Sam dancing at his Bar Mitzvah after-party November 2012: YouTube

Sam dancing at his Bar Mitzvah after-party November 2012: YouTube

Remember the YouTube video of ‘Bar Mitzvah boy’ Sam Horowitz that went viral in August? Well, the Parish Episcopal eighth-grader is back in the news again after being featured in YouTube rewind, released Wednesday.

The new video, already at 19 million views and counting, is a compilation featuring a handful of people who star is some of the most-viewed internet videos of the year. Parodies include “Harlem Shake,” Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video (the censored version, of course,) and my personal favorite, the “Prancercise Lady.”

Advocate sat down with Sam to hear about what life has been like since going “viral.”

What have been some of the highlights for you this year?

My dream has always been to perform, so I’m living the dream! Performing on Ellen and Good Morning America are top highlights for sure. GMA happened very fast- they called us for a skype interview, and afterwards they asked us to get on a plane in two hours to be in New York in time for taping. Meeting the anchors, network producers, local hosts, staff and crew have been so fun. When I performed on The Ellen Show, I remember realizing that I was standing where iconic legends have stood before — it was amazing. [Sam got to meet Portia de Rossi and Celine Dion that day, too.]

You were in California last month for the filming of YouTube Rewind. What was cool about that?

It was fun — I taught Bart Baker [a comedian who makes YouTube parodies that garner 15 million views a pop] the choreography from my Bar Mitzvah celebration.

Did you come up with that choreography all by yourself?

No, I learned it at Power House of Dance. I knew I wanted to come down in a chandelier at the party, but I didn’t know what to do after that. My party planner, Todd Fiscus, suggested I do a dance. My videographer taped it so friends and family could see — we weren’t trying to go “viral,” but it happened.

I have to ask, what was the “Prancercise Lady” like?

She’s very serious — exactly how she appears in her videos. It isn’t a joke to her. She came wearing ankle weights and the same white leggings she wears in her YouTube video.

Any other big performances or dance numbers in the future?

Long term, I will go wherever performing takes me, whether it be Disney, Broadway or Nickelodeon, any of those would be amazing. In 2014, I have another dance video in the works, but I can’t say anything about it yet.

See a live interview from Sam Horowitz today by tuning into Channel 8’s midday news broadcast. Sam also regularly performs on stage at the JCC, Dallas Children’s Theater, and Parish Episcopal Theater productions.