Berkeley High School set a new record this week — not for academics or athletics — but for the longest soul train dance line, as recorded by the Guinness World Record.
In the spirit of the seventh annual Guinness World Records Day Thursday, 211 students, staff and alumni danced the soul train line Monday for approximately two hours, earning the school the coveted title.
Orlando Williams, who graduated from the high school in 1985, first pitched the idea to the school’s student government in mid-October, after dreaming it up a couple months ago.
After getting approval from Chris Young, the school’s director of student activities, and student representatives, the goal then was to get the minimum number of students involved by the Nov. 14 date.
Student government President Flora Ziprin, a senior at the school, and vice-president Reed Urmann, also a senior, spearheaded recruiting efforts with flyering, promotion and emailing.
“At first, I was a little worried that we weren’t going to get the numbers we had signed up for,” Urmann said.
Though initially about 300 people signed up for the event, 211 people stayed until the very end — which ended up being the number listed in the record books.
Soul Train started off as an American musical variety show, in which participants form two lines and dance to the popular soulful music of the times.
Williams, who acted as DJ during the soul train line Monday, said the scene was “a dream come true.”
Young said on top of setting a record, the two-hour dancing session promoted the culture of positivity and pride at the high school.
“When the adjudicator declared that we set the record, I think everyone did feel proud to be a part of the Berkeley high community,” Young said. “(There was) a real sense of achievement that we really did accomplish something grand together.”
Weiru Fang covers local schools.
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