‘Unity In The CommUNITY’: Southern Maryland Flash Mob Brings Generations Together Through Dance

LEONARDTOWN, Md. — Beneath the flags outside Building B at the College of Southern Maryland’s Leonardtown Campus, an unexpected burst of music and movement transformed a small concrete plaza into a celebration of community.

Dancers ranging from teenagers to septuagenarians came together for a 1970s-themed flash mob centered on one message: “Unity in the CommUNITY.”

Many of the participants had never taken a dance class or performed publicly before. That was part of what made the event meaningful for organizer Donna Jordan.

“I love working with anyone who has the desire to move and connect — everything else just takes care of itself,” Jordan said ahead of the performance. “We have dancers from teens to septuagenarians. All walks of life and interests — love it.”

Finding Joy Through Unity

Jordan said she developed the idea in response to the country’s current political climate. Rather than focusing on division, she wanted to demonstrate what can happen when people of different ages, backgrounds and experiences work toward something together.

“I wanted to spread some joy and see how powerful we are when we are unified, connected and celebrated,” she said.

That message played out through the dancers themselves. Experienced performers shared the space with community members who had never performed, each contributing to the same routine.

The location placed the performance in view of motorists traveling near the intersection of Route 5 and Hollywood Road, turning an ordinary morning at the college into something designed to surprise, entertain and connect.

Watch The Full Dance Below:

A Candidate Supports The Message

The event also supported Brian Jordan, Donna Jordan’s husband, who is seeking a place on the November ballot as an independent candidate for Maryland’s 5th Congressional District.

According to his campaign website, Jordan is a Hollywood resident, former naval aviator, engineer, inventor and small-business owner. He and Donna Jordan have four children.

Donna Jordan also serves as treasurer of Brian Jordan’s campaign.

The campaign is working to collect approximately 7,000 signatures by the end of July to qualify Jordan for the general election ballot, according to Donna Jordan. The Maryland State Board of Elections will determine whether petition candidates have met the state’s requirements.

Brian Jordan attended the event in support of its message of unity and the role the arts can play in bringing people together.

He said his decision to run as an independent grew from a belief that Southern Maryland communities are not always equally represented within the larger congressional district.

“Right now, it serves the population centers, typically in P.G. and in Charles, and I want to make sure that people here in St. Mary’s County, as well as Calvert, all get a voice as well,” Jordan said in an interview with The BayNet.

Maryland’s 5th Congressional District includes all of St. Mary’s, Calvert and Charles counties, along with portions of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties.

Jordan said remaining independent would allow him to make decisions based on constituents’ needs rather than party expectations.

“I don’t want to spend my time in the office raising money for the parties,” he said. “I want to spend my time finding out what the people want and the people need.”

‘The Arts Bring People Together’

For Jordan, the flash mob’s message also reflected one of the reasons he supports arts programs. His connection to dance is personal: Donna Jordan is a dancer and previously operated House of Dance.

“We see what it does,” he said. “It brought everybody in. There’s males, there’s females, there’s white, there’s Black — everyone is here. It’s very diverse.”

Jordan said schools and universities frequently reduce arts funding when budgets tighten while directing money toward other academic programs. Although he acknowledged the importance of those programs, he said creativity should also be protected and encouraged.

“Art is important too,” Jordan said. “We are creative, and we have to foster that.”

That belief was visible outside CSM’s Building B, where people with different backgrounds and levels of experience moved together — not as professional dancers, political parties or separate generations, but as one community.