I don't think breakdancing is one of MJ's influences. He said overall that his main influences were James Brown and Fred Astaire. But he did pick up the popping from I forget the guy's name. & he was influenced by mime (Marcel Marceau)as seen in his Human Nature performance. But Smooth Criminal was a full on homage to Fred. I think he died that year or around it.


I can't find the video montage where they had all 3 dancing. But that video you can clearly see how much Fred and Gene influenced him. It's very evident in most of his choreo. I think most people didn't pick up on it because they always say Elvis when it's clear he got inspiration from those two as well as James.

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I am not really all that good with inspirational wording,but I would love to be apart of this book,so I am really going to try!
[Edited 9/8/09 22:25pm]

You can say that, but MJ ALSO said "I got some of my dancing from the kids in the street" meaning breakdancers, lol

They could have been poppers though. I don't see any breaking. Like some of the choreo in Smooth Criminal and Stranger in Moscow (History Tour), the later Billie Jean dance break, etc. all had popping elements to it.

StillDirrty said:

Poppers and lockers are part of the b-boy/break dance culture though. You can say they were inspired by the mimes but also the dancers/hoofers from the first "soundies" whose dancing was similar to their moves and MJ's.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/0...not-go-on/
Posted Sep 8th 2009 5:08PM by TMZ Staff
Katherine Jackson and Jemaine JacksonKatherine Jackson and other
members of her family are angry at Jermaine over the Michael Jackson
tribute concert in Vienna -- this according to various sources.

Members of the Jackson family along with others connected with the
event claim Katherine was badgered into announcing her support of the
September 26 event. The sources say Jermaine was complaining to his
mom about all the bad press he was receiving and repeatedly asked her
to support the Vienna event.

Our sources say other than Jermaine none of the other family members
will be going to Vienna for the concert.

The sources say the family thinks it makes no sense to hold the first
tribute event in a country that has no special connection to Michael
Jackson.

One family member says it's another example of Jermaine doing what's
best for Jermaine, regardless of what the rest of the family wants.
The family member scoffed at the event, calling it "The Jermaine
Jackson show."

Timmy84 said:

I've always separated the two. Well every dance form I separate them. MJ never did that acrobatic stuff that those breakers do. I don't think he needed it. With all the polish he got from the Fred and Gene influence it was a nice balance to the James Brown influence. I think the out of spectrum influence is why I prefer the way MJ danced as opposed to someone like Chris Brown per say. I find the hip hop/breakers (or specifically with Chris krumping) and the like can be a little sloppy at times and they don't have the finesse that classical dancers do.

carlcranshaw said:

Well so much for hoping.

StillDirrty said:

Well the ones who do the worm and the windmill and all of that, of course MJ wasn't going to go for that, he came from the school of Sammy & James, so of course he'd picked the pop-lockers.

mj reminds me of astaire a lot, theyre both really graceful and sharp

bodies too. very thin.
[Edited 9/8/09 22:42pm]

^Yes I love Fred. I don't remember where I read it but someone said that it's very common for dancers to be obsessed with having a "dancer's body." Which could be another reason for MJ's wanting to be so thin. I do wish that MJ had showcased more of his talents. I don't think many knew that he could tap dance as well.

i can see why dancers would be obsessed with their weight...it looks a lot better when they're thin like ballerinas

the tap dancing is very cool, i didnt know that til i started youtubing

I don't remember when I found that out but I do remember him saying that he used to pretend he was Fred and Janet would be Ginger Rogers. Very cute. It would have been epic if he had danced with Fred. John Landis said that he showed up to the Thriller set. But probably by that time he was too old to really use his legs well. I would have liked to see that though.

I've only checked out this last page of the thread and I'm not about to go through these thousand posts to see if someone else posted this but apparently Michael was influenced by Broadway musicals also when making his videos....

The Roots of A Superstar Look: Jackson Studied Astaire, Sinatra and Kelly

Michael Jackson never just got dressed; he turned it out!

"You never saw him in tennis shoes or sweats", say LA-based designer Rick Pallack., whose tuxedo Jackson wore on the eve of the release of "Thriller." "I have a picture of us on the beach in Hawaii, and he's wearing black shoes and, he's black slacks".

Jackson was old-school that way, like Sinatra or Astaire, both of whom he borrowed from --the trademark fedora from the former, the dance moves (and the tie-as-a-belt in his video "The Way You Make Me Feel") from the latter.
Even Jackson's short-cropped pants and signature white socks hark back to Old Hollywood.

"In a way, he's stealing from Gene Kelly", says American designer Michael Bastian. "You watch 'An American in Paris' and he's wearing short-cropped pants, white tube socks, and loafers. And the reason why was so you watched his feet move. It's a visual trick Gene Kelly invented. And when Michael did it, it was one dancer talking to another."


GQ Mag, September 2009 issue

^T4p. & LOL.

hahahah omg

StillDirrty said:

Yes. Astaire died June 1987, 2 months prior to the release of the "Bad" album.

Mike looking at Liz two taylors.

carlcranshaw said:

I always thought that myself . MJ never had any connection to Vienna or Austria. So I was very surprised when my hometown was chosen for that event.

StillDirrty said:

StillDirrty said:

Pervert.

High Quality version of the THIS IS IT movie poster:

^
Like wow! I'm saving this one to my hard drive. Thanks for uploading it.

StillDirrty said:

Oh wow, 3:58 onwards Beyonce totally copied that for her Naughty Girl video.

Timmy84 said:

oops sry. double
[Edited 9/9/09 4:23am]

Timmy84 said:

Neverland, I believe.

purplesweat said:

yea you're right still dirrty..
His name is marcel marceau.
Fred passed in June 1987 I believe,so yea because 'Bad' album came out that year.
Michael said "Study The greats..and become Greater"

The greats to me,are dancers artists known and unknown..as long as they're great.

Timmy84 said:

Right, MJ got his moves from the streets. kids back in the late 70's and 80's poppin and lockin' and ppl like james brown,fred astaire,jackie wilson & russian dancer baryshnikov etc. and put his own spin on it...that's what makes Michael an amazing talent in dance.
[Edited 9/9/09 4:06am]


Also:

Here's Baryshnikov. You can see Michael Could excel in any dance genre. As Baryshnikov a ballet dancer because ballet dancers go on their tip-toes..Michael had that in him as well.. Just a natural talent.






Jackie Wilson:


[Edited 9/9/09 4:28am]