A dance troupe flashmobbed a funeral with a performance of Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust at the request of a woman who wanted her sendoff to be memorable but not sad.
Video of the event showed some mourners looking confused when the dancers emerged from pews midway through the funeral of Sandie Wood, from Bristol, before they began clapping along to the rock anthem.
Wood, who died in September, aged 65, was one of 30,000 victims of the contaminated blood scandal. She had requested the stunt as part of a funeral that also included her sparkly high-heeled shoes and handbags being displayed alongside her pink coffin.
The words “Going out in style” were written on the coffin.
Speaking to the BBC, her friend Sam Ryalls, said: “She wanted everyone to remember her funeral but not for sad reasons. She left the world as she lived it and that was being herself.”
Ryalls told the Sun it was difficult to find dancers willing to perform at a funeral. “They all said they weren’t comfortable doing it,” she said.
But the cabaret dance group Flaming Feathers, who provide dance classes in Bristol and Bath, accepted the challenge.
Claire Phipps one of the groups dancers, told the BBC that “flashmobbing a funeral was a bit daunting”. But she added: “It was also really exciting because it was different to what we normally do. We had to sit through half the service along with everyone else with our coats on – so that was quite nerve-racking.
“And then when the music came on, nobody had a clue what’s going to happen and then obviously we had to jump up and do our routine. So it was scary, but a memory that we’ll never forget. And it was a lot of fun.”
