The classic Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock continues to captivate audiences five decades on and now a flash mob has added to the legacy.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the book, which was adapted into a classic Australian film, a flash dance mob paid tribute to Miranda, one of the central characters.
Mark Milaszewicz traveled to the event in the Macedon Ranges from Melbourne and said his wife’s name happens to be Miranda.
People gathered form all over to take part in the flash mob tribute to the iconic Picnic At Hanging Rock which is celebrating its 50th anniversary
‘What better way to spend my wife’s 59th birthday?’ he told ABC News.
‘We’ll be looking for Miranda later on and hopefully we’ll find her wherever she may be.’
Choreographers for the 50th anniversary event designed the dance moves to match scenes from the film, with Luke O’Conner of the Asking for Trouble dance troupe and Christy Flaws lending their expertise.
Ms Flaws said that 900 people were involved, between students and the general public.
‘We’ve been teaching choreography and giving people a chance to meet people they don’t know, it feels like a real community building activity as well,’ she said.
The Macedon Ranges Shire Council organised the flash mob and member Natasha Gayfer spoke about what it meant to the area.
Author Joan Lindsay famously said the story idea had come to hear in a dream and relayed the story to her then house keeper Rae Clements who said Miranda was the authors favourite character.
‘Hanging rock’s history goes back thousands of years as a gathering place,’ she told ABC News.
‘We’ve got representatives of traditional owners today.’
Picnic at hanging rock was first published in 1967 by author Joan Lindsay.
It follows the story of a group of female boarding school students in Australia who mysteriously vanish while on a picnic.
The Macedon Ranges Shire Council organised the event and highlighted the site a sone with significant historical importance going back thousands of years
The author said the idea for the story came to her in a dream.
Mrs Lindsay’s house keeper at the time, Rae Clements, relayed the story to the Sydney Morning Herald in an article last year.
‘She really did dream the sequence of chapters,’ she said.
‘She would come down from her study each day and say she’d had the dream again.
‘Miranda was her favourite character.’