“I just met the second coming of Michael Jackson,” says Frank Gatson, famed choreographer and Dance Dad to the stars, of meeting Beyonce for the first time in 1997 when she was just 15 years old. And Frank would know—his first major job was working with MJ on the 30-day shoot for Jackson’s iconic “Smooth Criminal” video. Since then, he’s worked with acts such as En Vogue, Usher, Toni Braxton, Brandy, Tyrese, Rihanna, not to mention a young John Corella. For his work, he remains the most nominated choreographer in the history of MTV.
He began his career dancing in the long-running “Up With People” tour, staying with local families in each country in which they performed. Navigating language and cultural barriers helped him to hone his people skills as well as a keen intuition which has allowed him to share—and elevate—his artists’ visions on an almost psychic level.
With each performance, Frank insists, dancers are making history. After all, dancing and music can bring people together like nothing else. This requires that he be unabashedly honest with his artists, even when no one else will be. That honesty has gotten him in trouble, but superstars with the same drive and ambition know he just wants to get it right. And when it’s right, he says, it’s magical.
With the same honesty, he critiques the current state of dance, what this generation is lacking and what needs to change. He reflects on his memories of a segregated American South, racism and homophobia in the dance industry.
With a long and illustrious career, which shows no sign of slowing down any time soon, Frank’s passion for and fascination with dance remains as fierce as ever. He has big plans—hear the musical he wants to resurrect, what American dancers can learn from K-Pop groups, and the five current pop stars he would like to form into a supergroup. When we share our light, he says, we sparkle brighter.
Quotes
- “Some people might think my gift is to dance or to do what I’ve done all my life, but I think my gift is to see.” (5:52 | Frank Gatson)
- “I think musicians, dancers and singers can change the world. It’s the one thing that all people love.” (10:10 | Frank Gatson)
- “You can feel racism, you can feel it when you walk into a room. Especially with my keen people skills. Sometimes, I’ll go to a hotel and the elevator door will open. If I see a woman grab her purse, I don’t get on the elevator. I don’t want to give her that.” (22:20 | Frank Gatson)
- “It was like the little girl came out. Just imagine, I met Beyonce in ‘97. She was 15 years old, and when she shot up from the air in the Soldier’s Field stadium, and said, ‘Is that Frank?!’ I could immediately hear her like a little girl, and I looked up, and I started cheesing like a little clown. I was just so impressed that she saw me in the midst of all those people down there.” (26:21 | Frank Gatson)
- “Beyonce has told me, ‘Frank, your passion is going to get you in trouble.’ And it does. A lot of people don’t hire me because they think I’m trouble. I’m not trouble, I know I’m not trouble. I just want the greatest. I want history to be made. They just don’t get me. Everybody who’s worked with me gets me. If they’ve heard about me, they don’t get me.” (27:26 | Frank Gatson)
- “I have a saying: ‘Share the light; sparkle brighter.” (41:55 | Frank Gatson)
- “Life is too special to let someone else predict what you need to say. You need to be gracious, you need to be nice, but be honest about this thing called ‘show business.’ That’s why there’s so much mediocrity? What has blown your mind lately about show business? Think about it like that. It’s because people are not really in it like they should be in it. They’re sugar coating it.” (48:48 | Frank Gatson)
- “The reason that I was asked to work with Destiny’s Child was because they saw my work with En Vogue. And Beyonce, I equipped her with all four En Vogue girls. The classiness of Terry Ellis, the pageantry of Cindy Herron, the soulfulness and spicy part of Dawn Robinson, the soulful, soulful, driven Maxine Jones. Beyonce’s all four of those girls in one.” (52:35 | Frank Gatson)
- “I was in an agent’s office and I saw Paula Abdul’s number on the desk and I memorized it. I went home and called Paula and said, ‘I’m coming to your audition today, my name is Frank Gatson.’ She was pretty mad, but she hired me.” (1:10:53 | Frank Gatson)
Links
Dance Dad with John Corella on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancedadwithjohncorella/
John on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_corella/
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
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