Dancing Inmates - Michael Jackson "This is it"

[Atla]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKtdTJP_GUI

Groovy. Feel bad for that one white guy, he's just waiting to get shived in the shower.

[owly]

lol

btw cool song

[bvaughan]

Just about anything by michael jackson is gonna be good, this is pretty awesome, it looks like they're wearing old school converse shoes, i wonder where they got those they look new

[Gerien]

Same prison that did the Thriller video. Apparently that's how the warden keeps inmates out of trouble - practicing dance routines.

[TEVA]

cool tunes and moves

[Gerien]

Dance is part of rehabilitation at Philippine prison
By Alexandra A. Seno
Published: Tuesday, January 15, 2008

CEBU, Philippines — Six months ago, Crisanto Niere and Wenjiel Resane were just two more inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, serving time for drug trafficking. Today, they are Internet superstars.

YouTube footage, uploaded in mid-July, shows the prisoners dancing to the Michael Jackson song "Thriller." It has been viewed more than 10 million times and become one of the most popular clips ever on the video-sharing Web site. The skit features Niere, playing Jackson, and Resane, as the "girl," along with more than 1,500 other inmates performing in the background.

This month, the prison authorities tried to take their show, in a manner of speaking, on the road. Byron Garcia, a security consultant for the prison, tried to enter a troupe of 100 inmates in the Sinulog festival this Sunday, a lavish street-dancing festival in honor of the child Jesus and the biggest tourist event in Cebu.

Citing security concerns - 70 percent of the prison's inmates were convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape and narcotics trafficking - Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who oversees the festival, rejected the prison's bid. He told reporters: "Not even if Michael Jackson" - the real one - "joins them."

But inside the prison, the beat goes on.

Inmates spend up to four hours a day practicing a growing repertoire of more than two dozen dances. In addition, those who signed up for auditions and made the troupe have continued rehearsing their Sinulog choreography. Although they have been barred from performing at the site of the main festival events, they are planning shows within the prison itself. The prison is giving away 200 free tickets to each of three shows Friday.

The Sinulog would not have been the Cebu prisoners' first public performance. In August, dozens of inmates, including Niere and Resane, were escorted under armed guard to the provincial capitol building for a public holiday celebration. They performed several numbers including "Thriller" for a clearly delighted audience.

"The videos I uploaded were never meant for entertainment," Garcia, the security consultant, said in an interview. "I wanted to inform other jails about what was happening here."

continued

[owly]

Good find Gerien