By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – Red Bank will be among the 80 cities in 30 countries to take part in the 3rd Annual Dance for Kindness, a worldwide event in celebration of World Kindness Day. Broad and White streets will be shut down for the Nov. 9 event. At precisely 1 p.m., a group of more than 200 participants will participate in a kindness freeze mob/flash mob to “The Revolution of Love,” an original song written for this event.
The Dance for Kindness was started three years ago by Orly Wahba, a former middle school teacher who left her job to start the nonprofit aimed at spreading kindness. Wahba, a Brooklyn resident, lives in Eatontown each summer.
“There is so much negativity in the world,” she said. “I really wanted to show how much positivity is out there. This event happens because each and every person who participates believes a better world is possible.”
After the performance, the dancers will hand out Act of Kindness cards to the crowd, prompting onlookers to perform the act of kindness on the card and then pass the card along to someone else to keep the kindness going.
“When people get the cards, they can take a piece of the magic along with them,” Wahba said. “We want to show the power that kindness has when you put it out in the world.”
Wahba, 32, said she knew she wanted to change the world since she was 4 years old.
“I always knew I was supposed to do something big with my life,” she said.
It wasn’t an easy road for Wahba. When she was 15, her family lost everything in a house fire and her father lost his business soon after. She sunk into a deep depression that kept her out of school for months, and she said during that time, she didn’t get a single phone call from friends.
“I felt like I had been erased,” she said. “One morning, I woke up and looked in the mirror, and I didn’t see that 4-year-old dreamer looking back at me. It really scared me. I promised myself I would be there for people the way I wished people were there for me.”
By the time she was a senior in high school, that shy girl had come out of her shell.
“I found that the more I gave, the more I healed,” she said. “I became obsessed with the concept of giving.”
Wahba went on to teach middle school at the Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn, N.Y., giving her students ways to build their self-esteem and to use the power they have to influence the world for good. After teaching for seven years, she took a giant leap and left her job to start Life Vest Inside, a nonprofit dedicated to spreading kindness, helping people reach their potential and building self-esteem.
“I believed in the idea, so I knew I had to go all in,” she said.
Life Vest Inside garnered worldwide attention when Wahba created a 7-minute film, “Kindness Boomerang,” that went viral in 2011. The film, which was shot in Red Bank, has more than 30 million views to date.
“It’s amazing, the responses we’ve gotten from people all over the globe about how it inspires them,” she said.
On Nov. 9, Wahba will be speaking in Times Square before the New York City flash mob starts. Participants will be dressed in Life Vest Inside’s signature color orange while they perform the Dance for Kindness. Group leaders all over the globe, in places such as Singapore, Estonia, Chile, Tunisia and Taiwan, will be leading their own flash mobs to promote kindness and peace.
“Kindness and dance are both universal languages,” she said. “Imagine getting people all around the world together to affect change in the world.”
Last year, a Dance for Kindness event took place at Pier Village in Long Branch. This year, the local event has been moved to Red Bank, in the exact location where the “Kindness Boomerang” film was shot. The nonprofit is also asking for donations, which will be used to create additional films, events and educational opportunities, spreading the word to spread kindness. Wahba said no amount is too small to donate because every dollar makes a difference.
“I believe in this too much for it to not be successful,” she said. “I believe in people very much.”
For more information or to view the film, visit www.danceforkindness.com.
Vibe writer Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
