You know how your entire body lights up when your song starts playing, no matter where you are? Andrew Wilcox experienced precisely that on a typical Tuesday afternoon. He was hammering down shingles in the sweltering sun one moment. The following one? The world seemed to be his stage as he danced.
A elderly couple had hired Andrew, a 36-year-old Kentucky contractor, to fix their old garden shed all day. He did steady work that required patience, accuracy, and a good radio station to keep things going. But then it took place.
Commercials
The tinny old radio on the porch railing was playing Enrique Iglesias’ “Bailando.”
It was nothing short of magic that ensued.
Commercials
Andrew did more than only nod his head. He did more than simply tap his boot. He relaxed. Andrew danced up on that roof wearing scuffed work boots and a neon safety vest. He had been waiting his entire life for this song, and he was spinning with his arms wide and his hips swinging, as if the shingles were a dance floor. He spun around a paint can, ducked under a hanging tarp like it was a spotlight curtain, and salsa-stepped between toolboxes.
The homeowner was unaware that his teenage granddaughter had been photographing and observing from her bedroom window.
Overnight, the video went viral after being shared with the tagline, “Roof work or rooftop concert?” But it was the joy, not simply the dancing, that captured the hearts of the audience. Pure, unadulterated, infectious happiness. Millions of people viewed it by morning after someone altered it to make Andrew seem to teleport between rooftops in time with the music.
Furthermore, Andrew does not work as a professional dancer. Not at all. He jokingly said in a local interview, “My rhythm is all elbows and optimism.” But there’s more going on beneath those awkward gestures.
He had been performing outreach and volunteer construction with Latino communities in Arizona for years. He stated, “I wasn’t just building houses.” “I was learning about connection, humor, and culture.” I’m reminded of those that embraced me like family by that music.
Even though Andrew’s dancing may not win any ballroom contests, it is doing something much more significant: it is uplifting people’s emotions.
Currently, construction companies throughout the state are using the hashtag #WilcoxShuffle to tag their own rooftop dancers. People mention that it prompted them to turn up the radio in the middle of their daily routines, made their day, or gave them something to grin about.
The thing about music is that it doesn’t care where you are when it hits.
And occasionally, a song will play and remind you how to feel alive when you least expect it.
