Leon McGilvery coaches the viewer through a succession of simple moves they can try on a night out. (Facebook/Leon McGilvery)

By Alison Sandstrom

Dance 101

Big River FN man’s moves become viral sensation

Jun 17, 2020 | 5:30 PM

A quiet night in with his partner, and a desire to lift a friend’s spirits have catapulted a Big River First Nation man to Internet stardom.

Leon McGilvery’s Facebook Live video Five Quick Steps to Dance has accumulated 2.2 million views in less than 48 hours.

“Me and my wife were having a few beers and we just thought let’s make a video,” he told paNOW. “She said ‘Go, I’ll record you’ and I just made it up… I pre-planned it for maybe 20 seconds.”

His main motivation in creating the video, he said, was a desire to cheer up the Chief of Big River First Nation whose home and possessions were recently lost in a house fire.

FSIN

Chief Bobby Cameron re-elected for fourth term as FSIN Chief

1h ago

Battleford Municipal Election

Laing seeks fourth term on Battleford Council

2h ago

Softball Sask Hall of Fame

'I just wanted to give back': Local softball legend gets rewarded for her years of dedication

4h ago

“I have him as a friend on Facebook and he always watches whatever I do,” McGilvery said. “He’s my boss. I work for him and I just wanted to lift his spirits.”

McGilvery, who works security at Big River First Nation, said he never expected the video to blow up the way it did. The responses he’s received from people around the world have made him reconsider what his friends have been telling him for years – he’s a really funny guy.

“I finally kind of said to myself ‘yeah, you’re actually pretty funny,’” he said with a laugh. “And that’s not even one of the funniest things that I do.”

Since the video was posted on Monday night, McGilvery’s phone has been lighting up constantly with strangers telling him they’ve watched the video dozens of times, that it made their day, or inviting him and his wife for drinks.

“It’s so good to know that I gave positive feelings to everyone,” he said. “There were so many comments, inbox messages, oh my God, it was awesome. It’s cool, even until right now I feel good about it.”

He attributes part of his success to people’s need for good news in the midst of the stress and fear created by the pandemic.

“People [told me] this is the best thing on the Internet with everything happening in the world,” he said.

McGilvery has received over 1,000 Facebook friend requests in the last 30 hours. He said he feels bad with each one he deletes, but he just doesn’t want a bunch of strangers on his feed.

However, he does have something else planned for his new fans.

While his hit video offers dance advice for all genders, he said his next production will focus on helping out the ladies, with five sexy moves they can do at the bar.

“That’s one’s going to blow up too, I bet you 100 bucks,” he said. “Even if it doesn’t blow up, it’s OK. I’ll make people laugh and laughter is the best medicine.”

–

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom