About 48 students of the celebrated Art Saves Lives (ASL) project, aged between 12 and 32, under the inspirational leadership of Broadway star, Nicole de Weever, surprised arriving passengers and several departing ones as well with a short but exciting performance of a Flash Mob dance Friday afternoon at the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM.
One departing passenger, Charlotte K. Forster posted this on Facebook about the dance: "You guys ROCKED!! Got to see you just before I went through security for my Miami flight. So proud of all of you. My angels were looking out for me by scheduling my flights for today. Sending you all love, love, LOVE."
As the unsuspecting passengers streamed out into the Meet & Greet area, they were greeted by a group of young, energetic dancers, doing the Flash Mob dance with spectators forming a circle around them. Some of the visitors flipped out their cameras and began taking pictures.
St. Maarten poet, artist and art professor, Deborah Jack, who had just arrived for a visit home, was simply wowed. "This couldn’t have been better timed," she said.
Another St. Martiner, Dorothy Dow, former curator of the Nanetter Bearden Fine Arts Gallery, was practically speechless. She had just come to pick up her visiting nephews. "Wonderful!" was her opinion of the flash mob dance.
Although several other much larger airports have held a similar flash mob dance (Heathrow, LAX, Denver, Hong Kong, Dubai, et al) the initiative came from SXM Airport, a major sponsor of the highly successful Art Saves Lives project.
"We are very excited to partner with Ms. De Weever on this unique event," stated SXM Corporate Communications Specialist, Kalifa Hickinson.
An obviously satisfied Nicole de Weever not only praised the performers but also thanked SXM Airport for coming up with the idea and allowing the group to put on the show.
One spectator summed up the sentiments of those who witnessed the show when he shouted at the end of the routines: "We want more!"