A woman in Bristol, England, informed her loved ones that she wanted a unique funeral service. She specifically wanted a dance group to unexpectedly attend her funeral and perform a routine to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.”
Sandie Wood, 65, who passed away in September from tongue cancer, had her dream funeral come true when her friends planned a flash mob that broke into dance during her memorial service.
“She wanted everyone to remember her funeral but not for a sad reason,” friend Samantha Ryalls, 43, who helped arrange the flash mob, told the BBC.
“Everyone is sad and grieving because she is not here anymore but that doesn’t mean her final day had to be that way.”
The manager of the dance group Flaming Feathers, Claire Phipps, said Wood knew the group would be performing at her service.
“Her best friend Sam booked us, but this was about six months before she passed — so Sandie basically planned her own funeral,” Phipps said.
She added that some in the church were stunned, but most eventually warmed up to the performance.
“It was very odd to first pretend to be there for the funeral, and then to see family and friends crying and upset,” Phipps said. “To then have to get up and rock out to Queen felt very weird — but it did go really well.”
Wood requested that her casket be purple and feature shoes and handbags — things she loved to buy and collect, a friend said. She also asked that people leave the church after the service via a conga line.
“She wasn’t a boring person,” Ryalls told The Washington Post. “She wasn’t traditional either. She wanted her funeral to reflect her.”
Woman “broke tradition” by planning surprise flash-mob dance for own funeral https://t.co/TmCa3TVnPK pic.twitter.com/gcRBn0exA6
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 12, 2023
