Dancing Mayor Tells the Rochester Hills Story

"We have a great story to tell — but how to tell it?"

That was the question Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett asked at the start of his 2013 State of the City Address. 

(Read about the address here.)

With Emagine Theatre as a venue, Barnett proposed telling the story through an Academy Award winning movie — or maybe just the internet phenomenon known as the Harlem Shake. 

The crowd watched a larger-than-life video clip of Barnett performing the dance. While the Harlem Shake usually ends with a mass of people joining the solo performer in the dance, this time, Barnett's staff stood, studious, all around him as one worker, media technician Jason Dale, held up a sign declaring "I have work to do."

Watch the video here: what do you think of Barnett's movie-dancing debut?