EAST LANSING, Mich. — As part of the “Daytime. Nighttime. Anytime. Place Project,” the East Lansing Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has launched a TikTok Challenge to help promote downtown East Lansing businesses.
The TikTok Challenge consists of a choreographed dance and asks participants to record a video of themselves performing the dance in front of a downtown East Lansing business or landmark. In addition to the choreographed dance, participants must improvise and show off their dance moves at the end of the video.
“The DDA is extremely excited to use TikTok as a way to engage the community and promote downtown East Lansing businesses,” said Community Development and Engagement Manager Amy Schlusler-Schmitt. “We can’t wait to see the submitted videos and how participants express themselves through dance.”
“East Lansing is widely recognized as a community that celebrates all forms of artistic expression. Whether it be our festivals, concerts or hosting forums of nationally-renown authors and speakers, East Lansing’s celebration of the arts is at the core of what makes our community strong and unique,” said DDA Chairperson Peter Dewan. “The TikTok Challenge is another way to support and strengthen downtown East Lansing and I look forward to seeing many creative entries.”
Participants must upload their video to TikTok and use the hashtags “#downtownELTikTokChallenge” and “#placeproject” by Saturday, Feb. 13 for their video to be considered. The winner of the challenge will receive a $200 Downtown East Lansing eGift Card, courtesy of the DDA.
Interested participants can view the choreographed dance on the downtown East Lansing TikTok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@downtownel?lang=en. The dance was choreographed by MSU Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre and Choreography Brad Willcuts and performed by MSU student Jaylin Alexis Cole.
Additionally, interested participants are reminded that they are required to wear a face mask over their mouth and nose in all public spaces in the DDA district, both inside businesses and in outdoor public spaces (sidewalks, streets, plazas, etc.). Visit https://www.cityofeastlansing.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1371 to learn more about the mask requirement.
Community members can help support additional downtown East Lansing programming and public space activation by donating to the “Daytime. Nighttime. Anytime. Place Project” crowdfunding campaign at http://patronicity.com/placeproject. If the crowdfunding campaign reaches $50,000 by Feb. 10, the project will receive a matching grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation through the Public Spaces Community Places program.