Flash mob swings into the Jefferson Memorial

D.C. tourists visiting the Jefferson Memorial got a treat on Saturday afternoon, when the International Flash Mob of West Coast Swing took over the Tidal Basin.

“We’re doing a flash mob today,” said Roger Plaut. “We’ve been organizing the yearly flash mob in D.C. for the last ten years.”

Plaut and his wife, Mané Rebelo-Plaut, are former professional ballet dancers and have been married for 34 years.

Roger told WTOP that the choreography is created by a French couple.

“Every year, there is different choreography and they teach it on YouTube,” said Roger. “People all around the world learn it and then, on the same day all over the world, people dance the same choreography.” 

Roger and Mané met while working as professional ballet dancers.

“When we got a little older and we couldn’t dance ballet anymore, we found West Coast Swing and we fell in love with it,” said Mané.

Roger described the style as “a social dance, a partner dance that was derived from Lindy Hop, but much smoother.” 

The roughly 20 dancers who took part in the flash mob are all amateurs. The group sported matching red shirts.

“The fun thing is that everyone is at different levels,” said Mané. “I love that there are no restrictions. Everybody’s so happy dancing together, regardless of age or gender.” 

“It’s just a group of people that love this dance and thought it would be fun to do a flash mob,” Roger added.

The couple told WTOP that there’s a big community of dancers in the D.C. area who dance West Coast Swing.

“We have people from Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. There is a dance every single week,” Roger said. “On Fridays, you’ll see up to three hundred people dancing West Coast Swing in a ballroom.”

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