Michael Jackson: ''Your body is music''
An exclusive interview with Vincent Paterson
Choreographer Vincent Paterson always fondly remembers his years
of working with Michael Jackson and speaks of his friend with great respect.
Paterson began working with Michael as a dancer in the Beat It and Thriller videos , and later directed the choreography in many of his music videos, including Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel, Black Or White and Blood On The Dance Floor.
''I think the first time I really knew about Thriller was when I saw the Motown special with Michael Jackson. Honestly, I didn't like him very much before this show, but when I saw him I completely lost my mind. I've never seen anyone dance like that, boil with such powerful energy, have such strength, such self-control. I've never seen anything like it since Fred Astaire. I thought it would not be possible to repeat that.
I fell in love for him. Literally.
In the early 80's. I moved to Hollywood. I wanted to become a dancer. I had just returned from a world tour with Shirley MacLaine and was familiar with the choreographer who worked on Michael Jackson's projects. His name was Michael Peters. I was one of his best students and helped him teach dance. I applied for the position of one of the dancers for the video “Beat It”. In Los Angeles, I was a beginner and before that I was engaged in acting, and I started dancing relatively late — at 24 years old. And then I came to the selection. I heard that the plot of the video was somehow linked to street gangs, so I left my beard stubble, put a fake earring in my ear, licked my hair with gel and dressed in street clothes, as they used to at that time… in the hallway where the selection took place, and there was a crowd of people in shiny dancing tights. And I think I immediately stood out in terms of their background. Michael Jackson was in that room with Peters too.
After my audition, Michael immediately said, “I need this guy! I need this guy!''. I think his choice was largely due to the fact that I came to audition, having already gotten used to the role. As a result, it was much easier for Peters and Jackson to see in me the character they wanted.
I don't know if the entire script had already been written at that time. Peters simply recruited a group of dancers and assigned roles as they were approved. It turned out that Peters had decided to personally participate in the video. He told me, “Why don't you play against my opponent? I'm going to split the guys into two gangs... rival gangs. You will lead one, and I will lead the other. And that really changed my entire dance career. From that moment on, the whole world noticed me and for a while I even became a star… Peters and I (he was my best friend) would walk around town, in Los Angeles, Hollywood or New York, and people would come up to us and they asked for autographs. This never happened to dancers! It may be different now, but dancing was a new art form back then, and music videos were a new art form as well.
Michael Jackson was very, very shy, he was an introvert. At selection, I just greeted him; he was quiet and didn't speak to anyone. When I got the part and Peters started working with Jackson, I teamed up with another assistant to Peters, Frances Morgan. We work with Michael in the same room. That was great! He was so sweet and polite but still a quiet person. However, he liked to laugh and play tricks on people. I think he felt more comfortable in that small room where the four of us were.''
''Dancing in the Thriller video was a phenomenal experience thanks to the extraordinary storyline of that video. Back then, we were breaking records with every video that came out. It became a historic event.
The Thriller video was a little different from Beat It. Michael Peters once again choreographed the project, with John Landis as director. Peters brought in many of the dancers from the previous video, as well as dancers he had worked with before. We were delighted! We were already inspired by Michael Jackson's success with the Beat It video, and now we were working with John Landis on Thriller! A ten-minute video clip is unpublished! We knew we would go down in history.
In the beginning, I was an assistant choreographer and, at the same time, one of the zombie dancers. When I first entered the studio with Peters, before Jackson even appeared, Peters started inventing the movement and I was literally amazed. I asked him, “Michael [Peters], where does this choreography come from? How did you come up with that?'' And he replied, “I have no idea! It's just that… I was taken by the music. And I've got these crazy things coming up, I don't know where this is going''. I had a talent for remembering everything Peters did and then repeating it. When Jackson came—oh God, he literally freaked out! He didn't know we were going to choreograph that way. And when he saw what Michael Peters created, he was very excited and pleased with the way Peters interpreted his music.
Later, when I was already working alone with Michael Jackson as a choreographer and stage director, Michael told me one thing — and I think it was perfectly demonstrated in Peters' work: “Never try to dictate movement to music. Let the music speak to you. Let the music tell you what movement it wants to be incorporated into. If you listen carefully, she'll talk to you and give you the entire dance.'' That seems to be what happened to Peters when he heard this song.
When the dancers got together and started teaching choreography, we were shocked! We just couldn't believe it! “Oh God, it looks so weird, so scary!''—something unheard of back then! And look what happened, this dance lives on today, all over the world.
Dancing Thriller was much easier than in Beat It because it was a full number, we danced in one place. The filming took place somewhere in downtown Los Angeles. That night it was terribly cold… I don't remember if steam came out of our mouths, but if it did, it was for real. We were very cold, I remember that. And I also remember how we were constantly running to our trailers because there was a heater. The filming took place around three in the morning
Honestly, I don't remember how many actual dance shots we did that night, I think 30 or 40. John Landis personally followed the close-ups and parts of individual dancers, he appeared here and there, filmed Michael from various angles… Probably in in total, 30–40 takes. But the makeup took several hours! Makeup was done by Rick Baker. We each had our own makeup and our own makeup artist. There wasn't a single “zombie only” — we all had molds taken of our faces and for each we developed our own image, our own mask.
In fact, when you sit in front of the mirror and watch yourself transform from a healthy young man to carrion — it kills your brain! You see how your teeth are falling out. Each of us had our own false teeth. I stole mine after filming. I know I shouldn't have done this, but I stole them and I still have them!''
''Then I danced with Michael Jackson in two videos. I played the gang leader in Beat It and the zombie in Thriller, as well as acting as assistant choreographer for Michael Peters. And then one night when I was at home they called me. A soft, quiet voice asked for Vincent Paterson. I decided someone was making fun of me, pretending to be Michael Jackson. "Who is it?" I asked. “Michael Jackson” was the reply. "Who the hell is this?" - I asked. The same answer. "I'm going to get off the phone right now if you don't tell me who you are!" "I was irritated." It really turned out to be Michael Jackson. I started to apologize.
Michael was working on a new album at one of the Hollywood studios and asked if I could come by to see it. I ran over there, hoping he'd ask me to dance in the next video. We went to the studio and he played Smooth Criminal for me and asked my opinion. I really liked. Then he asked if I could have some ideas for the video and if I would like to perform a dance number. I was surprised and very flattered to receive this honor.
Michael proposed the idea of an elegant club where 10 men in tails and top hats would dance. But he wanted me to express my ideas too.
I knew Michael loved Fred Astaire movies so I started researching the dances in these musicals, which were usually choreographed by Hermes Pan. While I was doing this and working with the dancers, Michael was in the studio most of the time. He provided me with a separate pavilion in which a special wooden floor was made for the dancers' safety. He also put an amazing audio system, a video camera in the pavilion and gave me ten dancers to practice the choreography.
Every morning we had dance classes, and then I would make up the choreography in that pavilion, then I could practice with the dancers. Filming everything that was done during the day, then Michael and I watched the tape. He used to say, “This is great! I think ten more dancers are needed.'' I hired about 50 dancers for the video.
I don't remember how long we rehearsed and filmed, but it feels like four to six weeks. At first it was just a video, then it turned into one of the scenes from the movie “Moonwalker”. I worked with Michael to expand the music, and in the movie this scene turned into a ten-minute dance number. After creating the overall choreography, I started working face to face with Michael.
“That's how Michael and I work. Rehearsing together. By this time, I had already given him an outline of the dance, and he changed a few points along the way. Michael stood in front of this mirror and repeated the choreography — for hours.''
''My favorite memories of Black Or White start with rehearsals. When we started filming the end of the video, the street dancing scene, Michael started grabbing his crotch. He even unbuttoned and zipped up his fly. It was cool!
The audience at that time was shocked and we got a sick beating for it. But remember, you saw so many videos and presentations after that…
I loved working with Michael as an artist and partner. He trusted me. I staged the moves for him and the dancers… I left room for him to create his own moves, his performance. He worked very hard to come up with his own style and I tried to give him the opportunity to highlight his dance.
When we were filming Black or White, I borrowed dance moves from all over the world. He readily accepted all suggestions.
Michael Jackson is one of the greatest dancers in the world. Jackson's talent lies in his ability to interpret his emotions, his musicality, through his body — just as opera singers, pianists and other great artists can. They are born with talent. But of course, you need to know how to improve this skill, how to work with it, how to practice.
Michael Jackson didn't just rely on his innate ability. Here is an example of our work on Smooth Criminal. I created a basic step that was repeated throughout the dance. Michael Jackson took this simple branch (it lasted no more than four counts out of eight) and repeated it in a corner in front of a mirror for at least four hours straight, until he honed it to such perfection that when he played music, it looked like a improvisation. That's how a great artist works. And Michael Jackson knew how.
During my career I have worked with many people. With great dancers, great artists. But among them there was no one with an innate talent, ability to dance, that was Michael Jackson. Nobody! He is the music itself. Your body is music. He is a real master.
In all the years I've worked with Michael—and that's over 16 years—I've never heard a single rude or rude word from him about anyone. In the process of working together, he would always say: “It was really cool, but I had the idea to try something like this…”. He was unique and outstanding and will always be missed.''