So you think you can flashdance? Yes, you can

Editor’s Note: The 4th annual Mardi Gras Mambo Flash Mob Workshop is upon us. Sharon Litwin talked with founder and dancer, Kenneth “Kynt” Bryan when the mob was first starting, and her words still ring true.

Kenneth “Kynt” Bryan (Photo by: Kelley Crawford)

Christmas is over; New Year’s forgotten. So what’s next? Like we don’t know! Of course, it’s Mardi Gras. And as if king cake, parades, bead catching and costuming were not enough, dancer Kenneth “Kynt” Bryan has come up with another way to celebrate the Carnival season: the Mardi Gras Mambo Flashmob.

If you’ve always secretly wished you could be part of a pop-up public event, one that shows you at your choreographed best, in the company of others who all look fabulous, dressed to the nines and step perfect, then this is the gig for you. Kynt welcomes young or old, singles or couples, with 10 kids or no kids to an eight-week session taking place in the Music and Communications Building of Loyola University in collaboration with Loyola University’s Preparatory Arts Program.

“Routines usually last about five minutes,” explains the tall, dancer-skinny Loyola Ballet alumnus. “More than that gets boring.”

The music, he adds, is a blast from the past. “Sure, we’ll do Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and ‘Beat It’,” he says. But there will also be music and routines around a Mardi Gras theme. Will he tell what that is?

“Oh no, I can’t tell you that.”

One thing Kynt assures all is that “it will be fun, adventurous, maybe a little challenging for some, but I guarantee everyone will have a good time.”

Before it landed at Loyola University, the Mardi Gras Mambo Flashmob met at the New Orleans Dance Academy. Now growing in number, Kynt still gives each dancer serious personal attention.

“We are going to return to a lot of last year’s venues,” he says, “While adding more.” And while he steadfastly won’t disclose the Carnival theme of this year’s flashmob, he does urge those who might be longtime, really secret wishful dancers to “come out of the closet and dance.”

Flashmob New Orleans, the local community based dance company is holding early registration for its 4^th Annual Mardi Gras Mambo Flash Mob Workshop 2017, which is hosted by the New Orleans School of Ballet.

The seven-week session is open to the public and will be held Jan. 7 through Feb. 22 on Saturdays, 717 Adams St. at the corner of Adams and Maple streets. The flash mob workshop will be held from 2:15pm to 3:30 p.m. To register, email: kyntbryan@hotmail.com or call 504-453-6991. You can also visit the Facebook page or the official website.