[LINK] Dance With Matt

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Hi all,

Before the reason for this email, which is Matt's email, pls do yourself
a favour and have a look at this NASA website video below, which is also
on YouTube. In 2007, Jawed Karim, one of the founders of YouTube, stated
that Harding's video is his favorite video posted to Youtube ..

So, do have a look:  http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100725.html

Happy People Dancing on Planet Earth 
Credit: Matt Harding & Melissa Nixon
 
"Explanation: What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth 
exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is 
dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend political boundaries and occur 
in practically every human society. Above, Matt Harding traveled through 
many nations on Earth, started dancing, and filmed the result. The video 
is perhaps a dramatic example that humans from all over planet Earth feel 
a common bond as part of a single species. Happiness is frequently 
contagious. Few people are able to watch the above video without smiling."

And ..

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Harding
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2407322377


And now ..

> From:   dancewithmatt at gmail.com 
> Date:   Tue, 1 Feb 2011 17:35:29 -0800 
> Subject:   Where the Hell is Matt in Melbourne 
 
If you're getting this email, you've either written to me or
signed-up on my site to be notified of when I'll be in your area. I'm
coming to Melbourne to include it in my new dancing video. 

This is an invitation to come and join me.

In this new video, I'm actually learning how to dance, so I'll be
showing some easy moves and asking people to follow along. But don't
worry. I'm still not very good at dancing so you don't have to be
perfect either. Just remember to smile and have fun.

I'd like to shoot a clip of the "Melbourne Shuffle" so if you know
someone who could perform it, please bring them along.

We'll be filming for about half an hour in total. Expect to sweat a bit.

The meeting place is:

PLACE: Federation Square, on the steps near the intersection of
Flinders and St. Kilda
DATE: Thursday, February 10th, 2011
MEETING TIME: 6:30pm

Here's a Google map of the location:
http://tinyurl.com/4wey58g

The photo attached to this email shows where to meet. Please excuse
the sloppy arrow.

I shot a clip at this spot a few years ago. It didn't make it into the
final cut of the last video, so I'm back to give it another try. I
suspect the group may be a bit larger this time, and there's a thing
you're supposed to have when gathering lots of people together in a
public place. They call it "permission." I haven't got that. If anyone
reading this can help me get it without going to too much trouble,
please let us know. I would be grateful.

I have my eye on another dancing spot not too far from this location,
but I don't know that we'll be able to squeeze everyone in there. So
after we finish, sunlight permitting, I'm hoping to take a few patient
stragglers over there to film a bit more.

I know Australia is a big, well, CONTINENT and there are a million
amazing spots I should include. I'll be visiting some other
destinations on my own, but Melbourne is the only place where I'm
organizing a meet-up. I chose Melbourne because, aside from Sydney,
it's where I have the most people wanting to dance. And, sorry,
Sydney, but you've gotten plenty of attention from me already.

If you want to pass this around to friends, there's a Facebook event
page with the information included in this email. You can view it
here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Where-the-Hell-is-Matt/369964540488?
v=app_2344061033#!/event.php?eid=194884650524699&index=1

Before we dance, I will need to get your legal permission to appear in
the video. We'll do it quick and dirty. I'll shout some legal nonsense
on camera and you can just nod and give me a thumbs up, or you can run
away and hide to protect yourself from exploitation by our corporate
overlords. I won't hold it against you.

When you get to the spot, look for the guy who looks like the guy in
the dancing video. Just come on over, say hello, and ask if I am Matt.
If I'm not Matt, I will let you know. If there's already a crowd
gathering, that will make us a lot easier to spot.

I can't guarantee the clip we shoot will end up in the final
video. There will be a lot of footage to choose from and some of it
will not be used.

You're welcome to bring your own camera. After the shoot, I'll be sticking
around for a good long while. I'm happy to dance with you in your own
picture/video, so don't hesitate to ask, but I do request that you wait
until we are finished shooting because I'll be very busy until then.

We'll be selling some T-shirts that say "I DANCED WITH MATT" and I'm
trying to find a reasonable way to ship a few copies of my book down.
Both will be $20 (sorry, have to add a bit to cover shipping). I will
sign anything you like. Cash only, please.

Please reply to this email or on Facebook if you plan to attend and
let us know how many people you're bringing. It'll help give us an
idea of how many to expect.

We're planning to put the final video up on the Internet sometime in
late 2011.

I look forward to dancing badly with you!

-Matt

--

Cheers Matt
Stephen Loosley
Member, Victorian
Institute of Teaching