People love this gay couple's incredible choreographed first dance mashup – including the 'Dirty Dancing' lift
When P.J. Simmons and Noah Aberlin started planning their wedding, they knew it had to be epic. After all, they had a lot to celebrate.
“When the Supreme Court opened the door to marriage equality nationally, we felt it was time for us to take the next step,” Aberlin, 36, told Yahoo Lifestyle. “As we began to plan the wedding, we agreed early that we wanted the event to be FUN for everyone above all else — with amazing food, music that made everyone want to dance, and a warm atmosphere that encouraged our absolutely incredible group of eclectic friends and family to meet each other.”
It’s safe to say they achieved that, in part because of their wild first dance, which has gone viral since their Oct. 7 nuptials in New York. The couple posted a video of their nearly five-minute first dance on YouTube on Oct. 27, and it has since racked up over one million views.
First dances at weddings usually consist of one shortened slow song, sometimes choreographed. These overachievers danced to six songs. Starting with Gloria Estefan’s “Conga,” to “Everybody Dance Now” to “Puttin’ on the Ritz” to, you guessed it, Dirty Dancing’s “Time of My Life,” every step was choreographed in this incredible couple’s first dance. And they didn’t miss any of them. But their impressive dancing isn’t the only reason the internet can’t get enough of this couple.
Comments on the video have come in from all over the world and range from the typical “wow” and “congrats,” to things like, “Have no idea how this ended up in my recommended list but am sure glad it did. Needed to see this kind of love and fun today.” Another fan wrote, “I can’t tell you how many times I have watched this! You guys need to do local theatre! Patrick would be proud!”
Another gushed, “This video brought tears to my eyes. I am a gay male and also a former championship level professional dancer. I was one of the inventors and promoters of New York Hustle Dancing back in the 1970’s and 1980’s.(winning the championship 3 times with both a female and male dance partner. Unfortunately the love of my life for 23 years, my soul mate and dance partner passed away(He died in my arms). Before he passed, he told me to keep dancing. These 2 married males give me HOPE that my community can still dance!”
Someone else wrote in, “From a straight guy raised homophobic. . . . .Thanks. This helps me.” And there are loads more where that came from.
The newlyweds have been touched by the responses. “We hoped our first dance would make people laugh and get super-excited to dance – but had no idea it would have the emotional impact it did,” Aberlin told Yahoo Lifestyle. “So many people came up to us crying tears of joy after it. What’s been more amazing has been seeing how it seems to be uplifting so many people outside of our circle of friends.” Simmons added, “Personally, it’s been overwhelming to consider how much has changed for the better since I was growing up.”
The 51-year-old was “a bit terrified” of posting this video publicly, “having seen so much anti-gay fear and hatred in my lifetime. And there certainly have been a handful of very hurtful comments on public feeds. But I take enormous hope in the fact that such comments are being overwhelmingly countered by kind, love-filled comments,” he said. “I never, ever imagined in my lifetime I would see the day when two men could be married — and to be surrounded by so much love and support if they did. I am so grateful to every single person who, in their own way, has contributed to this wave of positive change.”
And while Simmons was a little hesitant about putting the dance out there for the world to see, the decision to do this elaborate first dance was mutual. In fact, Simmons might have been the more enthusiastic one, at least when it came to practicing. But he had good reason to be. “Since Noah has danced professionally, he was way more low-key about it initially than I was,” Simmons said. “For months, I kept saying, ‘Hey, we seriously gotta start practicing soon!’ but Noah was more concerned about making the grounds at the house look amazing.” Their wedding took place at Aberlin’s family home in Coxsackie, N.Y. So, Simmons made a trade. “Every time I helped him mow the lawn or some other landscaping task, I agreed — on the condition we’d practice the dance.”
You wouldn’t guess it from the video, but Aberlin is the only one with a professional dance background. He has a master of fine arts in musical theater from Syracuse University and has toured the country with shows like Young Frankenstein the Musical, The Producers, and The Wizard of Oz. Now he’s the director of operations at the Paul Taylor Dance Foundation. Simmons, a sustainability analyst and co-founder and chair of the Corporate Eco Forum, loves to dance and has taken a lot of salsa classes over the years. And it shows in the Gloria Estefan segment.
Aberlin did most of the choreography, but Simmons put together the Gloria Estefan section, based on choreography from his salsa instructor Wil Nieves. For “Get Down Tonight,” they lifted moves from the disco scene in the movie Ex Machina, which they love. Puttin’ on the Ritz is actual choreography from the Mel Brooks/Susan Stroman musical. And for Dirty Dancing, they did a mashup of moves from the original movie, alternating who was leading throughout.
Picking the songs was a challenge, but a fun one. “It took a while to figure out which songs, because we were having such a good time brainstorming all the possibilities,” Simmons said. “Once we figured that out, it came together pretty fast. We practiced for about seven weeks, choreographing and rehearsing. Once it finally started really coming together and we were having a great time working on it, Noah said, ‘I’m so glad you pushed us to practice more.’”
That turned out to be Aberlin’s favorite part of the process. “Working on it together was so fun — especially trying to nail the Dirty Dancing lift,” he told Yahoo Lifestyle. “We hadn’t really ever danced together like that before, which made it really special. We laughed a ton in the process. By the time our wedding day came, we were super-excited to share it with folks.”
Simmons was thrilled when they finally got it and could start enjoying it. “I was so relieved we got to a point we could let go of worrying about whether I’d fall during the Dirty Dancing part and really enjoy performing it the day of our wedding!” He also relished impressing Aberlin’s dancer friends. “The best for me was the reaction of our friends who performed with Noah in the national tour of Young Frankenstein — they all started screaming when they heard ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ begin,” he recalled. “I worked so hard on that tap section and really wanted to make them proud.”
The moment before they began their dance was a special one.
“It’s a bit of a blur, but I do remember very clearly how I felt and telling Noah something like: ‘It’s crazy…I thought I’d be so nervous about the dance. But it’s like there’s nobody else here right now except you and me. I love you so much and I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with you,'” Simmons recalled. “We kissed. Nothing was planned about that first 45 seconds before the music skipped. We had agreed on that beforehand just so we could really be present and with each other. It was one of my favorite moments in the day.”
Of course, nothing can top the reactions they’ve received from their loved ones.
“We were blown away!” Aberlin said. “We hoped it would get people excited, but the energy was off the charts as soon as the Gloria Estefan song started and people realized what was happening. And the most amazing part was people coming up to us afterward with tears in their eyes saying how uplifted and moved they were by it.”
The real-life and online reactions inspired them to turn this into something tangible. “In the hopes of channeling some of the attention into something more meaningful than just ‘likes,’ we started a fundraiser last week for the It Gets Better Project,” Simmons said. The It Gets Better project is a nonprofit organization with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth around the globe.
The first dance wasn’t the only heartwarming surprise they had planned for their big day. “We had a lot of surprises up our sleeves for the wedding to make the experience fun for our guests, including having our dog show off her agility skills by jumping over hurdles as she brought the rings down the aisle, and a flash mob operatic song performed during the ceremony.” Best of all, though, might have been having both their dads involved.
“One of the most moving things for us and our guests was having our fathers — one a Republican, the other a Democrat — co-officiate the ceremony,” Simmons said. “They couldn’t have been more elegant and eloquent in how they approached it, and pretty much everyone had tears streaming down their faces by the end of the ceremony.” Little did they know that was just the beginning.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
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