By Unsie Zuege

They have several good reasons for doing this.

One: It’s an homage to legendary pop icon Michael Jackson.

Two: It’s a tribute to his music and dancing genius. Three: It’s sure to bring down the house at any party, disco or wedding dance, guaranteed.

For the last six weeks, nearly 50 women from Chanhassen, Chaska, Excelsior, Deephaven, Minnetonka and Mound have been attending an 8:30 p.m. dance class at Dance Warehouse in Chanhassen, learning the dance “Thriller.” Shelly Christy of Chanhassen said it best.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “Harder than I thought, but I’m sure it will make us more popular at parties!”

Admit it. Who wouldn’t be entertained by a group of women busting out the moves to “Thriller” in the middle of the dance floor?

Dance teacher Anna Itman has been putting the women through their paces and by week five, the women had pretty much nailed the basics of the dance moves, from the zombie-like staggers, to the clawing, to the head snaps.

The women are intent, concentrating on Itman’s lead, their dance moves reflected in the mirrored studio wall. Never can say goodbye The idea came up during a conversation lifelong friends Brooks Chandler and Anne Ryan had shortly after Michael Jackson died last July.

“I got really sad when Michael died,” Chandler said. “After he died, I think I started listening to all his music again and I remembered how much fun it was to watch all his videos. So I said, ‘Would you be interested in learning the Thriller dance?’ I really pushed on this.”

Ryan thought “Why not? It might be fun.” Ryan’s youngest daughter takes dance at Dance Warehouse in Chanhassen. Ryan called to find out if someone would consider teaching such a class. Turns out Ryan and Chandler weren’t the only ones who were Thriller fans.

According to Itman, the studio had received several requests from separate groups of women. “Studio owner Tracy Standal wanted to meet the demand but didn’t think it was possible,” Itman said. “A couple years ago, I worked with girls at East View High School in Apple Valley, and taught it. So I said, ‘I can do it.’” Rock with you The studio did minimal promoting.

“I think we sent out one flier to all our students in October,” Itman said, “but most of the people who signed up had found out through word of mouth. It’s not just women who have children that dance here. There’s people who’ve never taken dance before. It’s been a fun opportunity for us.”

 Also, the 8:30 p.m. time period wasn’t a deterrent. Itman said that for this age group, the time is ideal.

“It’s after dinner, after the kids have settled in. It’s the time of the evening when they can spend time doing something for themselves and with their friends.”

With the class nearly over, does Itman see the class putting on a demonstration at a dance recital? She laughed.

“They really just wanted to learn,” she said. “At last week’s class, I told the women that if they wanted, they could invite their families to come and see them do the dance at the final class, but no, that’s not something they were interested in.

“What they really wanted was to learn the dance so they could do it at weddings,” Itman said. “And one woman is a teacher and she’s planning to teach it to the other teachers to do at a school assembly.” Wanna be startin’ something With the close of the class, Itman said, she’s gotten suggestions to teach other famous dance movie numbers. Such as? “The big group number at the end of the movie ‘Dirty Dancing,’” Itman said. “Also, ‘Beat It,’ ‘Bad,’ or others with a Michael Jackson theme.”

“His (Michael Jackson’s) death sparked more interest and attention to his accomplishments,” Itman said. “’Thriller’ is so synonymous with Michael Jackson. We’ve never had requests for it in previous years, at least not as specific as this. “I think it was popular because it was a specific time commitment of five weeks, it was reasonable in cost ($50) and wasn’t a stretch for most people. It’s like other things people do to socialize with their friends, like yoga.”