Kevin Bacon dances again to ‘Footloose’ highschool
PAYSON, Utah — Actor Kevin Bacon on Saturday returned to the Utah highschool the place the cult traditional film “Footloose” was filmed greater than 40 years.
Bacon danced his strategy to a stage on a Payson Excessive Faculty athletic discipline Saturday to greet college students earlier than what seemingly was the ultimate promenade held on the faculty, which is ready to be torn down subsequent spring.
“You talked me into it,” Bacon stated, in line with video posted by Salt Lake Metropolis’s ABC 4. “It’s nice to see that type of dedication to something. I additionally assume that it’s superb to see the facility that this film has needed to convey individuals collectively.”
Bacon starred in “Footloose” as a Chicago teen who moved to a small city and fought its ban on dancing. Payson Excessive Faculty college students ended Saturday with a “Footloose”-themed promenade, simply because the film ended.
About 21,000 individuals dwell in Payson, which is about 60 miles south of Salt Lake Metropolis.
Principal Jesse Sorenson stated college students for years have tried to steer Bacon to go to.
What began as lighthearted appeals on social media became a group huge marketing campaign to companion with Bacon’s charity, Sorenson stated. College students agreed to assist put collectively 5,000 care packages for the charity, SixDegrees, to persuade Bacon to go to.
College students for weeks wrote hopeful messages for the eventual house owners of every of the care packages and labored with the Utah Movie Fee and SixDegrees to boost cash and donations of toiletries, clothes and different objects to go within the backpacks, Sorenson stated.
On Saturday, Bacon helped fill the baggage alongside what Sorenson estimated was about 700 college students and 300 group members.
Sorenson, who graduated from Payson Excessive Faculty in 1995, stated DJs at all times play the tune “Footloose” at proms, and college students recreate the movie’s iconic dance. Older residents inform tales of being an additional within the movie and enjoyment of mentioning spots in Payson proven within the film, he stated.
“It is one thing they are often pleased with, and it’s enjoyable for them,” the principal stated.
