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USF catches the Harlem Shake virus

Move over Gangnam Style. Theres a new dance craze in town.

Unless youve been hiding under a neatly formed rock, youve noticed the viral Harlem Shake YouTube videos have invaded all forms of socialmedia, from the Twitterverse to Facebook walls.

The original video, which was posted last week, now has more than 2.5 million views on YouTube and pages full of similar Harlem Shake dance videos.

Everything from Peanuts characters to Star Wars action figures, local news broadcasters and Jimmy Fallon have made an appearance on the social network to showcase theirHarlem Shake skills.

Before the flash-mob style gyrating and flailing-aboutbegins, a single person, usually in some sort of headdress, mask or helmet dances in a room ofunsuspecting colleagues or friends. At the 15-second mark, the video editing flashes to those unsuspecting people wiggling off-beat to the now-famous song by Baauer.

USFs first spin-off in theviral video kicked off with theCollege of Arts and Sciences video of interns DominiqueBenjamin, Marc Seide andRebecca Torriani spreading USF spirit with a Harlem-style groove last Friday.

In an attempt to promote the College of Arts andSciences, the trio along with theirdirector decided to make and edit the video before Dean Eisenberg, dean of the college had time to participate.

I would like to get him to do it if he gets the time,Benjamin, a seniormajoring in mass communications, said. And he would absolutely be down to do it because he is just a fun guy.

Benjamin starts theapproximately 30-secondvideo as like all theothers the solo dancer, when about halfway through the other two join the party.

We were just kind ofmessing around in theoffice, and we read in an article that this was the new thing,Benjamin said. There wasnt much coercing to do itnecessarily. The other interns are fun people and we were in the office anyway.

As of Tuesday night, the College of Arts andSciences version of Harlem Shake had more than 350 views onYouTube.

More than 70 people are slated to attend the USF filming of the viral dance at the MLK fountains happening at 2 p.m. today, according to a Facebook event page, and students can also partake in another Harlem Shake film at Campus Lodge at 1 p.m. today.

Benjamin said he hopes to star in a second USF video contribution to the Harlem Shake Internet fad.

Ill probably go to the one at the MLK plaza, he said. It would be good exposure for the school, so hopefully it goes viral.