Rocking My Wedding Reception – Michael Jackson Style

Ever since I first watched fave movie 13 Going On 30 for the first time back in 2004 and saw Jenna Rink (aka Jennifer Garner) so charmingly reenact the Zombie Dance sequence from “Michael Jackson’s Thriller” while at a party, I became absolutely obsessed with doing the very same thing at my wedding reception.  At the time the Grim Cheaper had yet to propose, nor had the two of us ever even really talked about marriage, but I knew that we would most likely be tying the knot at some point and that when we did, my friends and I were going to do that “Thriller” dance!!  Unfortunately, when I actually tried to learn the dance not long after the GC finally did propose, I realized it was far too complicated for this stalker, especially considering that not only do I have two left feet, but I am by far the least coordinated person I know.  So, after scouring countless MJ videos and concert clips on YouTube, I decided that the infamous “Jackson 5 Medley” –  which is a compilation performance of the songs “I Want You Back” and “The Love You Save” that MJ used to perform during his many concerts and which you can watch by clicking above – would be a far easier dance to learn.  The only trouble was that I did not much like the ending of the Medley featured in the clip posted above, as it seemed to be a bit anti-climactic.

I much preferred the ending of the Medley that the Jackson 5 performed during the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television special (which can be viewed at the 1:59 mark in the above video) in 1983.  So I ended up putting together a bit of a mash-up of the two dances for my friends to perform at my reception.

The GC had informed me very early on – and in no uncertain terms – that he would definitely NOT be participating in my Michael Jackson dance extravaganza, so I instead enlisted the services of my best friend Robin and my good friend Stew.  Because Stew is a complete and total ham, I asked him if he would play the part of MJ in our little production and he could not have been more excited to do so.  He even hired a choreographer to teach him the dance in its entirety up in San Francisco where he lives and I purchased him a sequined jacket, glove, and bedazzled microphone to complete the look.  Once I had the dance picked out and my team of dancers in place, I had to figure out a way for us to learn the darn thing.  Enter my good friend, Chelsea, who has been a dancer her entire life.  Chelsea readily agreed to not only perform the dance with us at my reception, but to also break it down into easy-to-learn steps and then teach it to me and Robin.  She first taught the steps to us upon Robin’s arrival in Los Angeles from his native Switzerland two weeks prior to the wedding.  And while Chelsea looked fabulous doing the routine, I am sorry to say that Robin and I were quite painful to watch.  😉

But the two of us practiced every single night and I have to say that after two weeks I was incredibly impressed with our skills!!!  We had that dance down and looked pretty darn good performing it, if I do say so myself.  🙂

Stew came down to Pasadena a few days before the wedding so that we could all practice the routine together as a group.  To say that this little endeavor was a labor of love is a gross understatement!  There were countless man hours put into learning the dance and rehearsing it, but I cannot tell you how much fun we all had with the whole thing!  Learning the steps and practicing the dance are some of my fondest memories of the entire wedding.  🙂

And the dance turned out ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, if I do say so myself!!  Sadly though, we do not have a video of it.  🙁  As Murphy’s Law would have it, while almost all of our wedding was video-taped, the camera malfunctioned during our big dance number.  Such a bummer!  Our photographer Rob Greer did get some fabulous photographs of it, though.

Especially of the grand finale, which was my favorite part.  🙂  I cannot tell you how much fun it was to dance the “Jackson 5 Medley” at our reception and how much our guests loved our performance.  If you are thinking of rocking your own wedding reception, I cannot more highly recommend doing so!  It is one of the most fabulous memories of one of the most joyous days of my life!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

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