Drama and technology teacher Scott Pankey made a big scene at New Tech High School in Dallas, Texas a few years back.
He and his students organized one of the most epic dance performances that we have ever witnessed.
If you are a music lover, you simply have to check it out.
The video of their performance was posted on YouTube and has since been viewed over 14 million times.
It brings us back to a simpler, more normal time period, back when schools were all still open and life was still proceeding as usual.
Pretty much the whole school got involved in the dance!
Over 200 kids took over the hallways and classrooms, playing the song “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars over and over again until they managed to execute all of the steps perfectly.
It all started over Christmas break when Pankey first heard the track.
He immediately vibed with it.
“I heard the song and loved it,” Pankey told 13WMAZ. “It got me up and dancing in my living room.”
When classes started back up again after break, Pankey already knew what his next project would be.
Since it was a technology high school, he figured he would have the students make an Uptown Funk video for YouTube instead of just having them perform a dance for friends and family.
“They’re tech students. Theater is a stretch for them. I told them for the next three weeks, we’re going to practice,” said Pankey.
It involved a lot of hard work and careful planning.
After all, dance is pretty much the last thing on most technology students’ minds. However, he inspired them to give it their all by setting an easily achievable end goal for the video project.
“I told them, ‘guys, we’re going to get 1,000 hits’,” said Pankey.
One thousand is also the approximate number of friends that Pankey has on Facebook.
He figured worst comes to worst, he would be able to get some of them to view the clip.
However, the video ended up exceeding all of his wildest expectations.
The first day it went online, it received over one million views!
After various news channels picked up the story, it immediately went viral. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden both shared the video of the dance on Twitter, and even Bruno Mars himself tweeted about it.
Pankey and his students were completely overwhelmed by the response.
“They were in awe. We were receiving e-mails from all over the world… it was a huge realization for them on the impact they can make on the world,” said Pankey.
None of them could believe it. However, once you see the clip for yourself, it’s easy to understand why so many people shared it
The video starts with Pankey sitting at his desk in his classroom.
Then the music begins and he starts dancing to the beat.
Seconds later, he is joined by some female students out in the hallway.
As Pankey works his way around the school, he keeps running into more and more groups of students — all of them doing different funky dance moves.
It’s really cool to see.
The most impressive part though is how they recorded it.
The entire performance is done in one long take following Pankey around as he runs through the halls.
The camera glides around the school following the action as the dance unfolds.
Slowly but surely, the students all showcase their various routines and follow along.
Then, in the end, a massive crowd of students floods the stairwell for the finale.
Everyone throws their hands up in the air in celebration with giant smiles on their faces.
The whole routine looks extremely professional.
However, Pankey explained that it wasn’t due to his extensive dance history.
He had no formal dance training at the time, except for a short clogging class he took at Lees-McRae College.
Most of the credit goes to the incredible students who showed up day after day to perfect the routine.
They did an amazing job. For technology students, they certainly have some smooth moves, that’s for sure!
