How a viral video became a community movement AJEREMY WILLIAMS fter the Pulse attack on June 12, 2016, many people in the community wanted to help however they could. Thousands came out to donate time, money and blood as Orlando showed that we could be hurt, but we would not be broken. The day after the attack, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon spoke to his audience and all those listening around the country. “Keep loving each other, keep respecting each other and keep on dancing,” Fallon said. That fi nal line became a rally cry for a small group of creatives in town, and less than two weeks after Fallon uttered that phrase, a video found its way online. The two-minute video shows people around Orlando dancing to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Sombody.” The video was a viral sensation reaching nearly two million views on Facebook and a hashtag was born, #KeepDancingOrlando. “#KeepDancingOrlando was one of many, many things that businesses around the community did last year to help,” says Jeff Prystajko, Come Out With Pride’s director of marketing and communications. “And this was something that had a great, positive message and we wanted to keep it going this year.” Make sure you have your dancing shoes on Orlando because there will be dancing everywhere this year. “There will be dancing throughout the parade and in the #KeepDancingOrlando Zone all day long,” Prystajko says. “Bring some music, come up with a dance move. We want to get the crowd excited and pumped. “This isn’t just a hashtag we are putting out there. It’s a movement and it is going to permeate everything.” 20 COME OUT WITH PRIDE 2017
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