Nearly everyone has seen the 1988 movie Big starring Tom Hanks – and if you haven’t – well, you’re missing out.
One of the most memorable and iconic scenes in the movie is when Tom Hanks joins Robert Loggia on an epic performance of ”Heart and Soul” and “Chopsticks” with their feet on the giant piano on the floor in the toy store.
Ever since the film debuted, floor pianos started to pop up in department stores and toy stores across the globe. And, of course, people always try and mimic that memorable performance from the movie.
According to Wikipedia, the very first ‘big piano’ was created in 1982 and it only had one octave. That same year, it was displayed at FAO Schwartz in New York City. Then, in 1988, it was expanded to have 3 octaves.
Since then…some people have been lucky enough to play it – like Alexander Dennis Volk.
Alexander ‘Dennis’ Volk has been playing piano for a few years and his nickname has become Mister Piano.
Dennis absolutely loves to find public pianos or keyboards and play them from an unsuspecting crowd of passersby. Dennis has once been described as:
“Mister Piano, real name Dennis Volk, has changed from a class clown to a creative exceptional entertainer on the piano. At the beginning of his career, he mainly played accompanying music for events – always with his own piano – so his tendency towards creativity, extravagance, and visionary thinking soon became apparent. The shows and ideas that he has developed from this have brought him to various TV programs and are popular with organizers all over Europe.”
In a video shared by Mister Piano on YouTube, he plays this massive piano with his feet in front of a growing crowd at the mall.
First, Dennis begins to perform the well-known ‘Heart and Soul’ that we know and love. Then, it isn’t long before his partner joins him to accompany the performance. Each of them donning piano-inspired costumes, the barefoot duo hopped gracefully from note to note, performing the song perfectly – never skipping a beat.
The pianists-turned-dancers hit each note without a hitch – each one tapping away in perfect harmony with one another. The audience around them grew and grew, clapping and dancing along to the beat.
As Dennis stops to let his partner shine, he encourages the audience to clap for her along to the music – it was such a beautiful moment.
Not only did the crowd at the mall absolutely love their epic performance, but once the video was uploaded to YouTube, it quickly amassed over 5 million views. Of course, commenters weighed in on what they thought of the impressive performance as well.
“The best way to perform a tremolo? Obviously it’s a handstand! I love this performance. Where is this? And how frequently do you perform? Also, don’t you get super tired or something, depending on how long you perform?” said one commenter.
“OK I may admit I’m emotional after seeing this,” declared another viewer.
“THAT WAS AMAZING!!!Wow!!” exclaimed a YouTuber.
It’s a performance that you just have to watch for yourself. They are so talented and so coordinated – truly impressive indeed.
Watch their fun routine on the giant piano in the video below. It’ll make you want to find one to try too!
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