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The Daily Tar Heel
Pit Talk

UNC does the Harlem Shake

Around noon on Friday, the Pit was crowded as always — except this time, there were hundreds of students clad in wild costumes.

From onesie pajamas to tutus, students came out to recreate the newest viral internet trend — the Harlem Shake.

The Harlem Shake begins with one person in a mask dancing by themselves for a portion of the song and after a certain beat kicks in, the video frame switches to a huge group of people dancing
in crazy costumes.

“UNC students love dance parties, thinking back to Thriller and Gangnam Style in previous years. And we just wanted to get a great crowd together and have some fun,” said Adam Jutha, co-organizer of the event.

Jutha, Christopher Batchelder and Andrew Royce Bauer teamed up with Carolina Creates and organized a UNC-version of the YouTube phenomenon sweeping college campuses, sports teams and other organizations across the country.

Starting with just a Facebook page and expanding by word of mouth and mass group text messages, the trio got hundreds of students out to participate in the event.

“We were inspired by the fact that UNC is known for having one of the most spirited student populations in the country,” said Bauer. “If the ‘Harlem Shake’ was going to trend, we wanted to be a part of it!”

As the clock hit noon on Friday, students stood around the Pit as one student — dressed head to toe in a blue spandex, masked Spiderman costume and a disco ball — began dancing solo. After the familiar beat began playing, students rushed from every side of the Pit, dressed in different costumes and holding “GTHD” signs, and joined the dance.

When the music stopped, a couple of students in the crowd put their arms around each other and belted the beginning of the UNC Alma Mater, inviting the hundreds of other students to join along.

The Pit finally echoed with the final sounds of hundreds of Tar Heels screaming, “Go to hell, Duke!” and once again, UNC finished making another cultural landmark, similar to the Gangnam Style dance filmed last semester.

Freshman Tatiana Rubow, who wore a full body giraffe costume for the dance, said she was really excited to be able to represent UNC among the many colleges who created Harlem Shake videos.

“Carolina is pretty much better than everyone else and it’s really nice to be a part of something big and part of the community spirit,” she said.

Bauer said he hopes that the video will have over a thousand views by the end of the day.

After just two days, the video has 37,463 views.

The organizers of the event said they were happy with the outcome of the event. Jutha said he was really excited to see so many people decked out in costumes.

“I’m sure it gave the tour groups around campus something to enjoy as well,” he said. “We’re pleased with the way it went given the quick turnaround for the event.”

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