Deck dancing lessons: Big River, Sask., man's moves go viral
Leon McGilvery said it started as a simple fun idea and he didn't expect the response
Leon McGilvery knows all the moves. Now the Big River, Sask., man's Facebook video teaching people how to dance has exploded and reached more than 3.5 million views.
"I just want all my friends to know, like I go to bars and they don't know how to dance. And it bugs me," Leon McGilvery said at the start of the video.
"Let's give you five quick moves on how to dance."
He said didn't intend to become a dancing sensation. It was just a quick little idea.
"My wife and me were kind of tired and we thought 'Hey, let's relax on the deck and get some beers,'" McGilvery told CBC Saskatchewan's The Morning Edition. "And the rest is history."
McGilvery said he only has about 350 friends on Facebook so he thought it would be fun to show them and mess around a little bit.
McGilvery said he's been getting interview requests from around Canada and the United States.
His passion for dancing started at a young age, he said.
"I've been dancing since I was maybe 13," McGilvery said. "Like those were the cheapest moves I ever had."
McGilvery said he thinks his moves have gone viral because of the circumstances around the world with the coronavirus pandemic and people needing some cheering up.
"It's all for fun, it's all for laughs," McGilvery said.
He even had some laughs at his own expense.
"While I was doing the video, I was straight faced and making all these facial expressions," he said. "And now that I watched the video by myself I'm like, 'What the hell were you thinking?'"
I didn't get a penny. I got the satisfaction of people are loving it.- Leon McGilvery
On a more serious note, McGilvery said he dedicated the video to Jack Rayne, a First Nations Chief who lost his home in a fire, and his family.
McGilvery said he's not making money from the video but suggesting people donate to Chief Rayne's family. A GoFundMe has been set up.
"I don't get a penny. I got the satisfaction of people are loving it," he said.
"They're expressing, 'Leon, I've been having a bad day. I've seen your video … I'm sitting in a hospital, you just made my day,'" he said. "It's a good feeling. If that's how I'm getting paid, good enough."
McGilvery said he'll have more videos in the future, but has to take time off from posting due to a death in his family. He said his next video will be about the five sexiest dance moves for women in the bar.
With files from The Morning Edition