Morgan Wall/The News
Valerie Mulé Thacker and her grandson Jeremiah Ward practice doing the Twist at the Mount Airy Public Library Saturday morning.
Morgan Wall/The News
A handful of people gather at the Mount Airy Public Library for a lesson in how to properly twist.
Morgan Wall/The News
Joey Marion, who is serving as the dance expert for Mount Airy’s attempt to break the world record for the number of people doing the Twist, demonstrates one of the basic twisting techniques.
Morgan Wall/The News
Joey Marion leads a dance lesson in the proper techniques for doing the Twist at the Mount Airy Public Library.
As Sept. 9 gets closer, Mount Airy is gearing up to do the Twist.
On Saturday a handful of people gathered at the Mount Airy Public Library for a dance lesson led by Joey Marion, who will serve as the expert in the field as the town strives to set a new world record for the number of people doing the Twist simultaneously. Brack Llewellyn, one of the organizers for the event which is being sponsored by WSYD, hopes to see 2,000 people turn out on Main Street between Moore Avenue and Pine Street to twist for five straight minutes and set a new Guinness World Record.
During Saturday’s lesson, Marion, who has been named the Twist Commander, showed those gathered the three basic Twist steps. Then, they set out to Twist for five minutes straight just to get a feel for how long that actually is.
“As long as you’re in the frame of one of these basic steps you should be fine,” said Marion. “You have to be twisting the whole time. It has to be a twisting motion.”
Marion also offered some pointers to people on how to stay healthy and have fun during the event. He taught them a few stretches to perform before they start dancing just to warm up their muscles and cautioned them to drink plenty of water before the event even starts. He also cautioned participants to be sure to pace themselves so they will not be as likely to wear themselves out in the first minute or two.
“The important thing is to pace yourself. Drink plenty of water. It’s important to warm-up,” he said.
Twisters are encouraged to wear loose, comfortable clothing to keep themselves cool and to wear shoes that do not have a lot of tread, not tennis shoes, because the dancing will take place on the street.
“We want people to have fun and be safe. Five minutes really can be a long time,” said Llewellyn.
Marion also advised participants to practice at home between now and the event in order to build up their endurance.
“Twist at home for at least seven minutes at a time that way five minutes won’t seem that long. When you train for something you always train longer than the actual event. You can also do mini-Twists throughout the day where you Twist for a couple of minutes at a time. You also might want to practice on pavement just to see what it feels like,” he cautioned.
Those wishing to participate are asked to register before the event the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce. Participants will also have to sign in on the day of the event in order to get a number and become part of the official count. Organizers are working with the Mount Airy Police Department to divide the street into a grid with groups of 100 in each section according to number. This will make it easier to monitors to keep track of the people dancing. Sign-ups on Sept. 9 will begin at 4 p.m. with the bid for the world record slated to take place around 6 p.m.
Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.
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