ST. PETERSBURG, FL \u2014 Two St. Petersburg women are trying to turn a \u201cSeinfeld\u201d-inspired joke into a community movement. <\/p>\n
They debuted their group of two, \u201cThe Dancing Elaines,\u201d at Sunday\u2019s Gulfport Pride Parade, and they\u2019re hopeful others will join them at future events. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll you need is two people to have a party, right?\u201d Wendy Wesley, who came up with the concept, told Patch. <\/p>\n
Find out what’s happening in St. Petefor free with the latest updates from Patch.<\/p>\n
She and her friend Eve Borden joined the parade lineup, dressing and dancing their way down Beach Boulevard as Elaine Benes, the sitcom character known for her famously awkward dance moves.<\/p>\n
That parade appearance was a test run for the concept, as Wesley wanted to see whether people would understand the reference. <\/p>\n
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\u201cI actually didn’t know if people would get it or like it, and so it was a big experiment,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cIt was fun to watch people kind of look at me, kind of tilt their head, and then you’d almost like see the light bulb go on over their head, and then they would break into an Elaine dance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group is inspired by Benes’ jerky dancing on Seinfeld. The character, portrayed by actress Julia Louise-Dreyfus, debuted her atrocious moves in the Season 8 episode \u201cThe Little Kicks\u201d while attending a work party. <\/p>\n
The character George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, described her dancing – complete with the aforementioned \u201clittle kicks\u201d and erratic thumb gestures – as \u201ca fully body dry heave set to music\u201d – which happens to be \u201cThe Dancing Elaines\u201d tag line. <\/p>\n
This means part of the group\u2019s appeal is that no talent is required to join, Wesley said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of fun to be had here because nobody has to be good at doing anything. In fact, the worse you are, the better. I think that that makes it hopefully very comfortable for people to join, because there is no skill involved,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cIt’s impossible to mess up, it’s impossible to do it wrong, it’s impossible to dance wrong. Whatever you got, whatever you want to bring, however you want to move your body.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project is also about connecting people and creating quirky, low-pressure ways for people to gather in person. <\/p>\n
\u201cI’m from St. Pete, and I just feel like community is a fleeting thing, but I wanted to create something to make community,\u201d Wesley said. <\/p>\n
She worries people are more prone these days to staying home \u201con our devices in front of our television and not [coming] out and [being] together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley connected the idea to other grassroots gatherings she has seen around St. Petersburg, including this spring\u2019s Roper Romp, inspired by Mrs. Roper from \u201cThree\u2019s Company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll you need is a caftan and a wig for that,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Seeing people out and talking to one another at the Romper Romp made her appreciate that \u201creal human connection,\u201d and she craved more events like it. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s hopeful people will find that with \u201cThe Dancing Elaines,\u201d which meets next on June 19<\/a>, 7 p.m., at The North End Taphouse & Kitchen for a performance by the Kudu band. <\/p>\n Those interested in finding out where \u201cThe Dancing Elaines\u201d might show up next are welcome to join their Facebook group<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wesley wants the idea to stay accessible and offers suggestions for \u201cElaine\u201d outfits to participants. <\/p>\n \u201cMy go-to uniform is the black jacket, black skirt, dark curly wig. The black jacket, black skirt, probably every woman has that in her closet; it\u2019s like a uniform,\u201d she said. \u201cEve likes the prairie dress approach. So, she\u2019s got big, chunky \u201890s shoes, white socks and a prairie dress.\u201d<\/p>\n If participants can\u2019t already pull these items from their closets, they can easily be found at thrift stores, she added. <\/p>\n Right now, the goal is simple, Wesley said: get in costume, show up where people already are, dance badly and see who joins in. <\/p>\n \u201cI hope there\u2019s a lot of people in whatever dress dancing really, really bad,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n See Also:<\/p>\n