bigger."

"We were excited when 100 people signed up," Germann said. "And when it hit 200, we got nervous."

At 400, they decided to cut off registration because it was getting too big for their all-volunteer effort. "We were getting people from out of state and Michael Jackson impersonators and even people from Canada," Germann said.

The dancers, ranging in age from 5 to 70, will be in rehearsal until the big event. "We expect people to start gathering at The Pier at 5:30 a.m. on that Saturday," Rimer said.

Hughes, who has volunteered her time, is teaching the eight sections of the dance including the zombie march, the booty swim, the shuffle and slide, and the popular zombie "roar."

"We are having so much fun," said Bernice Wyche, a 52-year-old high school teacher, who has been coming to rehearsals with her unemployed friend Rena Ford, 39.

"I think I'm going to dress as a voodoo princess," Ford said. "I was laid off and was looking for something free to do."

"I think I am the biggest Michael Jackson fan," said 10-year-old Sandra Mitchell, who is dancing with her mom, Velda Gauthier, and 17-year-old sister, Amber Smith.

"It's turned into a family event for us," said Marion Bingham, who has five children ages 7 to 15 who want to dress up as zombies.

And there's 59-year-old Barbara Ashworth, a longtime ballroom dancer, who said she joined the cause because she wants to learn some new moves.

For more information, go to thrillstpete.weebly.com

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (81) 259-7654