Alum leads 'Thriller' flash mob through New Orleans

If Halloween cues up a reason for you to watch Michael Jackson"s “Thriller” video on Youtube, you"re not alone. A Tulane University alumnus helps bring that famed dance to life every Halloween around New Orleans, flash-mob style.

Kenneth “Kynt” Bryan, who studied dance at Tulane and graduated with a master of liberal arts degree in 2012, is behind the annual series of pop-up performances, which started several years ago and grew out of his role as a Michael Jackson impersonator, such as in Mardi Gras parades.

“I wanted to make it a traditional thing for Louisiana and for New Orleans, just to memorialize [Jackson] … he was such a great artist,” Bryan says.

The group of dancers is scheduled to perform several times on Friday (Oct. 30) including at Loyola University, Tulane University and New Orleans City Hall. The dance group numbers 30 to 40 this year but in past years has attracted as many as 60 costumed performers. This week, flash mobbers have taken their act to the French Quarter for an impromptu but well-received performance.

Since performing in the flash mob is open to the public, Bryan himself taught the “Thriller” dance to people who wanted to join in the fun.

“I actually even teach the City Hall members and the NORDC [New Orleans Recreation Development Commission] staff, so the day of the flash mob, we all combine … we"re just dancing in unison,” Bryan says.

The New Orleans native, who works as a dance instructor and choreographer, is also the entrepreneur behind the Flash Mob New Orleans company.

Bryan also will debut a Janet Jackson tribute on Oct. 30, but says the City Hall performance will feature “a very special surprise” as well.

If you"re in the mood for Halloween highjinks circa 1983, we hear that members of the Tulane community might want to lurk around the Lavin-Bernick Center Quad around 10:30 a.m. on Friday (Oct. 30).