Michael Jackson’s Choreographer visited Cebu

dhyosa 27 January 2010 Featured 285 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

Travis Payne, Michael Jackson’s choreographer contacted Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and arranged a surprise visit to meet all inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention And Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC). According to Payne, Michael Jackson used to watch the videos of these prisoners during break time from his tour. He was a fan of more than 1,500 Filipino inmates who performed the choreography for his video “Thriller” in 2007 and created a viral hit.

Headlines were posted in every newspaper in Cebu. Payne spent  two hours on Sun., Jan. 17, and Mon., Jan. 18, teaching the dancers the routines from Jackson’s posthumous “This Is It” film.

According to Yahoo News, “The Drill” is the last scene Payne and Jackson worked on together before the pop icon died in June. The clip was released over the weekend, days before the Tues., Jan. 26 release of the “This Is It” DVD.

The CPDRC performance videos of Jackson’s “Thriller,” “Dangerous,” and the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A,” among others, are all well done.

But Payne, who worked with Jackson for more than 10 years, was able to take their performance to new heights. Their rendition of Jackson’s “TheyDon’t Really Care about Us” is comparable to the scene in “This Is It.”

Posted in New York Times, Bryon decided to post videos of the prisoners dancing online to publicize some of the positive changes he implemented at Cebu since joining the staff in 2004.cebu.