Come Together Michael Jackson Dance Showcase

In aid of Amnest International at Matter, O2

Words: Nicky Short

Photos: Dwiko Arie

Boy Blue's Michael Jackson dance tribute

On Thursday 30th July 2009, just five weeks to the day after Michael Jackson died, the London urban dance scene descended on the Matter nightclub at the O2 to witness a dance showcase celebrating his legendary life and work.

The venue was packed and the atmosphere off the wall. DJ Excalibah provided the music - no prizes for guessing who dominated the playlist - but it was standing room only with no space to bust out even the tiniest moonwalk.

Kymberlee Jay hosted with ease and began by pointing out that nowhere in the venue were there any images of Michael Jackson as he meant something different to everyone in the room, not just the performers, and having just one picture or a series of pictures chosen on behalf of everyone there wouldn’t be right.

TK Spin in their "Ghosts" costume

Dressed to impress: TK Spin’s Ghosts costumes

Performances:

The performances were wall to wall bangers: high energy, high octane, slick and precise, with plenty of white socks, leather jackets and crotch grabbing from the glittering line up including the cream of the dance scene who had ‘knocked together’ their work in under three weeks.

Myself dance company opened the show with a bang to Scream and the Interlude kids brought loads of attitude and energy. TK Spin’s take on Ghosts provided spooky vampiric drama in period costume reminiscent of Backstreet Boys’ Everybody video, Avant Garde nailed the Beat It and Thriller choreography and Kymberlee Jay’s School of Funk brought the funk, demonstrating their locking, popping, krumping and breaking skills to the Dangerous soundtrack. The mood was varied by beautiful, reflective performances from Animaneax, Pop C and Diva J - aged thirteen and nine respectively - with their beautifully controlled Stranger In Moscow and Clara De Paris in a spine-tingling solo.

Avant Garde

Avant Garde’s Tony rocked an air guitar in signature MJ attire

In’Sight closed the show with an appropriately soulful rendition of Music and Me but not before the roof had been blown off by the three headlining acts. Plague opened their set with acapella choreography to sound bytes of Michael Jackson interviews before launching into an electrifying showcase of skill and performance proving their title as world champions. Olivier Award winning Boy Blue Entertainment took time out of their tour to wow the crowd with a breathtaking live re-creation of the smooth criminal video. Kym didn’t really need to announce the final act. Arguably - in the hearts and opinions of many UK street dancers - the rightful winners of Britain’s Got Talent, Flawless were screamed on stage by their ecstatic fans to perform their Michael Jackson tribute fresh from national TV.

As well as being well-run and worthwhile with all proceeds going to Amnesty International, Come Together was a gob-smacking and jaw dropping, fitting tribute to the man, the legend who so obviously and deeply inspired a generation of dancers. Few among the 1283 fans in Matter would have disagreed with the closing lyrics of Animaineax’s powerful set: ‘Some people call him the King of Pop; I say he was the king full stop’.

For more amazing photography from Come Together, click here to check out Dwiko’s blog