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Wade Robson: an innovator at work.

Article Excerpt
Suited up in his high-water pants, white socks, black loafers and fedora, Wade Robson prepared for his first professional gig performing at the Michael Jackson concert in his hometown of Brisbane, Australia. He'd won a dance contest impersonating Jackson earlier that year, and the prize was to meet the King of Pop himself. Impressed with Robson's fluid glides, sharp pops, and agile hips, Jackson asked him to dance in his concert the following night. Stepping into the spotlight during the finale, Robson moved downstage and threw his hat into an audience of thousands of adoring fans. He was just 5 years old.

"The first dancing I ever saw was in the "Thriller" video," says Robson. "I think I was 2 years old and I started trying to do some of the movements. By the time I was 4, I learned the whole thing." After the Jackson concert, Robson joined a local dance company and became something of a specialty act impersonating his idol. Even then, he demonstrated a knack for creating his own movement style. "I didn't want to be choreographed," he says. "I was just freestyling and doing my own thing."

Robson moved to the U.S. with his mother and sister when he was 8 to pursue dance professionally. With the help of his old friend Jackson, who'd cast Robson in his "Black or White" and "Jam" music videos, he landed an agent and quickly made waves in the Los Angeles dance scene. He also began serious training with some of the West Coast's legendary funk originators. Under the tutelage...

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