The following artwork is an 11″ x 14″ drawing and painting of a fedora hat, created with colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, pens, watercolors, and paint pens on paper.

The fedora was often worn by Michael Jackson (b. 29 August 1958, – d. 25 June 2009) during stage performances and public appearances. The article of clothing became nearly synonymous with his image along with other accessories such as a single white glove, white socks with black loafers, and mirrored aviator sun glasses.

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When I was a junior in high school, I had an assignment in Speech class to create a performance piece. I chose to lip sync to a Michael Jackson song for 60 seconds. It went over well, so my teacher asked if I would perform at the Homecoming Pep Fest that week.

I said surrre.

But I wanted to do more than stand up and lip sync for 60 seconds, so I secretly put together an entire dance routine and mixed a few songs together, (Scream and the remix Shout).

I was scared to go on stage in front of all of my high school peers, anticipating humiliation and ostracism, hoping for validation and acceptance. Then my name was called, and as soon as my feet hit the floor my brain turned off amidst a flood of adrenaline. I entered fight or flight mode, forgot the routine, and started moving on instinct. It was a rush that left me with little memory of the actual performance, and I had to ask a friend backstage what happened.

I was subsequently floored by the reaction to my attempt at imitating Michael Jackson. The persona he created invites a crowd to go wild!

“Sophomore Michael Edens dancing like Michael Jackson in 1996 for the Homecoming Pep Fest at Lourdes High School in Rochester MN.”

The performance was fun. I still enjoy dancing almost every day, and am currently fascinated by liquid dancing and popping. There may even be more recent dance videos to follow.

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