Dancer Kriyss Grant.

_7__7_ Posts: 8
edited January 1970 in Medical Discussion

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  • mmzmmz Posts: 450
    very interesting!!
    "still speaks about Jackson in the present tense from time to time, quietly correcting himself when he notices"
    ...
  • ZIsisZIsis Posts: 165
    21 year old Kriyss Grant was the first dancer Michael Jackson hand-picked to back him up onstage...
    'This is It' Audition

    ...........

    Grant sailed through the first audition and was invited to callbacks, where Jackson watched from the audience and hand-picked his principle dancers. But Grant says he didn't let Jackson's presence throw him off.
    ...........

    According to Travis Payne, Grant was the first dancer Jackson hand-selected, exclaiming, "Look at that joker go!" After the principle dancers were announced, they got the opportunity to meet their hero.


    Working with Michael


    Dance rehearsals began the next week and were 'intense'
    , says Grant, with only one day off per week. The group rehearsed without Jackson for several weeks, perfecting routines before they joined him onstage.......Michael would pop in from time to time to watch us and give us feedback here and there, but he was very shy in the beginning.
    ...........

    "The first thing we rehearsed with Michael was They Don't Really Care About Us and a lot of us were messing up because we couldn't stop looking at him.
    ...........

    Rehearsals with Jackson were sporadic, says Grant, because he had so much else to do. "He had a lot of other stuff to do as far as his vocals, getting his voice right and he had a lot to do with costumes... He couldn't just stay at rehearsal all the time. He had a lot to do with the tour - putting the whole thing together."
    Having mastered the routines early on, Grant says that the dancers often performed full run-throughs of the show without Jackson, with special effects and 'slow numbers for Michael' being inserted around the dance heavy tracks.
    ...........



    Jackson was being 'taken advantage of'


    Although Jackson was present and involved, Grant raised eyebrows when he stated in a recent interview that he felt early on that Jackson was being 'taken advantage of'.

    "I just felt like sometimes they questioned Michael about stuff and I didn't understand that because Michael is the artist," he explains. "I felt like anything Michael says about entertainment, we should all just listen and follow his feelings. If he doesn't feel right about something or if something's not right, I felt like it should just go. He should just have that right to do that.


    Kriyss_Grant_Far_Right_This_Is_It.jpg
    Most "intriguing" photo choice there, don't you think? <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) -->

    "For me it was just questionable... I'm trying to find the right way to say it... If they really were pushing him to do this or if he knew what was supposed to be done. I just felt like at the bottom line, as an artist, you should have your say. If you don't feel right about anything you shouldn't do it. But I guess people are people, you know, and sometimes you run into little situations. But at the end it was pretty much solved. Michael got his way and things were sorted out. I didn't mean anything else by it."


    Final Two Rehearsals


    During the final two rehearsals Jackson really kicked into gear, says Grant. "I guess he really felt it coming together. We all really felt it coming together in those last two rehearsals. It was just a different feeling those last two nights. Michael was very into it, very open-minded about things. He was just living on the stage. His whole vibe was just different. It was like he was really connecting with us and the music. It just felt done. It was like, 'OK, I can sleep tonight'. He gave you a warm feeling those last two days. We all left with a smile on our face."

    He describes the final rehearsal as fairly unremarkable, just another day at work. "The last routine that I remember doing with him was Thriller. He did other things, other songs, and we ran through the whole show. I had a problem with my mask that day - my Thriller mask. It was very tight on my face and it was hard to breathe, but I got through it. It was a very good rehearsal. Before he left he said he would see us tomorrow and 'good rehearsal', with a smile on his face, thumbs up."



    Performing at the Memorial


    Within days the dancers were back in rehearsals, this time gearing up for Jackson's memorial, where they performed Will You Be There with Jennifer Hudson. "It was something beautiful and we thought it was appropriate for his funeral," says Grant. "We wanted to do something that came from us."

    The song was originally rehearsed for the This Is It concerts, but its inclusion was never confirmed. "We rehearsed it but not in the sense that we did it over and over," he says. "We did it a couple of times and he was just smiling. He was just getting back onstage so I guess he was reminiscing about certain times. It was a good feeling. It was like a walk through with the music playing and stuff. He sang a couple of lines but the thing with Michael is that he would always tell us not to do it so full out. Save it for the fans. Save it for the audience."

    ...........

    Grant also felt conflicted when the dancers were asked to act as ushers at Jackson's private funeral. "Me being so young - I don't deal with death and funerals easily. The whole funeral was very emotional for me. But at the same time, I had to keep a smile on my face for the family or keep a smile on my face for the others or the kids to let them know it's going to be OK. I was grieving but I felt out of place because I felt it should be their time with their son. I had a lot of mixed emotions."
    The release of This Is It also inspired mixed emotions. At the time of release he gave an interview saying he would wait for the DVD. Today he says he still finds it difficult to watch. He is also bemused by some of the choices that were made regarding what was and wasn't included. "It's funny because those bits you see, he's not doing the full out still. There were times where he was really, really doing it, like full out. There are a lot of things that weren't shown in This Is It. I really don't know why that stuff was left out."



    Coping With Angry Michael Jackson Fans


    The first I heard of any MJ fans directly assigning the blame of his 'demise on' the TII dancers. <!-- s:!: -->:!:<!-- s:!: --> <!-- s:?: -->:?:<!-- s:?: --> <!-- s:? -->:?<!-- s:? --> I'm ashamed <!-- s:( -->:(<!-- s:( --> I can empathise with some some of us feeling angry, hurt & plain confused, but Hello, they are just kids who love & look up to MJ (like we do too); they don't warrant hate mail!

    Also, I couldn't help noticing that the "crazy questions" didn't have anything hoax-related there too. <!-- s:P -->:P<!-- s:P --> <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) --> <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->



    All in all (from either the 'believer' or 'non-believer' viewpoint), it was very interesting indeed, so thank you anyways, Kriyss Grant <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->


    L.O.V.E & LOVE ALL THE WAY!
  • awesome1awesome1 Posts: 565
    " We Ran through the whole show "

    So they done all 23 Performances?
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