Must See! In Moscow the most joyous flash mob you've ever seen to the tune of "Puttin on the Ritz"

[Better Believe It]

Putin On the Ritz
by Abby Zimet
April 6, 2012

In Moscow, a few days before the Russian election, an exuberant crowd - including a couple getting married - put on the coolest, hugest, most joyous flash mob you've ever seen to the tune of "Puttin' On the Ritz" - in the snow, yet. A tentative online consensus thinks they're protesting Putin; either way, they're fabulous.

“Dressed up like a million dollar trooper/Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper.”

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2012/04/06-2

[Duer 157099]

1. I love flash mobs like this

thanks for posting

[Better Believe It]

2. Me too! Very, very cool. The youth of the world will change it .... for the better.

[rhett o rick]

24. That was my thinking as I watched with tears in my eyes. nm

[gateley]

3. K&R! nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. Seems too choreographed for a flash mob

That and the uniforms, brooms, etc...

My money is it was done purposely as part of the wedding celebration.

Fun to watch though.

[csziggy]

23. There's also the video from the helicopter and cranes...

Doesn't matter - it's still fun to watch!

Maybe it's more like the Improv Everywhere stuff:

[Better Believe It]

38. I really like the food court video.

[csziggy]

40. I have spent literally hours watching Improv Everywhere videos

They are usually very well thought out and fun events. They are the ones who did the Frozen Grand Central Station event a few years back.

[calimary]

54. I wanna be in one! Waaaahhh!

Jealous!

[uppityperson]

44. Wonderful! My favorite Buffy episode is the Musical one. How funny to do Musicals in

real life. Thank you.

[freshwest]

49. Life on Earth is getting more surreal than ever! Thanks!

[tclambert]

28. And all those brooms. Why do people walk around with brooms in the winter in Russia?

Something seems fishy (рыбный .

[StraightTalk]

58. Too Choreographed for a flash mob

You're absolutely right. The dancers were hired by the groom as a surprise for his bride. The army uniforms aren't standard ones, they're costumes. Wedding parties with elaborate entertainment are part of Russian tradition for those who can afford it.

[Gibby]

5. Sooper Dooper

[pokerfan]

17. Blue Skies (1946)

ETA: "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little."

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

32. Thanks for that,

I wondered about the lyrics,
“Dressed up like a million dollar trooper/Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper.”
but they were just part of the song from the start.

[WCGreen]

34. Depression era song....

[pokerfan]

37. Irving Berlin was a genius

He could churn out the pablum with the best (God Bless America) but he was capable of amazing stiff at times. Reading this, I think I better understand why I like 'Ritz.'

The song is in AABB form, with a verse. According to John Mueller, the central device in the A section is the "use of delayed rhythmic resolution: a staggering, off-balance passage, emphasized by the unorthodox stresses in the lyric, suddenly resolves satisfyingly on a held note, followed by the forceful assertion of the title phrase." The marchlike B section, which is only barely syncopated, acts as a contrast to the previous rhythmic complexities. According to Alec Wilder, in his study of American popular song, the rhythmic pattern in "Puttin' on the Ritz" is "the most complex and provocative I have ever come upon."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puttin%27_on_the_Ritz

[Better Believe It]

39. For some reason I really like Taco's version from 1983.

I might be in a minority on that.

[csziggy]

51. I enjoy the Taco version, also

In fact, the only Taco album I ever bought was the one with Puttin' on the Ritz!

[sabrina 1]

57. That's great too.

Love the Flash Mob, thanks for posting.

[polly7]

6. Love it! Big kick. nt.

[etherealtruth]

7. so enjoyable ... I had to watch it twice!

Thank you for posting

[cloudbase]

8. Hell, yeah!

[IcyPeas]

9. this just brings a Big smile - love it

[southernyankeebelle]

10. Thanks for sharing this clip. It left me with a nice smile on my face.

[JNelson6563]

11. That was such fun!

[cr8tvlde]

12. Awesome

and Amazing. Definitely coreographed, but what a grand time watching it ... twice. And that's certainly a wedding day to remember!!

[nobodyspecial]

14. No doubt

and a number of professional dancers involved as well. It's also shot from several cameras. I would love to know more about the back story on this.

[TheDebbieDee]

13. Very good. Thanks for sharing...........

[XanaDUer]

15. Seeing things like this give me

Hope for humanity.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. Where do 300 people go to practice?

[cherokeeprogressive]

18. Makes ya feel like the world might not be such a shitty place after all.

Then, 5:41 later, it's over and the world goes back to being a shitty place again.

Great while it lasted though...

Thanks for sharing.

[one_voice]

19. Fun to watch...

smiled through the whole thing.

Thanks for posting.

K&R

[TahitiNut]

20. Neither Hollywood nor Bollywood could do it better.

Effervescent!

[ChazInAz]

21. AAAwww!

All those cute Russian girls...made me homesick!

[badhair77]

22. ok, this puts me in a great mood

they did a terrific job

[Historic NY]

25. Great.........

[Bette Noir]

26. I want to appropriate this as my official wedding video.

It's a hell of a thing.

[indykatie1955]

27. Magnificent, thanks for posting. k/r

[Honeycombe8]

29. What a gip site. They got my address, etc., but apparently won't work until they get more more more.

What a racket. Can't believe I fell for that.

[Honeycombe8]

30. Well, I finally got registered. But warning, warning...my virus program won't let that video open.

It must have something in it to load on your computer. It must be pretty tricky because normally I get a msg that the thingamajig wants to load such and such, but in this instance, I don't get a msg. The video is just blocked.

[Better Believe It]

31. I haven't had a problem but you should try the Common Dreams link which might work for you.

At:

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2012/04/06-2

[Honeycombe8]

55. Well, my AV program said there's a problem. But I found it on Youtube....

Last edited Sun Apr 8, 2012, 10:35 PM - Edit history (1)

That is a great video! How uplifting and fun was THAT!?!!!

But judging from all the Russian videos of Puttin on the Ritz, I take it that that song is pretty big in Russia, for some reason.

Gotta be careful about sites & videos from Russia...it's a major country where hackers are found.

[WCGreen]

33. How fucking cool was that....

twenty years ago they that would never have happened...

[Tanelorn]

35. Putin on the Ritz ?

[pokerfan]

41. n1

[Better Believe It]

43. Ouch!!!!!! That smarts!

[LiberalArkie]

53. Now That is Putin on the Ritz

[Better Believe It]

36. For Sunday DU'ers to enjoy

[Kablooie]

42. Here's a great comment posted on the YouTube site.

What a crazy, ever changing world...!

Who could have thought that in 2012 young people in Moscow would put on a "flash mob" happening, dancing to an 83 year old American song written by a Russian born American/Jew (Irving Berlin) whose last name is the capital of Germany...

[marlakay]

45. That brought tears to my eyes

I love it when the world does cool things everywhere!!

[silverweb]

47. Me, too.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I love this kind of thing! I love seeing people happy and enjoying themselves, and I really don't understand why it makes my eyes so annoyingly watery every time!

[Uncle Joe]

46. Well done!

Thanks for the thread, Better Believe It.

[demmiblue]

48. I had a smile on my face the entire time... thanks for posting!

[freshwest]

50. I'll send this to some Russian pals on youtube.

[footinmouth]

52. I loved it

Thanks so much for sharing. It made my day.

[Duppers]

56. Loved it. Thanks.