Brian Thomas is a choreographer who worked with Michael Jackson back in 2001.
A performance of Beat It was a lifelong dream for a kid who loved the moonwalk...
"I can't even describe it. It was like my dream come true. It was heaven. I got to dance beside him and choreograph the same number I did at 8 years old," Thomas said.
Dancers say Jackson's steps influenced Hip-Hop and R-and-B as we know it. Things like the moonwalk, his famous spin and even the crotch grab. But, they say, it was Jackson's style that really moved people and that's something that is indescribable "He had a fabulous spin, but all dancers can spin now. Nobody could spin like Michael," said Juditih Jamison of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
It's a style that even the youngest dancers will try to imitate for years to come.
"Just sitting there for hours and trying to get all those little ticks and pops is the joy of my day, just watching him," 16-year-old Sam Sacco said.
They say the reason that Jackson's dancing will live on is because he truly brought the "street" to the stage, something no artist had done before him. And that may be why we truly get joy from this type of dancing. Dancers everywhere hoping they might shine, just like he could.
"They could've turned the lights off on him and you still would've seen him. That's how brilliant his light was," Jamison said.
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