Michael Jackson: Dancing Machine

Black History & the Art of the Dance - PART III

My relationship with MJ started when we were kids. We are contemporaries (if he were still alive he would be my age.) Even way back in the good old days of the Jackson Five, you could see his talent in the art of the dance:

Notice he had already developed dance moves light years ahead of his time (notice also one of the commenters to this video is an old white dude such as myself - also a contemporary of MJ). His dancing style has spawned numerous impersonators, including an old white dude in a Man Cave on Gottfried Creek:

In the years since we were kids, he grew up to be one of the foremost modern dancers, changing dance history forever. Michael Jackson first did the moonwalk in a live solo performance of “Billie Jean,” following NBC’s celebration of 25 years of Motown. Although his dance is no comparison to the Man Cave moves (that are to the same soundtrack more or less) it was still considered a watershed moment in modern dance.

The move was already popular among street dancers who used a precise, mechanized style of movement called popping, consisting of sequences of pulsing or stop-and-start movements. The Electric Booglaoos had also earlier demonstrated stylized, almost cartoonish walks, including what was called the “backslide.”

The moonwalk itself predates MJ by at least 3 decades:

The moonwalk was just one of a panoply of dance styles perfected (if not invented) by MJ, who, as the “King of Pop”, brought them to a wider audience.

Jackson’s appearance as we all know changed considerably over the years. I must confess that as these changes were happening, I longed for the little boy with whom I had no trouble at all admiring, one with whom I could identify. There was no reason in my mind that he was suspected of being embarrassed to be a black man, or wanted to look like Diana Ross or Liz Taylor. There was a cruel joke about him being spread that ”only in America can a poor black boy grow up to be a rich white woman.”

These rumors provide the backdrop for the 1991 Dangerous album and in particular the Black or White short film that was part of that project. As reported in The Guardian, “Jackson appeared whiter than ever, but the video – directed, choreographed by and featuring black talent – was a celebration of black history, art, and beauty.” Black or White came out not that long after the Rodney King incident and the race riots in LA and Jackson made every effort to make a statement, saying that he wanted “to do a dance number where I [could] let out my frustration about injustice and prejudice and racism and bigotry, and within the dance I became upset and let go.”

That he did. At the end of the short film, the world’s most famous black entertainer escapes the confines of the Hollywood sound stage, transforms into a black panther and channels the pent-up rage and indignation of a nation and moment.

There is little wonder why the last four minutes of the video were excised:

Things started to go sideways for Michael Jackson (to say the least), leading up to his premature death from an overdose on June 25, 2009 just before he was to go on tour.

The contorted image of what was once that little boy I grew up with was no more.
I prefer to cling to that earlier version of him.

I guess I, too, never wanted to say goodbye to that little boy.

Note: thumbnail of a young MJ by Jim Britt Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo provided in an article appearing in Rolling Stone Magazine.