ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Two St. Petersburg women are trying to turn a “Seinfeld”-inspired joke into a community movement.
They debuted their group of two, “The Dancing Elaines,” at Sunday’s Gulfport Pride Parade, and they’re hopeful others will join them at future events.
“All you need is two people to have a party, right?” Wendy Wesley, who came up with the concept, told Patch.
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.
That parade appearance was a test run for the concept, as Wesley wanted to see whether people would understand the reference.
“I actually didn't know if people would get it or like it, and so it was a big experiment,” Wesley said. “It 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.”
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 “The Little Kicks” while attending a work party.
The character George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, described her dancing - complete with the aforementioned “little kicks” and erratic thumb gestures - as “a fully body dry heave set to music” - which happens to be “The Dancing Elaines” tag line.
This means part of the group’s appeal is that no talent is required to join, Wesley said.
“There 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,” she said, adding, “It'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.”
The project is also about connecting people and creating quirky, low-pressure ways for people to gather in person.
“I'm from St. Pete, and I just feel like community is a fleeting thing, but I wanted to create something to make community,” Wesley said.
She worries people are more prone these days to staying home “on our devices in front of our television and not [coming] out and [being] together.”
Wesley connected the idea to other grassroots gatherings she has seen around St. Petersburg, including this spring’s Roper Romp, inspired by Mrs. Roper from “Three’s Company.”
“All you need is a caftan and a wig for that,” she said.
Seeing people out and talking to one another at the Romper Romp made her appreciate that “real human connection,” and she craved more events like it.
She’s hopeful people will find that with “The Dancing Elaines,” which meets next on June 19, 7 p.m., at The North End Taphouse & Kitchen for a performance by the Kudu band.
Those interested in finding out where “The Dancing Elaines” might show up next are welcome to join their Facebook group.
Wesley wants the idea to stay accessible and offers suggestions for “Elaine” outfits to participants.
“My 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’s like a uniform,” she said. “Eve likes the prairie dress approach. So, she’s got big, chunky ‘90s shoes, white socks and a prairie dress.”
If participants can’t already pull these items from their closets, they can easily be found at thrift stores, she added.
Right now, the goal is simple, Wesley said: get in costume, show up where people already are, dance badly and see who joins in.
“I hope there’s a lot of people in whatever dress dancing really, really bad,” she said.
See Also:
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
St. Pete, FL Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.