YouTube dancing sensation booted from Tahrir Square (VIDEO)
Egyptian protesters shout slogans as they gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square last September during a mass rally to reclaim the revolution amid anger over the military rulers’ handling of the transition. YouTube sensation, Matt Harding, was met with anger from protestors when he turned up in Tahrir Square on Sunday.
CAIRO, Egypt – Matt Harding is known for the wide, Cheshire cat-style grin he wears while he dances his trademark elbow-intensive jig in some of the world's most beautiful destinations.
Edited into short video clips, Harding's jumpy dance steps are a YouTube phenonmenon. But when he turned up in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday, locals were less than impressed.
According to Egyptian news website, Ahram Online, locals who lost family members during Egypt's uprising were camped out at the square when Harding arrived. Harding got a taste of the xenophobic tensions on the rise since Egypt's military rulers began blaming foreigners for the country's unrest.
From Ahram Online:
A group of a few men appeared around him, yelling for him to leave the square.
"You're dancing while our [slain] children have not rested in their graves. People have died here, what are you dancing for? Get out now," shouted the man, who turned out to be a one of the father’s of a January 25 Revolution martyr. The families have been staging a protest on the square for months.
Another group of men talked about how a dancing video in Tahrir Square could be misused by the media to spoil the image of Egyptian protesters. ‘Adams’, the self-proclaimed manager of Tahrir’s sit-in, then brought a couple of his cronies, who threatened to take the equipment.
Harding didn't get to dance in Tahrir Square as planned, but instead moved the recital over to the nearby Egyptian museum.
Read more from GlobalPost: Egypt's Unfinished Revolution: Revisiting Tahrir Square
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