Michelle Obama moves to Beyonce song

Michelle Obama at Alice Deal School (photo by Lynn Sweet)

Michelle Obama at Alice Deal School (photo by Lynn Sweet)

WASHINGTON–First Lady Michelle Obama motorcaded to the Alice Deal Middle School here on Tuesday to show off some muted, well done dance moves to a Beyonce tune, “Move Your Body.” The event was designed to publicize Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move” anti obesity campaign with a tie in to Beyonce’s newly released music video.

Click below for pool report…

POOL REPORT BY Amie Parnes, POLITICO.

POOL RPEORT

FLOTUS took the stage on the Deal school field at 1:44 pm as the Black Eyed Peas Song “I Gotta Feeling” played. About 450 children who were standing on the field screeched as they saw

her.

“Are you surprised?” Obama asked.

“I know all of you love Beyonce, right? Me too,” she asked as the children geared up to dance to the singer’s “Move Your Body” song.

Beyonce, is one of her favorite singers “on the planet,” FLOTUS said.

FLOTUS–wearing a bright green sleeveless, blue linen pants and flats–encouraged the children to exercise and keep moving: “This is way more fun than sitting in front of the TV.”

FLOTUS–who has seen the Beyonce video– told the kids she hadn’t had time to learn the moves in the song. “I’m gonna be off to the side trying not to embarrass myself.”

But FLOTUS did show off some of her moves, as the children danced to the choreographed song. She did The Dougie, The Running Man, the Cha-Cha, as part of the song. (Pooler has some FlipCam-quality video if anyone needs.)

“That was great. You all have to cool off now. Keep it up!” she said, before asking if the children wanted to do the song again.

FLOTUS and the kids danced to the song one more time. And this time FLOTUS busted a move even more, running from side to side, and dancing the other moves.

Motorcade left the school at 2:10pm and arrived back at the White House at 2:27pm.

Some quotes on the activity provided by the White House:

“Over the past year, local leaders, communities, and organizations have joined with the Let’s Move! campaign and made it their own. Many celebrities and athletes have donated their time to Let’s Move! to help young people get healthier – and that’s what Beyonc and the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation did today. They joined with the National Middle School Association, the National School Boards Association and the American Association of School Administrators and organized 600 schools to get kids from Anchorage, Alaska, El Paso, Texas, Detroit, Michigan, Bangor, Maine and a Department of Defense School on Misawa Air Base in Japan to get up, get active and have fun, which is what Let’s Move! is all about. We need everyone’s help to tackle the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation and are appreciative that people and organizations across the country like Beyonc and the NABEF have joined our effort.” – Kristina Schake, Communications Director to First Lady Michelle Obama

“The enormous response to the Let’s Move! Flash Workout from schools across the country speaks to urgent need for quality programs that address student health and well-being. Thanks to Beyonc’s involvement, the initiative was guaranteed to be a success from the start. What middle schooler could resist? AASA is proud to be a partner.” – Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators.

“School boards are acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that every child has access to an active lifestyle and healthy food options,” said Anne Bryant, Executive Director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA).

“‘The Let’s Move! Flash Workout’ featuring Beyonc is an excellent and fun opportunity to promote exercise to help curb childhood obesity.” Contact: Alexis Rice, Communications Director, National School Boards Association (NSBA) E-mail: arice@nsba.org

“The Beyonc Let’s Move! video does a great job of merging pop culture with the need to exercise to inspire kids. The video created a buzz at YWCAs across the country and got thousands of our kids dancing. It is hard to get kids today to lift weights, jump rope or hula hoop, but they will definitely get up and dance with an icon. We love that Beyonc got kids across America to move and is helping groups like the YWCA combat childhood obesity through fun and creative ways.” – Katie Smith, Executive Director, YWCA Westfield (NY) who operates after school programs, an evening youth center and a summer girls program – all designed to teach girls leadership, empowerment and self esteem.

“National Middle School Association (NMSA) is a proud partner of the Let’s Move! Flash Workout, which brings awareness to the critical importance of being physically active. With this initiative, middle schools across the country, and around the world, can bring extra attention to the importance of students being active and healthy. Between the ages of 10 and 15 each of us makes critical decisions about engaging in healthy behaviors and developing lifelong habits that promote health and wellness. This event, and the engagement of First Lady Michele Obama and Beyonc, makes this message loud and clear to kids everywhere.” – Joan Jarrett, National Middle School Association (NMSA) President

Amie Parnes

POLITICO