From Shweta Warrier’s playful choreography to Team Anartana’s sharp, cinematic homage, this article examines how these worlds collide seamlessly. It also reflects on Jackson’s own engagement with global dance traditions, reinforcing his lasting influence. Ultimately, the piece argues that both Michael Jackson’s music and classical Indian dance endure because of their ability to adapt, evolve, and remain emotionally resonant across time and cultures.
“Aramandi!”, my Bharatnatyam teacher would yell as I struggled to hit the half-sitting posture, the first step in every young dancer’s Bharatnatyam journey. Sweat dribbling down my forehead, my five year old knees hurting, okay I’m making it seem much worse than it was but I was forced to go for classes when I was a kid, and every second felt like torture. With my mother being a trained Bharatnatyam dancer, the thought of her daughter not being as “cultured” as she is, would just be unacceptable. But I tried and it just didn't stick. So we reached a bargain and settled on Kathak. And I learnt it for ten years and gave all the exams and in hindsight now I can say how deep and profound dance’s impact is on someone.
And obviously, you cannot talk about dance without talking about Micheal Jackson. I remember my mother’s Michael Jackson CD and the effect his music had on the house. It was mesmerising to see everybody just leave what they were doing and just bop their heads and move their shoulders around for the beat. Micheal is an emotion and his dance embodied that magic like nothing could.
With the release of Antoine Fuqua’s Michael, Michael Jackson is on our minds again. Not that he ever really left, but the film attempts to dissect and paint a portrait of one of the most influential musical minds of his time, if not ever, whose life was as deeply complicated as it was iconic.
It’s perhaps this very duality that continues to inspire artists across forms and geographies. In her latest tribute, Shweta Warrier brings together two distinct worlds of dance, Bharatanatyam and Jackson’s signature blend of Broadway jazz and hip-hop. Set to MJ’s iconic single The Way You Make Me Feel (and I urge you to also watch his electric performance with Britney Spears), Warrier sets the stage for what can only be described as a joyous Bharatanatyam dance party.
Her choreography is playful and evokes the same sense of magic that MJ’s music does. It seamlessly moves between classical dance movements and Jackson’s trademark gestures, like one hand on his head and the other in the air, or his signature foot-shuffling techniques, which are reflected right at the very beginning of Warrier’s piece.
Similarly, Chennai-based dance troupe Team Anartana’s tribute to the King of Pop with Dangerous hits the nail on the Micheal Jackson fedora wearing head. The camera tilts with the dancers, much like in Jackson’s music videos, moving in sync with them through sharp cuts and turns as they slice through the frame with razor-sharp precision. The final segment of the choreography features the dancers walking in a classical Bharatanatyam style, while reminiscing MJ’s iconic strut, complete with a subtle nod of the head.
Jackson’s music incorporates a lot of staccato in them which in turn would manifest in his distinct pop and lock style of dance. Bharatanatyam as a dance form as well, has a lot of movements that involve isolating body parts like the jutting of the neck or the twisting of the hip to rest onto one leg, which makes the dance form a perfect fit for a Jackson song.
Jackson himself incorporated classical Indian dance forms in his music, with Sri Lankan-American Odissi dancer, Dr. Yamuna Sangarasivam featured in the Black or White music video. The first single for his eight album ‘Dangerous’, Sangarisivam was chosen out of about 3000 dancers who auditioned for the role. The video was as much a cultural statement as it was a musical one. Released in 1991, it pushed boundaries with its ambitious global scope, moving across different geographies, dance traditions, and communities to emphasise a message of racial harmony and unity.
It would not be a hot take to say that Michael Jackson’s music perseveres, and much of that has to do with the noise that surrounded his life. But once you strip all of that away, you find music that has touched people from every corner of the world, something that remains eternally rare. Much like classical dance, which has withstood globalisation, colonisation, and every other civilisational shift so far, this makes the two worlds an easy and natural marriage. And that is where the magic in these tributes lie, this amalgamation of two worlds that is expanding and adapting and keeping their essence alive.
If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:
5 Times Indian Film & Music Took Cues From Michael Jackson
Decolonising The Dance Floor: Discostan & Spoonerism Are Reclaiming Space Through Sound
From India, With Love: How A History Of Migration Connects Flamenco & Bharatnatyam