MJ's Choreographer & Friend - New Tell-All Interview!

In this video, I interview the wonderful LaVelle Smith Jr who was a close friend to Michael Jackson as well as being one of his most trusted dancers and choreographers. He worked with Michael from the Smooth Criminal short film in the 80s, to early rehearsals for This Is It in 2008, so he sure has a lot of fascinating stories to share.
In this interview, we take a deep dive into LaVelle's work, particularly his work with Michael, covering everything from touring the world on the BAD, Dangerous & HIStory tours, to unused concepts and ideas for MJ's music videos and even his work with Michael on projects such as the 2001 30th Anniversary Special and rehearsals at Michael's home for This Is It.

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LaVelle Smith Jr's Bio:
LaVelle has served as a dancer, choreographer, and creative consultant for pop music’s biggest names since the moment he entered the professional dance scene.
LaVelle has worked in various capacities for artists such as Beyoncé, Usher, Diana Ross, Chris Brown, Destiny’s Child, Janet Jackson, En Vogue, TLC, George Michael, Ricky Martin, Brandy, and the biggest of them all, the King of Pop himself - Michael Jackson (for 23 years).
LaVelle served the dual role of dancer and choreographer for Michael, creating moves for him on projects such as the Ghosts short film, live performances of Dangerous, the Scream short film, and the Dangerous & HIStory World Tours. You can almost always spot LaVelle dancing right alongside Michael in their live performances and videos - he performed with Michael on every solo world tour, countless award shows and The Way You Make Me Feel short film.
LaVelle’s experience does not only include pop stars and their on stage and television presentations but film and corporate commercials as well.
The sensual and tantalizing dancing in "Coyote Ugly" is tallied up to LaVelle’s repertoire, as well as, the hilarious and outlandish dancing of superstar Jim Carrey in "The Cable Guy."
LaVelle has won 5 MTV Awards for Best Choreography, his most recent one was in 2004 for Beyoncé’s "Crazy in Love".
LaVelle was inducted into the DuPont Manual Hall of Fame in 2006, the youngest member to receive this honor. LaVelle was the recipient of the 2007 Dance Media Honors Award.
From 2006 to May 2009 Smith was working with Michael Jackson preparing for his This IS IT performance.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Intro
01:16 - Start Of Interview
02:40 - Dance Workshops
03:07 - Beginning In Dance
06:00 - Dance Inspirations
07:00 - Janet Jackson
08:14 - BAD Tour & Smooth Criminal
09:44 - MJ As A Teacher
10:51 - Performing Live With MJ
12:38 - Dancer To Choreographer
13:32 - Jam
14:40 - Dangerous
18:36 - Scream - MJ & Janet
19:29 - Beyonce
20:12 - More On Scream
20:46 - Cancelled HBO 1995 Concert
23:09 - Fans Going Too Far!
24:50 - Ghosts
27:27 - Casting MJ Tour Dancers
29:15 - Cancelled Unbreakable Short Film!
31:06 - Placement Of MJ's Dancers
32:08 - 30th Anniversary Special
34:15 - Neverland
35:56 - Sponsor Break
36:43 - Memories At Neverland
37:40 - Bubbles The Chimp
38:16 - Mishaps & Funny Moments With MJ
40:15 - This Is It Rehearsals
44:36 - Do Choreographers Get Enough Credit?
46:19 - The Rolling Stones
48:23 - Future Ambitions
50:43 - Kingvention
52:20 - Advice For Dancers/Choreographers
53:22 - End Of Interview
54:29 - Outro

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