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MJ's Inspiration for Most 'Smooth Criminal' Moves?

Re: 100% MJ's inspiration for most of the Smooth Criminal mooves?

1. The film The Band Wagon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Band_Wagon is the ACTUAL inspiration for Smooth Criminal

Specifically this dance number called Girl Hunt Ballet dance by Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse


2. Jeffery Daniels has long been acknowleged by Michael as the one who tuaght him what has become known as the moonwalk. Jeffery was doing a version of it a, he taught it Michael, who then adapted it and made it into the moonwalk. Jeffery spoke about this when he was part of the original touring production of Thriller Live back in 2007 in England
 
Re: 100% MJ's inspiration for most of the Smooth Criminal mooves?

Fred Astaire's influence on Michael is incredible. So so cool to see being so aware of how MJ did it - I immediately notice the 'Michael' parts.
 
Re: 100% MJ's inspiration for most of the Smooth Criminal mooves?

moonstreet said:
Jeffery Daniels has long been acknowledged by Michael as the one who taught him what has become known as the moonwalk. Jeffery was doing a version of it, he taught it to Michael, who then adapted it and made it into the moonwalk. Jeffery spoke about this when he was part of the original touring production of "Thriller Live" back in 2007 in England
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Jeffery spoke about it in the BAD 25 documentary, as well, if I'm remembering correctly. We should all know that he was influential in Michael's choreography for many years and worked with him often. I think he's dancing beside Michael in the "Beat It" video dance break in the warehouse, isn't he? In the white pants?
 
Re: 100% MJ's inspiration for most of the Smooth Criminal mooves?

Mikky Dee said:
Jeffery spoke about it in the BAD 25 documentary, as well, if I'm remembering correctly. We should all know that he was influential in Michael's choreography for many years and worked with him often. I think he's dancing beside Michael in the "Beat It" video dance break in the warehouse, isn't he? In the white pants?
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Are you talking about Michael Peters, the gang leader in the white pants and jacket? He also choreographed Thriller and Dreamgirls-the Broadway show that we saw Michael attend many times wearing his 'Beat It' jacket.

His protege and friend, Vincent Paterson, was the other gang leader and choreographed Smooth Criminal. Jeffrey choreographed the "street" parts of it. And of course, Jeffrey did the main choreography in 'BAD', where he's the one you look at the most after Michael, right next to him in the green newsboy cap.

I do believe that the three kids that Michael refers to in Moonwalk and taught it to him are Jeffrey, Casper and Cooley. He calls himself a kid in the book as well, like we all do when we are in our 20's. Here's Jeffrey, Casper and Cooley doing their stuff on Soul Train. I think all 3 of them danced in BAD and Smooth Criminal.




And here's a clever video showing scenes from Fred's Bandwagon along with another great Fred/Leslie Caron movie, 'Daddy Long Legs' where they got the jukebox coin idea.
Somebody took those two dance numbers and set them to 'Smooth Criminal.'

 
Re: 100% MJ's inspiration for most of the Smooth Criminal mooves?

We've always know the influence Jeffrey has had on michael.. there's a long list of entertainers Michael got stuff from.
 
Re: 100% MJ's inspiration for most of the Smooth Criminal mooves?

Michael Jackson Beat It with his BAD WEST SIDE STORY inspiration....

 
barbee0715 said:
Are you talking about Michael Peters, the gang leader in the white pants and jacket? He also choreographed Thriller and Dreamgirls-the Broadway show that we saw Michael attend many times wearing his 'Beat It' jacket.
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UGH.....yes....my bad. It seems I had a senior moment and got Jeffrey and Michael Peters mixed up, in terms of "Beat It". LOL.

barbee0715 said:
Jeffrey did the main choreography in 'BAD', where he's the one you look at the most after Michael, right next to him in the green newsboy cap.
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It's this I was thinking of...I knew Jeffrey was dancing next to Michael, somewhere!! Interesting that you say that he's the one we look at the most, after Michael, because that is totally true!!
 
Even during TII, Human nature. The penguin move was inspired by Fred Astaire’s movie.
 
Someone that never gets attention for influencing Michael but John Travolta did also in many many ways..

Hes one that often gets overlooked! If some are not familiar with specific inspirations I can share in a few days when I'm back home
 
KOPV said:
Someone that never gets attention for influencing Michael but John Travolta did also in many many ways..

Hes one that often gets overlooked! If some are not familiar with specific inspirations I can share in a few days when I'm back home
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One thing I'd like to know is if Michael got the idea of the pink shirt in the 'Billie Jean' video from the prom scene in "Grease." I've always thought that the Billie Jean video was like the next step up from the Off the Wall "prom" tux-now it's upgraded to leather-more edgy but softened by that pink shirt.

I think Saturday Night Fever influenced a lot of dance moves, as well as Flashdance. Well, those movies (and Soul Train) affected all of us at discos. Lol.
 
Yeah Saturday night fever for Michael's walk, and some key mj moves come from that movie..
 
As for his legendary moonwalk (which he performed publicly for the first time in the Motown 25 event in 1983), MJ admitted in 2007 that his inspiration (for that move) came by “watching the great rhythmic, wonderful black children dance around the world”.

Also, Marcel Marceau’s movements influenced a lot MJ’s evolution as a dancer. MJ was a huge fan of him. He used to attend Marceau’s performances even before the ‘Off The Wall’ period. He then gradually started to incorporate some of Marceau’s on stage movements into his own dance routines.

“I used to sneak in and sit in the audience and watch how he [Marceau] would defy the laws of gravity, like he was stepping on air. I would take some of those things and include it into rhythm and dance when I moved” (MJ)

Dance moves/choreographies inspire others (& also being inspired by others) all the time.

But the way MJ used to take different dance styles from different eras adding also his own ideas & presenting in the end something that looked so great & almost unique is a feat that, in my opinion, not many people have been able to do.
 
Gene Kelly did the white socks and rolled up sleeves before Travolta. The socks were widely fashionable in the 50s.

I think we have to be careful about crediting people that Michael never mentioned. It can become a free for all where people deduct from him until there's nothing left. We're already seeing a lot of that with these song theft allegations. Which is why I have no interest in any future documentaries, or even comments from those who didn't speak their truth when he was here. his story has already been told, with 'the legend continues' and his autobiography in tandem. It would also be helpful to list sources for where these quotes from Michael came from. He encompassed so much in his artistry that he is still seen as the standard, and a target..

Outside of the people Michael worked with, or was influenced by, he had a unique style of his own that he began developing since his late teens. Similarity does not equal imitation..
 
Michael's Essence said:
I think we have to be careful about crediting people that Michael never mentioned. It can become a free for all where people deduct from him until there's nothing left. We're already seeing a lot of that with these song theft allegations. .
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I agree it becomes odd. So much threads in a MJ-Forum not discussing his genius but where he saw that from and where he saw that from or were might be better than him or who Michael not credited. It`s clear he had insperation from many like Astaire.

Why are not creating threads which artist inspired from Michael or for which work Michael never was credited?
 
If Michael is just the sum of shrewd copying and 'machavellian'-like theft then just anybody could write Billie Jean, just anybody could make Thriller, just anybody could outsell everyone else and become the most famous and subsequently one of the most influential musicians ever.

Whenever I become concerned about these types of claims I remind myself of one constant throughout, and that's MJ.

The rules didn't change for Michael. He was simply one in a billion.
 
Michael never kept secret about who and what his inspirations were. I guess we all watched Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Jeffrey Daniels, James Brown, Marcel Marceau etc. ... But there is not one moment of doubt that Michael created his own unique dance and music and art! The artists he named felt honored, they loved and adored him. And I see, with his new and exciting interpretations he also kept them alive.

And I can insist for myself - I always get goosebumps:laughing: when I watch Michael moving, singing and dancing, talking and laughing............ That never ever happened when I saw the others.
 
No one here should ever feel threatened by Michael 'copying' this or that.. He admittedly has said "study the greats and become greater".. What made Michael the greatest was not a single move like the moonwalk (which he learned), his vocal style (that has strong influences from other entertainers), or any other singular talent Michael had..

What made Michael GREAT is the fact he cam go toe to toe with other greats in most fields on artistry.. We could argue IF Michael was the greatest dancer, we could argue IF Michael was the greatest vocalist, we could argue on what level his writing skills were etc.

But name me ONE other person that could be in the running to be one of the greatest in SO many fields.. Sure he did not invent the moonwalk, but he OWNED it! Sure his vocal style may have James Brown (and others) influence but no one can doubt the passion behind each note he sang.. His style may have been influenced by many (Bob Fosse , The Beatles, and others) but it was when MICHAEL wore it when people remembered it.. It was HIM that made zipper jackets a cultural trend, it was him that allowed old fashion like fedoras stay relevant in a world when it wasn't so much..

His voice, his style, his moves, his image - drawing ideas from various talents.. Is what made him the greatest!

Yes Michael was heavily influenced by Bob Fosse, John Travolta, James Brown, Jeffery Daniels, Judy Garland + many many more.. But it was him that put it all together with effortless perfection that created a singular product that no one can touch..
 
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it's what Michael did *after* he borrowed that's missing from this conversation.

his teachers James brown, Sammy Davis jr, and gene kelly have all credited him for elevating what they did. how? by colouring it ,and stretching it to the point that it's become something else. even fred astaire and gene Kelly's choreographer said that to compare Michael to them would do him an injustice. that what makes unique is his own style and originality.

Michael was choreographing routines with Jackie and marlon since he was a child.

later on corkscrew kicks, spins, scooting, and various poses made up his standard move set, that became a genre all to itself. the facial expressions, the minor hand gestures, all contributed to an *energy* that can't be taught.

he wasn't just a blender.
 
Kanye West has lately been posting some insightful profound on twitter concering a variety of things but these posts sticks out and really relate to this subject

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ChrisC said:
Originality is important though. Michael was original.
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That is true but I agree with the essence of his message. People borrow ideas and concepts all the time and it is not just a phenomenon that happens in music.
 
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