A. Maceo High Teacher, Students Talk About Viral Dance Video
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - This isn't your average high school project, but then again, this isn't your average high school class.
Students at A. Maceo Smith New Tech High School in Dallas are enjoying the lime light of the internet, thanks to a wild idea that came to fruition in theater class.
Maceo students are known for their technology, but not necessarily for their dance moves…until now. One-take video of students dancing to the hit song "Uptown Funk" has won the heart of the internet.
Theater teacher Scot Pankey says it started as an assignment to get students excited about the new semester.
"Before we left for Christmas break, I kind of gave them an idea, I was like just 'Get ready, when we get back we're gonna do a dance.' They were like, ugh, 'We don't dance Mr. Pankey!' I said 'This is gonna be fun!'"
They rehearsed for three weeks -- getting every step, slide and spin just right. Filming was the hardest part, which was done by a student being pulled on a library cart.
"By the time we got to the stairs he had to get off the cart, walk backwards, up the stairs, get back on the cart and they pushed him around again."
The work paid off. In the 48 hours since the video was posted, it's been viewed nearly 800 thousand times.
Fans are even leaving comments like, "Where was this teacher when I was in high school? The world needs more like him."
So, how do the students feel about their new claim to fame?
"I hope I work with Mr. Pankey again," one of them said.
UPDATE: Bruno Mars responded to the video on Facebook posting, "I cried at the end. I'm still a thug though. Thank you to everyone involved in making this video."
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