Actor Kevin Bacon on Saturday (Apr 20) returned to the Utah highschool the place the cult basic film Footloose was filmed greater than 40 years.
Bacon danced his method to a stage on a Payson Excessive College athletic subject 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 mentioned, in response to video posted by Salt Lake Metropolis’s ABC 4. “It’s nice to see that form of dedication to something. I additionally assume that it’s wonderful 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 College college students ended Saturday with a Footloose-themed promenade, simply because the film ended.
About 21,000 individuals stay in Payson, which is about 60 miles (96km) south of Salt Lake Metropolis.
Principal Jesse Sorenson mentioned college students for years have tried to steer Bacon to go to.
What began as lighthearted appeals on social media was a group broad marketing campaign to associate with Bacon’s charity, Sorenson mentioned. 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 lift cash and donations of toiletries, clothes and different objects to go within the backpacks, Sorenson mentioned.
On Saturday, Bacon helped fill the luggage alongside what Sorenson estimated was about 700 college students and 300 group members.
Sorenson, who graduated from Payson Excessive College in 1995, mentioned DJs all the time play the track 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 stating spots in Payson proven within the film, he mentioned.
“It is one thing they are often happy with, and it’s enjoyable for them,” the principal mentioned.