Ellen’s Dance Dare Shows the Value of Chasing Your Dreams

This topic might seem like a bit of a stretch for a physical education blog, but, well…it does involve a varsity runner, dancing and goal-setting. It’s inspirational. And besides, it’s hilarious.

One of my university runners, Jenna Thornber, has, for over a year, had the goal of winning an invitation to appear on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Ellen includes dancing in many of her segments, and Jenna thought she’d attract Ellen’s attention by posting YouTube videos of herself dancing in strange situations. So, she posted videos in which she danced in a downtown shopping mall, in the middle of the busiest intersection in Toronto, in a university lecture hall (during a lecture), and more.

I think many people thought it was just a joke and didn’t take Jenna seriously. After all, a girl from a small town in Ontario appearing on the Ellen Show? Impossible.

But, in January 2012, Ellen announced an official dance video contest to win an appearance on her show. The contest, called Ellen’s Dance Dare, involved videos in which the contestants must dance behind unsuspecting people. For Jenna, it was a situation where preparation meets motivation meets opportunity.

So, having several video productions under her belt, Jenna went to work and created a dancing video masterpiece. A student at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Jenna had the perfect venue for ambush-dancing. Her video showed her dancing behind a professor during a lecture, behind an unsuspecting student at a urinal, popping from a laundromat dryer, squirm-dancing beneath a bench-presser, and much more!

And guess what. – on Thursday February 2nd, two clips from Jenna’s video appeared on the Ellen Show. One clip showed her peaking around the corner of a public bathroom then dancing behind a student at a urinal – it received the biggest laughs of all the contestant clips that were featured. The other clip showed her dancing behind a diver on a high tower.

She shared the episode with First Lady, Michelle Obama, who I assume watched the Jenna’s video along with Ellen and millions of viewers.

Getting noticed by Ellen is the first step. The final step is to win the contest and a flight to California to meet Ellen on-air. Having seen a number of the other contestant videos, Jenna’s blows them out of the water!

Here’s the video – just don’t watch it at work – every time I see it , I end up laughing out loud.