Society’s festive charity flashmob

A video to raise money for charity featuring Warwick student dance group EQHO managed to have more than 5,000 views in its first 24 hours and has raised more than £2,000.

The video is in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital and features BBC news reporter Richard Bacon being interrupted by a group of dancing ‘Santas’ (EQHO members in red lycra morph suits and Santa hats) in Birmingham city centre.

The video was produced by Ember Television, a company with close connections to the University. Not only is the University a client, but several leading members of the company are Warwick graduates, including the Managing Director Catherine Allen, Creative Director Pesala Bandara and several producers.

Ember approached EQHO with the idea of a charity flashmob. Dorine Mewsiga, Vice-President, Social Secretary and Choreographer of the dance, mentioned how Ember had organised for the group to be hidden in Curry’s to keep the element of surprise.

“We did not rehearse as much as we usually do” she said, “because people were just so excited to do the flashmob, and the fact that it was for a charity made it even better so people showed up on time and gave their all, which made me very proud.”

She spoke to the _Boar_ of how the group essentially had a week to rehearse on top of other rehearsals, and had to practice in the cold weather on the piazza.

“It allowed some members who had never danced before to dance and it was a lot of peoples’ first time performing in the street,” she continued. “It made members of the society bond more and offered something new from shows and competitions.”

President of EQHO Myk Igbins added: “We saw a lot of cheerful faces and people of all ages seemed really bemused by what we were doing. We got a great response at the end of it.

“It was an excellent experience and it really showed us how easy it can be sometimes to give to a good cause using talents you have.”

Although no similar ventures are yet planned, the society will be hosting a hip-hop karaoke night in term 2 in support of Inspire4Justice, charity dance classes and a joint social with Unicef to raise money for the East Africa crisis in February.

The video can be seen on YouTube at this address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_YcDmv5gIY