Cal Anderson Park

Impromptu acts of pointless art—flash mobs are regularly entertaining unwitting Seattle spectators.

The Seattle Flash Mob is a loose "organization" that has incited random performances. They've protested protesters, sponsored pillow fights downtown, blown bubbles in tandem, and even held a giant GLEE style dance event. The next event on the agenda is a full-on downtown re-enactment of the choreography from Michael Jackson's seminal "Beat It" video, in honor of the deceased pop star's birthday.

Participants are advised to congregate at Capitol Hill's Cal Anderson Park, where the choreography, based on the dance in the video, will be taught to participants. Rehearsals will continue through the mob's first performance, which will be somewhere in Seattle Center at 1pm with an encore somewhere along the waterfront at 2pm.

The exact locations of the performances are a secret, only revealed to those intrepid dancers who come to rehearsal—partly to discourage those of us too lazy to learn the steps from just butting in and winging it—and partly, well, because it's a flash mob.

If you're interested in participating, organizers advise against dressing up. Wear comfortable clothes, shoes you can dance in, and leave your social anxieties at home. Interested observers? Your best bet is to try and catch the mob at Seattle Center. Get someplace central and listen for the iconic overdriven guitar riffs.

- by Caren Gussoff Sumption, Seattle Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Caren Gussoff Sumption

Caren Gussoff Sumption is a freelance writer and editor from Seattle, WA. She's written for USA Today, the Seattle Times/NW Source, MSN and AOL, and her fiction has been published worldwide. She received her MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.