Michael Jackson-Thriller (the dance)-Criticial Analysis

When I think of a distinct and historically significant piece of dance, I think of the Thriller video. Michael Jackson and the world recently celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of this event which freaked me out as a youngster. The song was part of the album Thriller which was originally released November 30, 1982 (michaeljackson.com). It also included other top forty hits such as Billie Jean and Beat It. It is the only album that has stayed number one two years running. Michael Jackson is known as a dance icon because he introduced the world to this dance as well as what two other eighty phenomenon?
Another reason that I chose to focus on this video and dance style was because of a conversation my husband and I just had. This dance is being featured for a sports drink with Naomi Campbell dancing with lizards. It is amazing that twenty-five years later it is still be sought after. It is also featured in a cute little movie that was recently shown on television called Thirteen Going on Thirty. It features the dance.
This video is fourteen minutes long. Michael Jackson and John Landis wrote the storyline. It cost $800,000 to make, which made it the most expensive video for its time. It is listed in the Guinness World Records as the most successful music video as it has sold over one million units. It was also choreographed by Paula Abdul. This dance is so well received that there are contests for the most people doing the dance and doing the dance the longest. People have done this dance in weddings, prisons, and with legos with examples on youtube.com (http://www.thrilltheworld.com). There are many parodies of the video, too. The video features Michael in his trademark red leather jacket walking with his girlfriend after leaving a scary movie at the theatre. In the spooky nature of the dance and video, the couple passes a dark cemetery with fog appearing. Zombies come from everywhere and surround the couple when much to the girlfriend’s surprise; Michael turns into a zombie, too. The voice of Vincent Price makes the scary nature of the dance and video more interesting. All of theses elements successfully come together to successfully form a storyline. The dance part of the video starts with Michael and approximately forty backup dancers. This part of the video lasts about three minutes. It features movements that resemble zombies moving as well as claps and jumps to the rhythm. The choreographers are successful in corresponding the spooky aspect of the video while keeping the dance upbeat and sexy. The dancers are formed in lines that form a triangle with Michael is in the center front of the rest of the zombies. The dance itself repeats itself several times and goes with the pop beat of the music. The dancers go forward, side-to-side, and turn around in the dance.
There are many interesting facts about this dance. The dancers nearly walked off of the video because of the costumes. The masks were really hard to breath in which is a the reason Michael’s character change back in the middle of the sequences. The shoes chosen are very hard to dance in and caused some of the dancers to injury themselves.
Michael, who is a Jehovah’s Witness, was sure to include a message about this video being simply for creative purposes and not supporting any cults. The disclaimer read, “Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult” (michaeljackson.com).
Michael is truly an icon as he is known for many positive and negative aspects of his character and career. He is known for wearing one glove, a leather Jackson, and his trademark glasses. His signature dances also include the robot and the moonwalk (michaeljackson.com). Regardless of his personal and financial issues, Michael is an artist to be respected and revered as one of the greatest of his times. It is really interesting to google and youtube Michael and see all of the different sites and ideas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CzxK5BPNCA