Prisoners dance to Thriller
Updated on 02 August 2007
Hundreds of identically dressed men gyrate in synch as Michael Jackson's "Thriller" blares through outside loudspeakers. n
No, this is not another over-the-top MTV video. It's morning exercise for inmates at a prison in the central Philippines who do a faithful rendition of the1980s dance routine right down to choreographed zombies and a rolling coffin.
Not to mention the pelvic thrusts of the lead dancer in a shiny red suit.
The choreographed dance routine is the brainchild of Byron Garcia, who oversees the prison and has taken a novel approach to reforming offenders. At first, he wanted to adapt synchronized morning exercise as a way to foster camaraderie and break down gang factions among inmates.
He says the intended participants were at first unimpressed with the idea and when the outside choreographer first arrived at the prison a year ago to teach the dance moves, he was pelted with slippers.
He admits that the dance numbers were an experiment.
"This programme is an experiment. After six months, we concluded that the experiment was successful. This has changed, it has aided our administration in rehabilitating our inmates," he said.
Garcia loaded the unorthodox dance videos, which include other favourites like Queen's "Radio Gaga" and "I will follow you" from "Sister Act" complete with nuns in habits, onto the Internet because he said he wanted other prisons to learn from the experience.
In the meantime, they have become some of the most talked about in cyberspace, with "Thriller" clocking up over three million hits in its first two weeks on video sharing site YouTube.
"It is the duty of the cell leader to brief his inmate. For example, 'This is your toothbrush, your toothpaste, your slippers, your pillow,' and the next thing they say is, 'Here are your dance steps for tomorrow's exercise,'" said Garcia.
Inmates say the new routines took a bit of time to master.
"It was difficult at first, but eventually we inmates got used to it," said Mario Benito.
Meanwhile, the girls enthusiastically perform "Sister Act" While the online audience is certainly amused, only time will tell if the dance routines is an effective tool in rehabilitation of the inmates under Garcia's charge.
