Southern Md. joins Michael's big dance

The zombies were motionless on the floor at Leonardtown High School's gymnasium.

The audience in the bleachers was quiet as the zombies began to writhe, slowly rising to their feet and lurching forward as the familiar beat of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" began.

It was thrill time -- 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Oct. 24 -- and dancers at 278 locations all over the world -- China, Australia, Turkey, Lithuania, Chile, Canada -- were dancing to "Thriller."

The eight zombies at Leonardtown were participating in Thrill the World, an annual attempt started in 2007 to break a record documented by Record Holders Republic for the largest simultaneous dance. Some participants also used the occasion to raise funds for nonprofit organizations.

Last year, a record 4,179 people participated. Ines Markelle of Toronto, creator and director of Thrill the World, said there were 22,923 participants this year.

"My big-picture goal is to have a million people dancing at the same time," Markelle said in a phone interview.

Dawn Hale Campbell of California and Jacquelene Kielpinski of Lexington Park coordinated the inaugural St. Mary's County event.

"Jacquelene and I both are Michael Jackson fans anyway," Campbell said. "So we wanted to get a group together, get some exercise and benefit a good cause." The Leonardtown event raised about $700 for two groups: a Relay For Life team, Team JP, which was set up to honor 17-year-old Leonardtown High student Jordan Paganelli, who is battling rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, and the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, which funds research that studies Paganelli's form of cancer.

Paganelli and his parents attended the event.

Sophia Campbell, 8, a third-grader at Evergreen Elementary School, was the youngest zombie at the Leonardtown dance.

"The first two practices, they were kind of hard," Sophia said before the dance. She and her mother "practiced at home, and I got it."

The dance lasted 5 minutes and 57 seconds. It was a lengthened version of the zombie portion of the "Thriller" video because a dance of at least five minutes is required to be considered for the world record.

Thrill the World dances were also held in Baltimore, Bowie, Cheverly, Mount Rainier, Oakland and Salisbury.

Campbell and Kielpinski say they plan to do it again next year. "I just think all this excitement will carry over to next year," Kielpinski said.