I'm sure this was a fun evening! Watch the performance from fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha at the 2009 Anchorsplash charity talent show at Virginia Tech. -via reddit
Wow, the Pikes did something actually cool for once. (and not just 'd-bag'-ish.) :P
Egghead, I highly doubt that was their original inspiration... Check the 6:10 mark at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyS61OT086c (no audio due to copyright violation). I'm sure the inspiration for the original dance came from stuff like blue man group and matrix ping pong (youtube it if you're not familiar with it), but to me Pi Kappa Alpha are just biters. Way to get to the party three years late, Pikes!
Jeez guys, I thought it was neat. Not all of us has seen the Blue Man Group. I don't think it was the "best example of talent" but I found it to be entertaining.
It's cool, and I concur with jbean that the inspiration was both blue man group and the Japanese game show featuring the matrix ping pong. Not a bad thing though.
Well Blue Man Group was alright. It was cool for what it was worth but it certainly wasn't worth the 80 plus dollars I recall paying to see it. The music rocked though.
Hm, I think people are misunderstanding me. If you click on the youtube link I provided (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyS61OT086c) and go to the 6:10 mark, it links to a dance done by a student group at UT in 2006. It feels to me that the Pi Kappa Alpha dance is just a copy of that one.
I like to imagine it's not a college stunt but rather a kind of Scientology convention event where every year on this date the Body Thetans come out to make mischief. It makes the screaming and cheering creepier and more interesting. Also, the dancers are the children of famous Scientologists, and afterward they rejoin the others and bob for apples and handle snakes and shock each other's hands with their little galvanometers.
I just would like to say that I am not a "hater"-- I was merely making an observation that their work seemed inspired by BMG and Mummenshantz. Thanks jbean for the youtube link-- no doubt their dance is emulating matrix ping pong! But the overall style of multiple people performing mostly in the dark with certain elements illuminated is very Mummenshantz. Unfortunately most of the available video is with them performing in the light. This is not at all how they do it in the theater. Here is a short clip with some examples of their work - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DfC47Nwttg
I thought it was entertaining. It's not as good as some of the old goodies such as Matrix Ping Pong, but it was still fun to watch.