Michael Jackson Was Still the Man, Even At 50

Sunday night, I went and saw This is It, the recently released Michael Jackson documentary.  However, contrary to many people’s belief, this was not a documentary about the life of Michael Jackson and everything that was wrong with his life.  Instead, the film showed his last days as a performer getting ready for his upcoming London tour.  It almost gave the audience, which for our showing was just me and Sarah in the theater, a greater sense of the man, myth, and legend that was Michael Jackson.  The man was 50 years old and could still sing and dance like nobody else alive or dead.  The film with interviews from the dancers that had been hand picked by MJ himself to perform with him on the tour.  We kept thinking how crazy that must have been to wake up every morning and know that you are going to be performing with one of the greatest performers ever.  That had to be earth shattering for all of them. I would absolutely love an opportunity to do that (if any of you know of anything let me know).  The fact that his moves are still so iconic after more 30 years is a tribute to the impact that he had on the world of dance.  You can pull out any move in his arsenal and people automatically know where it came from and many of them from what video.  There was a point in the film where they were doing a remake of the Thriller video and I just sat there in awe thinking about the fact that those dancers got to be a part of remaking the most iconic music video of all time.  You could tell he loved to be a big part of everything that went into his performances.  He was consulted on everything from the lights to the music to the height of the crane that would carry him above the audience.  He was a perfectionist.  Also, he thought so far out of the box that I am not even sure he knew there was a box.  He used words like “sizzle” and “nourish” to describe the feel of the music.  Even the little things like holding a note out another couple of counts was a big deal to him.  He wanted to make sure the audience got the best show they would ever see.

He may have had his issues throughout his life and he may have done some bad things, but no one can deny his ability to perform.  You can boo him for his lifestyle but, you have got to respect him as a performer.   I know he is one of the biggest influences in my passion for dance as well as dancers all over the world.  He will be missed.

Did I mention that he was 50 when he was doing all of this and was going to perform 20+ shows?!