Zombie Dances Changed My Life!

fluxington | July 27, 2007 3:30 am
If you’ve spent any time idling around on the Internet in the past week or so, you’ve probably seen this clip of hundreds of prisoners in the Philippines performing an elaborate dance routine to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” But did you know that this wasn’t just a fun day for the inmates in question, but rather a compulsory program intended to “drastically” improve their behavior? Or that a few of this program’s alumni have gone on to become professional dancers? Now you do:

Prisoners have also performed to songs by local artists, Queen and from the film Sister Act, clips of which have been watched on YouTube tens of thousands of times.

“Using music, you can involve the body and the mind. The inmates have to count, memorise steps and follow the music,” Mr Garcia told the BBC news website.

“Inmates say to me: ‘You have put my mind off revenge, foolishness, or thinking how to escape from jail, or joining a gang’,” he said.

If this is true, it’s great news. Not only does it offer an attractive alternative to the usual grim jailhouse shenanigans, this whole scenario is just calling out to be made into a stage musical or “inspiring” movie–preferably one that features Jeffrey Tambor reprising his dual role as George and “I’m” Oscar Bluth.

Philippine jailhouse rocks to Thriller [BBC]