Our Biggest Web Hit of the Year: Cincinnati Splash Dance

To celebrate the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, we bring back our biggest hit of the year: the Cincinnati Splash Dance! The Splash Dance is a great example of the way the arts connect us all and make our city such a vibrant, fun place to live, work, play, and stay!

Happy New Year to all!

Flash Mob Dancers Splashdance at Findlay Market

Yes - we did it again! After our surprise Splash Dance in September - the dancers were clamoring for a chance to surprise Cincinnatians again.

So, on Sunday November 1 we invited everyone to join us for repeat performances.

It was a sparkling fall day in Cincinnati and the dancers came from all across the area for a short practice session at the Ballet. Then we walked over to Findlay Market and surprised the shoppers.



After, we took a quick drive across the river to Newport on the Levee for a last dance.

Dancing at Newport on the Levee

Why are they practicing the Splash Dance?

We've shared their favorite art form - now can you guess why these Fine Arts Fund staffers are practicing the Splash Dance? Did you think that was all over?

From left to right: Ashley Guethlein, Ann DuCharme, Lisa Maly, Shannon Gilmore, Kristen Alvarez, Tom McLaughlin

Exclusive Photos! Dress Rehearsal for Splash Dance

The night before our surprise flash mob dance on Fountain Square, people from across the region came together for a dress rehearsal in the ballroom at Music Hall. (Thanks to our friends at Music Hall!)

Everyone had practiced in small teams -- with volunteer dance "captains" -- over the previous three weeks. The first time we all danced together, lots of us were a little teary. It was really something to see nearly 200 people create this amazing experience together.

The next night, we danced as a surprise for Cincinnati on Fountain Square at the opening of the MidPoint Music Fest -- in the rain as it turned out. You can see that here. (In the video - listen for the voice at the end saying, "Let's do it again!")

Our amazing photographer:

Scott Beseler

The local bands:
The Chocolate Horse The Kry Kids Freekbass and Tobotius The Hiders The Sweep

Surprise Splash Dance Video

Cincinnati, which embraces the arts like no place we know, erupted in a mass flash dance celebration on Thursday evening.

It had been raining, but stopped just long enough for the first ever splash dance surprise. Dancers amazed the onlookers at the music festival kickoff event when they suddenly started to dance after the first band finished.

Hundreds of people from all parts of the metro area and all walks of life volunteered their time and resources to plan the surprise over the past eight weeks.

It started with just a few people from theater, dance, music, museums, and the Fine Arts Fund staff, and grew to include hundreds of Cincinnati residents.

Even though the initial invitation didn’t say what the participants would be doing, hundreds of people signed on to show their enthusiasm for the arts. We successfully kept the secret for weeks because we all shared the goal of touching others in our community with the unexpectedness of the event.

It is amazing how the arts reach everybody in every part of our city. We started with a small group, and before you knew it, we were dancing with people who live from Mason to Covington, and all over the region. The volunteer dancers included everyone from soap executives to young children.

Great big thanks to Scott and Riann and everyone at Lightborne, which produced the video, and contributed in so many ways to making this a fun event that lives on in this video so many others can share with friends and family!

The Creative Team -- volunteers from large and small arts organizations across the region who helped the Fine Arts Fund organize the dance -- spent one afternoon listening to local musicians and choosing the music together. More thanks go to these local bands for contributing the music:

The Chocolate Horse
The Kry Kids
Freekbass and Tobotius
The Hiders
The Sweep