KSU Goes Viral: Harlem Shake Edition

Nearly a hundred students, along with Scrappy the Owl, took over the KSU Burruss Building at Friday with their own take on the Harlem Shake.

Many of the students who came to participate in the video heard about the event via word of mouth or were invited through an event page on Facebook, created by Patrick Shea and Kevin Hughes.

“I thought it would be cool. All my classes are over here and it’s a big building,” said Kevin Hughes.

The Harlem Shake originated in the early 1980s in Harlem, New York, however the current dance meme does not reflect that dance. The videos that have taken over YouTube run about 30 seconds long and usually begin with one person dancing, while everyone else around him/her goes on with their normal day. When the music starts, everyone there starts dancing in crazy costumes.

“I already dance crazy, but now it’s acceptable ‘cause it’s a group,” Heather McCrae said.

Heather and her roommate Sierra Lunderman stopped by so they could be part of the YouTube craze.

Combinations of two videos are mentioned when it comes to finding the origin of this new viral fad. A video blogger named Filthy Frank uploaded a video with four guys dressed in full body suits dancing to a track by Baauer.

Soon after, SunnyCoastSkate posted a video of a guy dancing with a helmet on, which was followed by a jump cut to kids dancing. This is the format that has become most popular.

Students from the Communications Departments, Keith Zadig and Steve Gross, filmed the video.

“I take an active role in my YouTube videos and production, and I do a lot of filming with Steve and we just decided to do it,” Zadig said.

In KSU’s version, Scrappy the Owl showed the crowd some of his special dance moves to start off the video. Students danced on the floor and on the balcony. Superheroes, bare chested Teddy bears and girls in sombreros were part of the action.

“I watch a lot of videos on YouTube, [and] it seems silly, so I want to see how the KSU people do it,” freshman Denise Hernandez said.

Elise Akin and Victoria Lescota enhanced their costumes by covering their bodies with balloons.

“I feel like the Harlem Shake is a really good thing for the students to get together, and just be wild and crazy and not care what anyone thinks about each other. It’s awesome,” said Victoria Lescota.

The KSU Harlem Shake video can be found on by searching KSU Harlem Shake.

“It’s popular, it’s viral. A lot [of ] people can see what’s going on at school here. And friends can tell their friends at other schools, and it will spread,” said Zadig.