Orchestras take on The Harlem Shake

Posted at 11:46 AM on February 21, 2013 by Fred Child
Filed under: In the media

If you live within 50 miles of this wacky thing called "The Internet," good chance you're aware of the latest meme, the Harlem Shake. (According to our friends at YouTube, as of last week about 4,000 Harlem Shake videos were being uploaded to their site...every day.) The videos are usually 33 seconds long, beginning with one crazy dancer who goes unnoticed by the rest of the crowd. At a particular moment in the song there is a sudden cut, and everybody is dancing wildly, often in costume. Several orchestras have contributed recently, including The Knights (a chamber orchestra based in New York):



Now watch it again, and notice...what appears to be Frieda Kahlo, sitting perfectly still in the lower left. (That's flutist Alex Sopp, in full Kahlo regalia.)

How about an orchestra from Puerto Rico?



(again, with reference to a famous painting in the lower left!)