- The Observer, Sunday July 13 2008
YouTube has seen more than its share of poor dance moves, but in the last fortnight a video on the website called Dancing has been watched by nearly six million people, making it the feelgood internet hit of the summer.
The four-and-a-half-minute clip shows Matt Harding, a 31-year-old American, performing a clumsy jig to a haunting piece of world music composed by his friend, Gary Schyman. The lyrics, sung by Palbasha Siddique, are from a Bengali poem by the Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore.
Harding is seen in 42 places around the world, from amid a downpour in Stone Town, Zanzibar, to a Dutch tulip field. But what makes it truly memorable are the joyous locals New Guinea tribesmen, Bollywood dancers, Turks in Ottoman costumes - who groove with him.
The crowds turned up after reading about Harding's arrival in their country on his blog. It is the third global dance video he has made since 2003 and he has developed an internet following. Madrid had the biggest turnout, with 200 people. Others were just in the right place at the right time.
