Photo by Christie Kurdys – Photojournalist
Zombies danced the afternoon away to Michael Jackson’s single, “Thriller,” in the name of charity.
For the fifth year in a row, California Lutheran University hosted the worldwide synchronized dance event called “Thrill the World” in Kingsmen Park Oct. 27. Community members, students andย event volunteers were invited to dress up as zombies, learn a dance to honor the late singer-songwriter and make optional donations to the Rwanda Education Fund.
Photo by Christie Kurdys – Photojournalist
The REF is a project administered by World Dance for Humanity, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit. The organization provides food, agricultural training, education and humanitarian aid to 9,021 people in 25 rural cooperatives in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, according to the WDH website.
The nonprofitย hostsย dance classes in local communities in addition to Thrill the World. All proceeds and donations from classes and events fund the grassroots projects in Rwanda, Nepal, Guatemala, Kenya, Liberia and Uganda.
Thrill the World is an annual dance event thatย has taken place on five continents and hasย broken theย Guinness Worldย Record for largest Thriller dance in oneย location.
Cal Lutheran’s department of theater and danceย partnered with WDH and Thrill the World to present the zombie dance event to Thousand Oaks residents for free.
Olivia Schouten
News Editor