‘Dancing Matt’ answers invitation to film in Karachi

KARACHI: A 33-year-old American called Matt Harding, who became famous via YouTube for his dancing videos from across the world, is coming to Karachi in three days to shoot a video that he will share with the world.

Matt has already danced in about 80 countries, including Turkey. The 10-second video will be shot in Clifton on Wednesday. “I chose Karachi because it is where I’ve received the most emails and I want to be able to dance with as many of you as possible,” he writes in the email invitation.

In this new video, due out in 2011, Matt is learning how to dance. “I am studying dance moves from all over the world and bringing them to new places, so in Argentina I might teach everyone a little South African gumboot dancing, or when I go to Finland I might have everyone doing the tango. But don’t worry. I’m still not very good at dancing so you don’t have to be perfect either. Just remember to smile and have fun.”

He wants to learn dance moves from Pakistan to show to people around the world. “Please don’t be shy!” he urges in the email invitation.

Matt is a 33-year-old self-professed ‘deadbeat’ from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. In February 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he’d saved to wander around Asia until it ran out.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, when his friend suggested Matt do a little dance. A couple of years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on.

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of a chewing gum company. They asked Matt if he’d be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. In 2006, Matt took a six-month trip through 39 countries on all seven continents. The second video made him even more famous. His email inbox was overflowing with messages from people all over the planet. He asked the company to help him travel around the world and invite people to dance with him.

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2010.