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Why was there no Panther Dance on tour?

Gonetoosoon

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The Panther dance scene at the end of 'Black or White' is possibly one of the greatest moments of a Michael Jackson short film. It had so much passion, incredible dancing and a deep message to those watching it. As we know due to its 'violence' and 'inappropriate' themes the final 6 minutes were cut.

I've always wondered why Michael wouldn't use such a scene instead on tour.. Black or White live for me is rather tame from a viewing perspective and it would have worked far better IMO if the Panther Dance was included at the end. Can you imagine how crazy it would have been to see that live? Especially with Michael's ad-libs/whispers from the short film incorporated into the performance..

Does anyone know why it wasn't included? Was it because of legal or perhaps creative/time reasons? It's just a big shame it was never performed in its entirety as Michael had intended.
 
I wonder if he wanted to keep that image he created on film in people's heads.

For example: No offense, but the video to Billie Jean itself wasn't exactly the most exiting- bar the stones that lit up. But Michael created a live performance to that song that is iconic in itself- and it doesn't 'compete' with the imagery of the video.

I noticed that videos that were extremely strong such as "Remember The Time" and the Panther Dance in Black and White did not get a separate stage show- as if not to 'compete' with the imagery in the short films.

It works again in reverse if you look at it- there was no short film to "Dangerous"- so they created the incredible choreography to Dangerous.

I can't swear on it, of course, but it always felt to me as if Michael kept those genres apart from each other as if they were different mediums of art. When a particular short of his was a hit, he didn't seem to want to compete with the imagery of the videos too much.
For example, in one of the MTV shows with Slash he definitely alluded to the Panther Dance on the car- he had that prop of a 'burned out' car and he even jumped off of it- but he never sought to duplicate his own short film on stage. A short film needs to stay unique in a way.

Also, theatre and movie are extremely different in its approach- not every theatre actor for example is suitable for film etc. Michael's short films were so perfect, so choreographed, such an illusion- it is very difficult to re-create a movie on stage. Smooth Criminal and Thriller seems to be the only exception- and even there, in TII they sought to somehow weave film and stage back together again- fascinating...but they shot new material- giving people a movie and a stage show- but not duplicating the old one. LOVED that idea!
 
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Pace said:
I wonder if he wanted to keep that image he created on film in people's heads.For example: No offense, but the video to Billie Jean itself wasn't exactly the most exiting- bar the stones that lit up. But Michael created a live performance to that song that is iconic in itself- and it doesn't 'compete' with the imagery of the video.I noticed that videos that were extremely strong such as "Remember The Time" and the Panther Dance in Black and White did not get a separate stage show- as if not to 'compete' with the imagery in the short films.It works again in reverse if you look at it- there was no short film to "Dangerous"- so they created the incredible choreography to Dangerous.I can't swear on it, of course, but it always felt to me as if Michael kept those genres apart from each other as if they were different mediums of art. When a particular short of his was a hit, he didn't seem to want to compete with the imagery of the videos too much.For example, in one of the MTV shows with Slash he definitely alluded to the Panther Dance on the car- he had that prop of a 'burned out' car and he even jumped off of it- but he never sought to duplicate his own short film on stage. A short film needs to stay unique in a way.Also, theatre and movie are extremely different in its approach- not every theatre actor for example is suitable for film etc. Michael's short films were so perfect, so choreographed, such an illusion- it is very difficult to re-create a movie on stage. Smooth Criminal and Thriller seems to be the only exception- and even there, in TII they sought to somehow weave film and stage back together again- fascinating...but they shot new material- giving people a movie and a stage show- but not duplicating the old one. LOVED that idea!
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That's actually a great way to look at it.. I never really thought of it the way u put it but it does make a lotta sense.. That's probably why he never performed Scream with Janet (with the breakdown) and a few other tracks.. Like for Jam on the Dangerous tour he could've easily made it a basketball themed performance bcuz of the video but obviously went a completely different way.. So many artists perform songs as if they were simply recreating the video so to think of it as two different scenarios for a song is really interesting...
 
Pace said:
he video.

It works again in reverse if you look at it- there was no short film to "Dangerous"- so they created the incredible choreography to Dangerous.
Click to expand...

Just aside, if I recall correctly - the choreography used in live Dangerous performances was originally designed for the short film which was cancelled following the 93 accusations. I might be wrong!
 
Pace said:
I wonder if he wanted to keep that image he created on film in people's heads.

For example: No offense, but the video to Billie Jean itself wasn't exactly the most exiting- bar the stones that lit up. But Michael created a live performance to that song that is iconic in itself- and it doesn't 'compete' with the imagery of the video.

I noticed that videos that were extremely strong such as "Remember The Time" and the Panther Dance in Black and White did not get a separate stage show- as if not to 'compete' with the imagery in the short films.

It works again in reverse if you look at it- there was no short film to "Dangerous"- so they created the incredible choreography to Dangerous.

I can't swear on it, of course, but it always felt to me as if Michael kept those genres apart from each other as if they were different mediums of art. When a particular short of his was a hit, he didn't seem to want to compete with the imagery of the videos too much.
For example, in one of the MTV shows with Slash he definitely alluded to the Panther Dance on the car- he had that prop of a 'burned out' car and he even jumped off of it- but he never sought to duplicate his own short film on stage. A short film needs to stay unique in a way.

Also, theatre and movie are extremely different in its approach- not every theatre actor for example is suitable for film etc. Michael's short films were so perfect, so choreographed, such an illusion- it is very difficult to re-create a movie on stage. Smooth Criminal and Thriller seems to be the only exception- and even there, in TII they sought to somehow weave film and stage back together again- fascinating...but they shot new material- giving people a movie and a stage show- but not duplicating the old one. LOVED that idea!
Click to expand...

I pretty much agree with all you said but Dangerous was suppose to be a short film tho.
 
Themidwestcowboy said:
I pretty much agree with all you said but Dangerous was suppose to be a short film tho.
Click to expand...

So at least he decided to put that wonderful choreography to GREAT use! Those Wetten Dass and MTV performances are actually some of my absolute favorite performances of his. The precision, especially in Wetten Dass- incredible...
 
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