Thursday, May 5, 2011

Michelle Obama's and Beyoncé Dance: A Summary

On Tuesday, May 3, Michelle Obama seriously represented at a middle school in Washington, D.C., with young people to the tune of Beyoncé’s music.

Beyoncé had recently teamed up with Michelle Obama, who has this “Let’s Move” campaign--which encourages young people to exercise and eat healthy. As part of her contribution to the campaign, Beyoncé switched or remixed the lyrics to her song "Get Me Bodied" and called it "Move Your Body," keeping much of the same beat.

Instead of highlighting her body, an encounter with a male suitor, and sexualized scenarios, the new “Move Your Body” version focuses on dance as a way of moving, exercising and thus staying in shape.


The lyrics of the song go through a series of mentions to various dances, including The Running Man, The Dougie.

The video for “Move Your Body” features Beyoncé dancing in a school cafeteria with various young people.

On May 3, Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign organized more than 600 middle schools, including a school on a U.S. military base in Japan to participate in a “flash workout” to Beyoncé’s remix.

Obama surprised students at Alice Deal Middle School in Washington D.C., by joining them for their dance/workout.

As the video of Obama dancing reveals, the most active and skilled dancers were adolescent black girls. It’s also clear that Obama knows her way around a dance floor.

The video of the First Lady doing the Dougie, The Running Man, other various other popular dances was posted online and immediately became an instant hit. Folks were discussing Obama’s movements on news programs, tweeter, youtube, and facebook.

[Related: The Coverage of Michelle Obama Dancing]

As Obama was participating with the flash workout in D.C., Beyoncé made a surprise appearance at a school in Harlem. As students at a middle school were halfway through their dance/workout of the song in their school gymnasium, Beyoncé rushed in a side door and joined the students as they danced.

To their credit, the students didn’t miss a beat. Some of them screamed in delight at the appearance of Beyoncé, but they continued dancing along with her as the song played.

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