UNC pediatricians film dance video to 'start 2021 with a smile'

A group of pediatricians at UNC Children’s Hospital welcomed the new year with their own dance video.

Pediatric oncologist Dr. Stuart Gold stars in the video, set to Whitney Houston's "I Want to Dance With Somebody," and Dr. Martha Perry's daughter directed the choreography. They and other physicians said they wanted to thank the entire team at the hospital for their hard work during the coronavirus pandemic and over the holidays.

"[It] really was a labor of love," Gold said Sunday. "It was a real team effort to try to do something for the faculty, the staff, the learners, the nurses, everyone who works at the children’s hospital."

Officials wanted to do something special for the staff over the holidays, and sending food or gifts wasn't practical during the pandemic, he said.

"But to give them something that would be long-lasting and uplifting would be important, so we came up with this idea of a flash mob," he said.

The video was filmed on a Saturday morning in mid-December when the hospital's cancer clinic was closed. But they kept it a secret until they sent it out to staff on New Year’s Day.

"When we were through filming, I turned to a friend and said, 'Even if the film is a flop, the idea is not,'" Gold said. "Even if the video hadn’t come out – if it had gotten burned in a fire – we would still be happy."

Last year was difficult for everyone at the hospital, he said, but the video provides a way "to start 2021 with a smile.”