A man whose dancing was cruelly shamed online is now being offered the opportunity to show off his moves in Los Angeles to thousands of positive supporters.
It all started when a man – later identified as Sean, or the "Dancing Man" – was photographed dancing at an event.
The anonymous photographer uploaded the image to the website 4chan, along with a taunting caption: "Spotted this specimen trying to dance the other week. He stopped when he saw us laughing."
The post shows two images. In one, Sean is dancing enthusiastically. In the second, he stands still with his head bowed and his eyes downcast.
Somebody saw the mean photos and caption and shared them on the site Imgur. It was there that activist and writer Cassandra Fairbanks spotted the post and decided to do something nice for Sean.
Fairbanks shared the image on Twitter on Thursday and started an international search to learn the man’s identity using the hashtag #FindDancingMan.
Anyone know this man or who posted this? There's a huge group of ladies in LA who would like to do something special pic.twitter.com/DGbu3AXOrB
— Cassandra (@CassandraRules) March 5, 2015
She also issued a formal invitation, asking him to join her and 1,727 of her girlfriends for a dance party in Los Angeles.
"Dancing man," the invitation read, "We don’t know much about you, but a photo on the Internet suggested that you wanted to dance and were made to feel like you shouldn’t be.
"We want to see you dance freely and if you would have us, we would love to dance with you."
@MaxTaucer can you pass him our invitation? pic.twitter.com/FXkxV5bLh2
— Cassandra (@CassandraRules) March 6, 2015
Soon, a second photo of Sean surfaced, with the photo caption saying he was in London, England.
#FindDancingMan spotted in London with latest dancing partner pic.twitter.com/TmjhNZ8Rk2
— Max Taucer (@MaxTaucer) March 6, 2015
@RobertAPabich @MaxTaucer whoa that looks like him... Do you know him?
— Cassandra (@CassandraRules) March 6, 2015
Then, only a day after Fairbanks' original Tweet, Sean created his own Twitter account to RSVP to her invitation. He used @Dancingmanfound as his user name.
@CassandraRules @MaxTaucer #finddancingman Cassandra just seen invite and would love to join you in LA for a dance off!!
— Dancing Man (@Dancingmanfound) March 6, 2015
Now, Fairbanks and Sean are working out the details of the big dance party. She tweeted on Friday that Sean will be free to travel "in a few weeks," and that they are planning "the best party ever."
YAY TWITTER!!! @Dancingmanfound #FindDancingMan ❤️❤️❤️ We are going to dance!!! pic.twitter.com/G7FxuiSsIh
— Cassandra (@CassandraRules) March 6, 2015
Celebrity supporters have also chimed in to help make that goal a reality. Pharrell, DJ Moby and Andrew W.K. all shared their support for the initiative.
Hey @CassandraRules keep me posted about your dance party! @Dancingmanfound, never be ashamed of yourself. You are both truly #OTHER
— Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) March 6, 2015
i offer my dj services for free for #DancingMan #DancingManFound #FindDancingMan . no one should ever be ashamed about dancing.
— moby Ⓥ (@thelittleidiot) March 6, 2015
@jayzombie Of course! This guy is totally a dance party master and I'm backing him all the way.
— ANDREW W.K. (@AndrewWK) March 7, 2015
And an online fundraiser to help Sean get to L.A. has surpassed its goal of $20,000, hitting $27,000 by Saturday afternoon. Excess funds will go towards an anti-bullying campaign, the site says.
The support, Sean tweeted, has been overwhelming.
"Big thanks to all those who have tweeted such kind words," he posted on Friday. "(I have) not stopped smiling and laughing."
@FMacvicar @CassandraRules #FindDancingMan @MaxTaucer Big thanks to all who have tweeted such kind words. Not stopped smiling and laughing
— Dancing Man (@Dancingmanfound) March 6, 2015