I kind of figured everyone in the world had already seen this video, but it cycled back around to me again today, and makes me smile every time, so even if you have seen it before, it’s worth the grins.

Matt Harding did this project on his own in 2003, then did a much expanded, sponsor-driven (Stride Gum) version in 2006 that was completed in 2008. That second one with a larger scope (and more dancing with others as opposed to solos) is here.

I just love the look into the world through joyful eyes that it provides.

…and I’m pretty outraged that this guy got my job!

Contributed to herstoryworld.com by Caroline Coan

We all have ideas and causes that move us. Things that light us on fire. Things that make us want to act. Things that make us ask, “Why isn’t anyone paying attention to this?” or “How can I change that?” For me, it is the idea that despite all of the different races and religions and values and lifestyles that can be found around the world, as human beings, we are still more alike than we are different. We all come into the world in the same way and we’ll all eventually have to leave it. We all have to eat and sleep and breathe. And we all want what is best for our families, even if we might have a different idea of what that means. Perhaps Dr. Paul Farmer (of Partners in Health, www.pih.org) said it best as, “the only real nation is humanity”.

Because this is the idea that moves me the most, I absolutely love when I come across any real, tangible example of the idea. And I found just that in the “Where the Hell is Matt” video on YouTube. Perhaps you’re one of the almost 25 million people who have already seen it on YouTube. If not, it is a video that follows along as Matt Harding travels all around the world in his early 30’s and videotapes himself dancing badly (this is his own description) in each country he visits. After making waves on YouTube with his original video, Matt set off around the world yet again and this time invited the people of the world to dance with him. In his 2008 video, you’ll see footage of Matt doing his silly dance and the people who were so good as to get silly and join him, all over the world. And when I say all over the world, I mean all over the world. He danced from Atlanta, Georgia to Stone Town, Zanzibar to my personal favorites, Gurgaon, India and Soweto, South Africa.

You can check out the video here:

There are a lot of reasons to love the video apart from the dancing. The gorgeous myriad of backdrops and the soundtrack alone are enough reason to watch it. But what really strikes me about the video is that despite the differences that you’d find if you examined the daily lives of the people dancing with Matt in the video, they are all clearly enjoying this silly escape from their every day worlds. Young children in Africa and business people in Europe can all celebrate this simple expression of joy and have the time of their lives doing so. That, to me, is a powerful message. It is just a little bit more confirmation that as human beings, we are more alike than we are different. And I think our world would be a little better place if we were all able to embrace that idea and each other just a little bit more.

To learn more about Matt Harding and his dancing endeavors around the world, visit www.wherethehellismatt.com.

132. Where the Hell is Matt?: Dancing Badly Around the World by Matt Harding (2009)

Length: 228 pages

Genre: Non-fiction

Started: 24 October 2009
Finished: 29 October 2009

Where did it come from? Amazon.
Why do I have it? Well, it was on my wishlist because Matt’s videos make me happy every time I watch them (and every time I listen to Praan, the song from the third video)… but to be honest, the book was a total impulse buy when I was ordering something else.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 19 October 2009.
Verdict? Keeper.

Dance like nobody’s
watching… except for all the
people on YouTube.

Summary: I think by now pretty much everyone has seen Matt’s videos, but if you haven’t, do yourself a favor and go watch them. It takes five minutes of your life to watch one of the best things the internet has ever produced, and if it doesn’t make you grin like an idiot while simultaneously tearing up a little bit, you should see your cardiologist to find out how your heart got replaced with a lump of cold dead stone.

Anyways, the story in a nutshell: Matt Harding was just an ordinary guy who decided to quit his job in order to travel – and started taking videos of himself doing a goofy dance in front of various tourist landmarks. He cobbled those together into a YouTube video, which attracted the attention of a corporate sponsor, who funded his further travels to make two more videos, during which he made the shift away from dancing in front of things to dancing with other people all over the globe.

This book is a memoir-cum-travelogue, moving roughly chronologically through Matt’s travels. Each 2-3 page chapter tells the story behind one of the video clips – travel adventures, how the shot was filmed, backstory, anecdotes, etc., complete with a map showing each location and many of Matt’s photos. It doesn’t cover every clip, but I’d say it hits at least half of the clips from all three videos. And, along the way, Matt describes how the dancing went from a running gag to a worldwide sensation, and a statement about humanity’s inherent joy and silliness and brotherhood all over the world.

Review: I had two worries when I started this book. First, concepts that work on the internet don’t always pan out in book form, and in this case, Matt was translating not only from internet to tangible book, but also from video to text. Second, and relatedly, the videos are so wonderful in and of themselves that I was worried that explaining the stories behind them would leach away some of their magic. Luckily, I needn’t have worried on either count; the book complements the videos without competing with it, and knowing the stories and significance of the clips actually makes the video more meaningful, rather than less.

The book itself is also physically lovely – full-color maps or photos on every page. It does seem like the production was bit rushed: in several places the typesetting wasn’t quite right, and the map showing Kuwait City located in the middle of Iraq is an unfortunate mistake that someone along the way should have caught. Still, the book is a nice addition, providing information and context for the quick glimpses of far-flung locations that we can see in the videos.

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Harding’s got a strongly-developed snarky sense of humor, can tell an anecdote well, and has a good sense of cutting right to the important bits. The book is not laden with detail – each chapter and each location only gets a few pages (including pictures) – but each chapter contains enough to give you a sense of the flavor of the place, something in there to make you giggle, and occasionally something to make you a little bit misty… so, exactly like the videos. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

And it’s not just structures that have passed away. Over two thousand people danced in the third video, and in the short time since it was recorded, I’ve been informed that several are no longer with us. And it goes without saying: that number will steadily approach zero.

It sounds strange to suggest, but I think a lot of us are at our best in those moments when we’re willfully, unselfconsciously ridiculous. And for me at least, I think it’s a pretty great way to be remembered. (p. 188)

Recommendation: Lovely, funny, and surprisingly moving. I think anyone who liked the videos would probably get something out of reading the book, and it’s pretty enough (and in short enough chunks) to be accessible to almost every world-traveler, wanderlust-y geek, and unselfconsiously bad dancer out there.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Links: Matt’s Videos, Matt’s Blog

Other Reviews: Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: “Hey, stand over there and do that dance you do. I’ll record it on your camera.”

Cover Thoughts: Very eye-catching, and representative of the production quality throughout the book, I think. I particularly like the little dancing silhouettes in the borders – the same silhouettes that are in the lower right corner of each odd-numbered page, making a flip-book.

Vocab: (see the whole list)

• p. 71: “We stopped at a small coral bommie growing on the hull.” – A shallow isolated piece of reef located a distance offshore.

Toen Matt Harding zijn zelf gefinancierde dansrondje over de wereld had gedaan, kwam het hippe Amerikaanse kauwgummerk Stride op het idee hem te adopteren. Matt en zijn vriendin gingen opnieuw de wereld over, nu betaald door Stride en aangestuurd door een website die meldde waar Matt ging dansen en wanneer. Het leverde over de hele wereld spektakelstukken op van mensen die hem in zijn briljante en supersimpele idee vergezelden. Geniet opnieuw: Matt Harding/Stride.

Over een evenementje gesproken. Dit is er 1 van formaat en ingegeven door grote moed en onafhankelijkheid. De Australier Matt Harding besloot zijn baan op te geven en de wereld over te gaan met een dansje. Een dansje op alle bijzondere plekken op de wereld. Zijn vriendin (net zo moedig) reisde met hem mee en filmde zijn dansjes. Matt werd een enorm succes op internet. Miljoenen mensen volgden zijn dansende wereldreis. Bekijk ‘m en geniet: Matt Harding.

Mi compañera de habitación me ha enseñado éste video y me ha encantado. Por la cantidad de visitas que tiene en youtube muchos de vosotros lo conocereís, pero es la historia de un hombre que hizo ésto a modo de hobbie y tuvo tanto éxito que consiguió un patrocinador para hacer el video que pongo a continuación.

Para B*, ¡¡FELICIDADES RETRASADAS!!

Always when I’m seeing this video I just have to smile. It’s beautiful when Matt Harding infects all the different peoples of Earth with the dance virus.

Man mag über Youtube ja denken was man will, aber hin und wieder entdeckt man doch schlichtweg geniale Videos. Das Folgende ist eins von dieser Sorte. Da bekommt man doch gleich ein bisschen Fernweh…

No siempre ser malo para algo resulta mal. De ello puede dar fe “Matt” un joven de 32 años, natural de Connecticut llevo a cabo la idea “Where the Hell is Matt”.

Con paciencia, constancia (eso si sin nada de vergüenza) y sin mucha pretensión Matt empezó simplemente a bailar, mientras un amigo lo grababa . Con los meses, gracias a la magia de internet y de la gran cantidad de personas que andan sin mucho por hacer, su video fue visto una y otra y otra y otra vez. Así hasta que Matt se volvió cuasi famoso como “ese man que baila en Internet”.

Hace trés años, grabo este video visto cerca de un millón y medio de veces:

Con el tiempo el mal bailarín capturó la atención de “Stride gum“, quienes le propusieron hacer otro viaje alrededor del mundo para hacer un nuevo video.

En el 2006, Matt viajó durante 6 meses a través de 39 países de todos los 7 continentes viaje en el cual simplemente se dedico a bailar, mal, pero a bailar al fin y al cabo.

Después de esto, en el 2007 desarrolló con Stride una nueva idea. Volver a viajar e invitar a bailar a todos aquellos que se habían puesto en contacto con el por e-mail.
Matt vive ahora en Seattle, Washington con su novia Melissa y su perro Sydney. Bailar mal no lo hizo rico. Simplemente lo llevó a través de los 7 continentes desde el 2003 hasta el 2008.

Baila mal, pero tal vez esto es lo que lo hace su idea tan buena. Bailar mal pero lo hace terriblemente bien.

Por qué alguien dedica años de su vida a hacer algo así? Por diversión y ganas de vijar, seguro. Pero prefiero pensar en que fue como dijo el mismo Matt Harding hablando sobre La filmación de “Where the Hell is Matt?”

There´s some value in being reminder in the reall basic stuff we all have in common

www.wherethehellismatt.com

Conheça Matt Harding, que em vez de tirar aquela famosa e chata foto de postal, faz diferente: criou uma dancinha totalmente boba, mas contagiante. Funciona assim: alguém se encarrega de filmar, ele vai lá e dança, na maioria das vezes acompanhado. Já esteve no Brasil, em praia no Rio de Janeiro e no Monumento à Independência em São Paulo. Lá em Auckland, se eu não me enganei, foi no Eden Park.

Curtam: (PS – dica do Dr. Pepper, pelo blog MariMoon. Ótimos, por sinal)

Meet Matt Harding! Instead of taking that very boring and famous post card picture, makes it different: He did create a silly but contagious dance, and he does it everywhere in the World. Sometimes, local people join him to do it. Matt has  been in Brazil, at Rio de Janeiro beaches and at the Independency Monument at São Paulo. He went to Auckland as well, if I’m not mistaken, at the Eden Park.

Enjoy it!

I have come across a video from youtube called Where is Matt Harding? upon watching, I could not grasp my emotions on the objective nor idea behind the dancing from various parts of the globe by Mr. Harding. One thing is for sure though, the video is spot on invoking a sense of belongingness, and oneness in a society bridged by race, religion, need and creed.

Upon further inspection, the performance by Matt Harding is similar to a Social Marketing Movement or Marketing Advocacy that many corporations big and small try to use in their basic objectives of Brand Awareness & Brand Management. There are many aspects and examples of Social Marketing Movements and Advocacy’s – but the dancing Matt Harding is all too new (at least for me). The Filipino in me, is joyous enough to see Matt with Filipino children in Tagaytay, all the more with the music behind it (kudos to the composer).

The beauty is that, performance art and Marketing should be used more often in any marketing endeavor or campaign. The social environment is constantly evolving and changing especially the market we are addressing. Synergizing both practices is quite new that creates a stir and yearning, especially when used with technology such as the web. However, the idea of simplicty, uniqueness and singular should all be applied as prevalent on all Marketing Advocacy plans from north to south.

All in all, whatever the idea or concept behind the dancing of the infamous Matt Harding is the visual interest is surely there – a market ready to listen to what we as marketers have to offer.

Matt Harding um designer de videogames de 32 anos, abandonou o seu trabalho em 2003 para fazer uma viagem pela Ásia. Durante essa viagem ele gravou um pequeno video dançando (quer dizer, o cara não dança nada, mas enfim!!!) em Hanoi, e este video passou de um amigo para outro até chegar as mãos da Stride Gum, que resolveu financiar mais duas viagens de Mart. Isso levou a este video, onde Mart visita 42 países em 14 meses e chama os habitantes dos lugares por onde passa a dançar a mesma música com ele. Muito legal!

© Skyhorse Publishing

It’s here… Where the Hell is Matt??? [the book]

Matt Harding’s groundbreaking, moving, hilarious video has been viewed on the Internet over 70 million times. Named Time magazine’s #1 viral video of 2008, it is a genuine worldwide sensation. Some viewers laugh. Some viewers cry. Almost every viewer has sent it on to friends and family. Only in the 21^st century could a videogame designer quit his job to travel and become famous on every continent of the planet — just for dancing badly.

Now everyone who has wondered why Harding set out on his travels, how he developed his hard-to-describe but easy-to-recognize dance style, and what the locals thought of his need to dance can indulge their curiosity in his first book, Where the Hell is Matt?: Dancing Badly Around the World. A remarkable travelogue featuring over 250 photographs taken in locations near and far, including Tanzania, Bolivia, Rwanda, South Korea, Norway, Morocco, Australia, Japan, and Kyrgyzstan, Harding’s book takes the reader on a dancing, traveling adventure that only he has experienced, including:

• Being arrested for just dancing badly in Athens
• What it’s like to try and dance in zero gravity during parabolic flight
• How he joined a chorus of Bollywood dancers outside Mumbai
• The feeling of dancing under the wary eyes of communist soldiers in North Korea
• The chill of dancing in an indoor ski resort in Dubai
• Why he thinks llamas built the Incan city of Machu Pichu
• Dancing in the shadow of the giant heads of Easter Island
• What it’s like to be famous for being nothing more than a very bad dancer

For the millions who have come to know and love Harding for his video, Where the Hell is Matt? Dancing Badly Around the World will be a special treat. 

Please note: multiple booksellers offer this book. I bought my copies through Barnes & Noble. If you order there by July 27^th  you can receive 20% off by utilizing the following coupon code: P3N9L8M

Now, on to the video, which will be a repeat for those who saw it on this site in March, but it’s one of those things that is still enjoyable when viewed again:

#mce_temp_url#

¿Quién es Matt?

Matt Harding tiene 32 años, nacío en Connecticut, EEUU,  y desde jóven solía pensar que todo lo que quería hacer en la vida era hacer y jugar videojuegos. El pudo alcanzar su objetivo muy rápido, disfrutó de esto pero pronto comprendió que había otras cosas que podría hacer y disfrutar. En febrero del 2003, Matt deja su trabajo en Brisbane, Australia y usa todos sus ahorros para viajar por Asia y sube a internt su sitio web: www.wherethehellismatt.com para poder mantener ainformados a su familia y amigos sobre donde se encontraba en cada momento.

Unos meses despues durante su estadía en Hanoi, un compañero de viaje de Matt le dió la idea de hacer ese baile que lo ha caracterizado y grabarlo en video. El baile al que se refería es un baile muy particular que hacía Matt, en realidad el único que según sus amigos sabe sabe hacer y que “hace mal”.  

Un par de años después  alguien encontró el vídeo en internet y se lo pasó a alguien más, que lo pasó a otro y así sucesivamente. Actualmente Matt y su particular baile alrededor del mundo captado por la cámara es uno de los personajes más buscados y sus videos unos de los más vistos y comentados de Youtube.

La respuesta de la gente al primer video atrajo la atención de la marca  Stride gum, quienes le ofrecieron la posibilidad de realizar un segundo video bailando alrededor del mundo todo pagado por ellos. En el 2006 Matt viajó por 6 meses, visitó 39 países y se volvio famoso.

En el 2007 Matt se reunió nuevamente con la gente de Stride y les mostró la inmensa cantidad de emails que había recibido de la gente que lo había visto bailar en internet y les planteó la idea de hacerlo de nuevo pero esta vez bailando junto a esas personas que le habían escrito. A ellos les pareció una buena idea y es así como se realizó su tercer video.

Matt, actualmente vive en Washington con su novia, Melissa y perro Sydney. No se ha vuelto rico pero si famoso y piensa que los americanos deberían viajar mucho más al extranjero y así poder disfrutar de lo que él ha podido ver y vivir durante todos sus viajes.

Where the Hell is Matt? Viajes 2003/2004, Publicado en el 2005

Where the Hell is Matt? 2006

Where the Hell is Matt? 2008

El 22 de agosto del 2008, Matt fue invitado a hablar en Gnomedex en Seattle sobre como consiguió que la gente se interesara en lo que hacía y lo acompañara  a bailar en los diferentes destinos que visitaba.

Algunos viajes de Matt vistos a través del Google Earth

Fuente: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com y Youtube

I have quit listening to the news and watching TV (almost) because it is bad for my mental health. Much of what we are fed daily keeps us stressed about money and financial security, while at the same time it encourages us to keeping buying and going deeper into debt. Vicious, vicious circle.

It’s time for a revolution! Time to break out of our small Walmart ideas of the perfect life and start living. Time to stop cruising around the shore going in circles and think of life as a voyage. It is truly an adventure and it’s all around us. The cup is half full overflowing!

This quote, by Sterling Hayden stopped me in my tracks because it is such a powerful expression of what I’d like to say. And besides, he actually followed through on this. He would have loved Matt Harding of the famed “Where the hell is Matt?’ experience.  (video embedded below)

“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea… cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in.

If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. “I’ve always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can’t afford it.” What these men can’t afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine – and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need – really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in – and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That’s all – in the material sense, and we know it.

But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?”  from The Wanderer, by Sterling Hayden, actor and author

Thanks to Sid at Right Brain Therapy for introducing me to Matt. Watch a truly joyous contemporarywanderer.

 

 

A ver que os parece este vídeo en el que aparece Matt Harding bailando, a veces solo y otras veces acompañado, en diferentes lugares del mundo. A muchos nos gustaría porder montar un vídeo así con imagenes nuestras en tantos lugares…

Me ha dejado con una sonrisa

Ho deciso di inaugurare questo blog con un articolo molto leggero; per quanto possa essere stato criticato, Matt Harding ha cercato di donarci un messaggio ben più articolato e complesso rispetto a quello che si vede nel video. A volte non bisogna rifletterci troppo, basta ballare!

Goditi il tuo corpo,
usalo in tutti i modi che puoi,
senza paura e senza temere quel che pensa la gente.
E’ il più grande strumento che potrai mai avere.
Balla!
Anche se il solo posto che hai per farlo è il tuo soggiorno.

Leggi le istruzioni, anche se poi non le seguirai.

(The Big Kahuna)

Cinco videos que vi esta semana, tres cortesía de mi buen amigo Oliver, uno cortesía del ocio de mi mamá, uno musical que descubrí gracias a que la canción me encanta… Este es el listado de los videos más tontos que vi esta semana :

Una manera muy original [aunque también algo desquiciante] de servirte un helado en Turquía.

Ice Cream Acrobat :

**********************

El video que le dio la vuelta al mundo y por el que tacharon de “asesino” a Obama en muchos blogs… obviamente, en broma.

Obama Kills A Fly :

**********************

¿Cuántos de nosotros no nos hemos unido a un gran bile en un Festival?. Esta es la prueba de que la música une masas. Grabado en el Sasquatch Music Festival 2009 durante la presentación en vivo de Santigold, les traigo

Dance Magnet :

**********************

¿Se acuerdan de Lady P. de la desaparecida banda chilena/californiana Los Abandoned?. Esta a punto de lanzar disco solista bajo su nombre real, que es Pilar Díaz, y parece que todo le esta yendo muy bien. La fórmula es similar a la de su antigua banda, cantando en spanglish.
“Piñata” es su primer sencillo. Un homenaje a esas figuras de cartón y/o barro que nos ofrecen dulces y regalos de cualquier tipo con solo golpearlas… y muy duro.
Aquí les dejo el video de ese primer single.

**********************

Y el último video es de un tipo llamado Matt Harding, a quien la empresa de chicles internacional Stride Gum le pagó una lana para lanzarse a 42 países, bailar y así unir a la gente en su ya clásico pasito… ¿para qué?. Ni idea.
La respuesta fue tal, que hasta una página web abrieron; Where The Hell Is Matt?. Donde uno podía o puede seguir la ruta que lleva este tipo alrededor del mundo [sinceramente, desconozco si aún lo hace].
El video es muy emotivo, de alguna manera te hace sentir bien y te pone de buenas.

Where The Hell Is Matt? :

With another season of So You Think You Can Dance on this year, I have been inspired. Here are some positive dance videos.

I think we should all follow Matt Harding’s lead and just dance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/arts/television/08dancer.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

And another little something because I think this is fun. This video shows John Travolta’s famous dance from the movie Saturday Night Fever. I wish I was alive during the 70’s.

Matt Harding is from Connecticut and in his thirties.  He was a computer games developer who quit his job in February 2003, to go travelling.  Several months into a trip through Asia a travel companion gave Matt the idea of performing a peculiar dance, apparently the only dance Matt does, on the streets of Hanoi. The video was posted on line and attracted some attention. Harding repeated the dance in a number of locations and edited together 15 scenes of this dance with the background music Sweet Lullaby (Nature’s Dancing Mix), by Deep Forest that uses lyrics from a dying Solomon Islands language.

It attracted the attention of Cadbury which was launching a new chewing gum range called Stride gum. They offered to pay Matt to do another trip around the world to make a new video.  In 2006, Matt took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents, dancing in all of them.  The Wheretheismatt videos have between them been seen over 100 million times.

I know I’m probably late to the party on this one (hey, I can’t get to ALL the memes in existence, you know! I’m a busy guy!) but if you haven’t seen it yet, this video of Dancing Matt is probably the coolest thing you’ll see all day. Why it’s so cool…I’m not sure yet. But when I figure it out, I’ll tell you. Incidentally, Wolfram|Alpha knows where Matt is.

[Link: Where The Hell Is Matt]