Harlem Shake Hits Aquidneck Island

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What is the Harlem Shake? 

The Harlem Shake is an YouTube worldwide dance contagion that originated with comedian and video blogger Filthy Frank and went wildly viral last month. On Jan. 30, he uploaded a YouTube of several costumed people dancing to the song "Harlem Shake" by Baauer.  See the attached video for Filthy Frank's video. 

A group of teenagers known as The Sunny Coast Skate from Queensland Australia, were the first to imitate the Harlem Shake, which ignited a chain reaction of Harlem Shake uploads to YouTube.  Today, a Harlem Shake search on YouTube returns over 200,000 results.
  
It’s contagious and nobody appears to be immune.  Harlem Shake videos have been created by the Norwegian Army, CNN's Anderson Cooper, Miami Heat and even Egyptian protesters.

Harlem Shake Hits Middletown

Recently, Aquidneck Island has caught the Harlem Shake bug.  Watch Middletown’s Able Body and Mind and The Salve Regina basketball team rock the Shake in the attached YouTube clips.

Across Rhode Island, The Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island High School Cheerleading and the University of Rhode Island Island have done the Harlem Shake.

The thing is, the internet meme is not the Harlem Shake at all.

The actual Harlem Shake is a style of dance introduced in the early 80s by a Harlem resident named "Al B". The dance became mainstream in 2001 when G. Dep featured the Harlem shake in his music video "Let's Get It". During street interviews in Harlem, residents have said the despite its name, the internet sensation is not Harlem Shake and some say it is a mockery of the original dance.

Do you have a favorite Harlem Shake video?  Share it in the comments section below.