VERO BEACH — Phyllis Steffener didn’t know what to make of it. One woman dressed in pink and black stood in front of the audience dancing to music Steffener had never heard before. Then another woman joined in. Then there were 50.
“It’s like no line dance I’ve ever seen,” Steffener said to her friend Joe Streeter who were at Humiston Park for the Sunset Saturday Night Concert Series.
They later learned the performance was a flash mob.
“I’d never seen that before,” Steffener said.
Streeter likened the routine and dance to cheering and said he thought it was fun to watch.
It was really a Zumba routine worked out by several Zumba instructors and spearheaded by Lucy Church of Bethel Creek House and fellow Zumba enthusiast Sally Campbell.
Campbell floated the idea of a flash mob to Church, who jumped on it. Campbell had even posted to facebook that they were going to do it – and before she had a chance to say it was all a joke, several Zumba fans signed up.
“We wanted to bring Zumba out of the gym,” Church said. “It’s so much fun.”
For about a month, students in various Zumba classes practiced the routine – learning Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite.”
Prior to the flash mob performance, the women gathered well away from the crowd, hoping to not be noticed. For those who were observant or at least noticed a group of women dressed similarly, they might have thought the women were part of a ladies night out group.
Standing on the edge of the street, waiting to get the show started, several of the members danced to the band performing – perhaps as an effort to stay limber for their own performance or to work of nervous energy building up.
“We’re hoping we go in the same direction,” Dede Vanzonneveld said.
Campbell had hoped to surprise the crowd at the concert with their performance. As the women moved through the audience and out onto Ocean Drive in front of the bandstand, people rushed the sides of the street to get a better look at what was going on.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” said onlooker Hoy Wilkinson. “I think it’s wonderful.”