Flash mobbers to dance for kindness in Rossville

Flash mobbers in Colombia participate in the 2016 Dance for Kindness. This year, Rossville is taking part in the worldwide event for the first time. Dancers will head to the Rossville Athletic Center Sunday, Nov. 11. (Photo from Life Vest Inside video "Dance for Kindness 2016 Worldwide Montage")
Flash mobbers in Colombia participate in the 2016 Dance for Kindness. This year, Rossville is taking part in the worldwide event for the first time. Dancers will head to the Rossville Athletic Center Sunday, Nov. 11. (Photo from Life Vest Inside video "Dance for Kindness 2016 Worldwide Montage")

Dancers of all skill levels are expected to flock to the Rossville Athletic Center this weekend for a flash mob delivering a message of love.

The Nov. 11 event is part of the seventh annual Dance for Kindness, held in honor of World Kindness Day (which actually falls on Nov. 13 this year).

Hosted by nonprofit Life Vest Inside, the flash mob is expected to take place in more than 120 cities across the globe - though Rossville, joining in for the first time, will be the only city in the state of Georgia participating. A grassroots, New York City-based nonprofit, Life Vest Inside seeks to empower people to be a catalyst for kindness and, therefore, change.

"The mission to spread kindness in our world is universal," said Mitzi Davenport, school counselor for Walker County Schools and organizer of the Rossville flash mob. "With the increased rates of suicidal ideation and school violence, there's been a real push for kindness and inclusiveness in our country at the school counseling level."

Event organizers hope to have a team of dancers from each Walker County school participating, and have recruited local Zumba instructors to lead the charge. But anyone can register to participate in the dance, no matter their age or skill level. Dance instructions will be sent upon registration.

The first three minutes of dance will see the dancers frozen in positions of kindness, which could include anything from handing someone flowers or carrying someone else's groceries, to tying a child's shoe or giving someone directions.

When the music picks up, the group will begin to perform a choreographed dance, which will be the same moves that thousands of others across more than 50 countries will be performing as part of the worldwide flash mob. A videographer will be on-site to record the dance, which will be submitted to Life Vest Inside for inclusion in the worldwide dance montage it creates each year.

"I think it's just a fun event to raise awareness," Davenport said. "Dance is kind of a universal language - just like kindness."

To further the push for awareness, volunteers will hand out cards detailing random acts of kindness to those watching during the event. With each card will come a challenge for the spectator to complete the act described within the following week, then pass the card off to someone else, perpetuating the spread of kindness throughout the community.

"I hope they'll be inspired," said Davenport. "The mission is to inspire and educate people to go out in their world and be kind."

The event itself will be reminiscent of a block party, with vendors and concession stands.

Ten percent of the proceeds from registration fees and donations will go toward Walker County Schools to teach kids empathy and kindness, which Davenport hopes to do by using those dollars to start a kindness club. The club would be shaped using Life Vest Inside's classroom-oriented Kindness Curriculum - which the nonprofit's founder and CEO, Orly Wahba, told Davenport would make it the first of its kind.

The flash mob begins at 3 p.m., but those who have registered to participate will need to arrive at noon for practice.

The cost to register is $10 for adults and $5 for students. All those interested are encouraged to register online at danceforkindness.com.

Email Myron Madden at mmadden@timesfreepress.com

Upcoming Events