Dancing With Michael Jackson: Kriyss Grant Remembers the Time
As Told to Kenya N. Byrd
Before his tragic death on Thursday, June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson was gearing up for his "This Is It" tour and touching the lives of those who were fortunate to be working with him. One of those people was Kriyss Grant, a 21-year-old dancer from Florida who has also worked with Beyoncé. ESSENCE.com talked with Grant about his final moments with the KIng of Pop.
MORE STORY BELOW VIDEO / PLEASE SCROLL DOWN
I still can't believe that I had the blessing of working with Michael Jackson, the very man I've emulated since I was 2 years old. Out of nearly 300-plus guys who attended the three-day audition process in hopes of becoming a dancer for the "This Is It" tour, I was handpicked as one of the final 11 dancers—nine men and two women—who would accompany him to London. We had to perform the routine from "Dangerous" and "Smooth Criminal." Despite my nervousness, I gave it my all and I hit those steps hard. I knew I had more to prove because I was an out-of-town dancer from Florida competing with many L.A. dancers who often audition and get booked for all the major shows. Afterwards, Michael told me that he thought I was amazing and awesome and the reason he chose me was because I had the most feeling out of all the dancers. It was important to him that he didn't just recruite dancers, but dancers who believed in the music. To have the greatest entertainer of all time give me such a compliment is nothing short of amazing.
We rehearsed in L.A. at the Staples Center and the first time he came to meet us he was very nervous, shy, smile, nod but didn't speak much. Eventually, he warmed up to us and joked about how his stylist made him wear lot of his shiny clothes so he could get back into the feel of the old days. We had a lot of good moments with him. He always gave us a positive message about healing the world and giving back. He really didn't want to disappoint his fans and wanted to continue to send out that positive message. Honestly, people were calling this a comeback tour, but he had no reason for a comeback because he was still on top. Out of five days of practice, he worked with us about 3 to 4 days, which is a lot considering that he was wearing a lot of hats working with everything—vocals, the band, wardrobe. He wanted his show to be the best and it was going to be. It was truly going to be an experience and we still might be doing this show as a tribute to him.
The last time we saw and spoke to Michael was at 1:00 A.M., the morning of his death, and we'd just finished rehearsals. We arrived at around 2 P.M. and all of us were going all-out. Michael would stop us and tell us not to hurt or kill ourselves. He advised us to save it and not give it all away in practice, but as soon as the music started and it was his turn to do his thing he went hard and all-out (laughs), or at least he appeared to be. So, of course, we stepped it up and stayed on his level because we didn't want to make him look bad. It was an amazing rehearsal. He was excited and told us how great we were. The last thing he said was "see you guys tomorrow."
Later on that day, we were waiting for him and received the news that he was in the hospital. There were so many different reports that we didn't know what to believe and didn't want to jump to any conclusions. We all stuck together as a family and prayed for his recovery. It was the worst day of my life. I felt anger, sadness and happiness that at 21, I was able to work and learn from someone I've admired for so long. I know he's looking down on us and I'm going to make sure to apply his lessons and keep his legacy alive one step at a time.
Kryiss Grant works with the Inner City Youth (I.C.Y.) Program in West Palm Beach, Florida and performs annual summer shows for the kids.
Essence.com / Thanks Chalene!