Dancing For Michael Jackson And The Power Of Presence (Part 2)

In this episode, I reflect on my time dancing for Michael Jackson—a dream I never could have imagined, and the heartbreak that followed.

What stayed with me most wasn’t just the opportunity, but the energy in the room: support, joy, and generosity, even in a space where competition could have taken over. It was a reflection of who Michael was and how he led.

I share one of my favorite memories—a fleeting moment during “Human Nature” that felt like time stood still, and taught me something I’ll never forget: we all have the power to make someone feel seen.

At its core, this episode is about presence. About how quickly life can change, and why being fully in it matters more than we think. Wherever you are on your journey, this is your reminder to be here for it.

Thank you so much for being here. If you feel called to, please follow Essence Embodied, share the show with someone who needs it, and leave a rating or review so more listeners can discover these conversations. 

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I'd like to say a massive thank you to my editor and dear friend, Nikki Dalonzo, for supporting me on this journey! 

Transcript

Part Two Setup And Purpose

Tyne Stecklein 0:00

Welcome back to Essence Embodied by Tyne Stecklein, a storytelling style podcast where I share moments from my career, but more importantly, the lessons that I learned from them in case they may help you on your path as well. This is part two, continued from last week, of my experience dancing for Michael Jackson and what I learned. If you haven't heard part one, you should jump back, listen to that now, and then come back here and join me. So, as you already know, I was one of two females that had the honor of dancing for Michael Jackson before he passed away. I shared about my audition experience in part one, but I'm gonna elaborate more on that today because I want to leave you with a couple of my favorite memories from the experience. And then, as I said, some of the biggest takeaways that are life lessons that I apply to my daily life now. As we know, Michael sadly passed away before we were able to do our show at the O2 Arena in London. And it was pretty wild how I found out. So I'm gonna share that with you. I was at rehearsal with the other dancers waiting for Michael to arrive that day. And my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, was such a sweetheart that he took a job over in London so that when I would arrive there with Michael, he would be there waiting for me. And I got a call from him while I was at rehearsal waiting for Michael to get there. He was watching BBC and they were talking about Michael Jackson's death. He calls me and asks, Are you okay? And I had no idea what he was referring to. And I said, I'm absolutely fine. I'm at rehearsal waiting for Michael to get here. And I brushed it off and hung up the phone. I shared with a couple of my friends dancing with me that I had this very bizarre conversation with Corey. And it wasn't even 10 minutes later that Kenny Ortega came in and had to share the news with us that Michael had indeed passed away. And it was so bizarre that my boyfriend, who was across the world, found this out before I did, and I was dancing for Michael. We had been on stage with Michael rehearsing until midnight, I believe, around midnight, the night before. So as you can imagine, this news was absolutely shocking and devastating as it was to the world. Something really beautiful is that the dancers and I, as well as the whole choreography team, stayed at the venue the rest of the afternoon and evening to just be a support system to one another. I was really young, all of the dancers were very young, and a lot of us hadn't experienced a lot of loss yet in our life, and honestly, I didn't know how to process grief. The whole thing left me feeling very lost, very confused as a person, also very confused with what to do with my career, what the next steps were, what could possibly compare to dancing for Michael Jackson. They made a film from our rehearsal footage called This Is It, and the dancers were invited to the red carpet premiere. This was my first red carpet premiere. However, as you can imagine, it was very bittersweet because the whole thing just felt really tragic. But I did get to go watch the film. I brought my boyfriend with me, and I remember just watching the screen, looking up there, and being able to relive some really incredible moments that we had had. One of the first ones that I want to share with you was about the audition process and how even though this was a competitive space, because every dancer is fighting for not only a job that's a very well-paying job, but a dream job, like a dancer's dream. Like it doesn't, it doesn't go beyond booking this opportunity, right? But instead of there being attention and a competitiveness in the venue, it was the most supportive, loving, electric energy that I have ever experienced in any space. The dancers were so supportive of one another. When we were not on the stage, we would sit in the venue in the audience. We were at the Nokia Theater, as I've already shared in the first episode. We would sit and watch one another and give them all of our passion, all of our joy for this art form that we all collectively loved so much. And I think we have Michael to thank for that. And that is a really massive takeaway for me getting to work with him is the example that he left for artist of how much he cared about his craft, about every aspect. If you watch this is it, you can see how his hands are in everything. He cared about every detail of that production so deeply and of his craft so deeply. And that is such a valuable thing for any artist, no matter what you do, dance, act, if you're a musician, to really take to heart of when we care to that extent, amazing things are going to happen with our art. It's going to really blossom. And to be able to witness this shared passion amongst the dancers auditioning was something that I will always remember and something that I remind myself, and I remind dance spaces, convention rooms, we have the ability to support one another that way. It doesn't matter if there are people in the room you don't know from other studios or you know, other people up for the same thing you want. If you have a shared passion for the thing that you're going for, we can just celebrate in that. Because as we talk about a lot on this show, the opportunities that are meant for us are not going to pass us by. And I think there's something about that love and support that also makes you perform better as an artist as well. I was also able to reflect on probably my favorite memory that I have getting to work for him while I was watching the film at the premiere. We were doing a full run through of the show because we were only nine days away from going to London to start to put the show up there. And so we were doing a run through, Michael was there, we were on stage, and the dancers were backstage or on the sides, kind of getting ready for our next moment on the stage. And Michael was on stage performing human nature. And I just wanted to watch. I just wanted to watch and witness. So I crept around to the side of the stage, and you know, I was kind of sneakily watching, just in awe of the space, of the experience, of the fact that I was a part of it. Michael sings the line, see that girl. And he's pointing at me. He's on stage, I'm over here on the side watching, and he points at me. And then he sings, I know she's watching. And I swear time stopped. And I just understood the magnitude of the moment, of the experience. And I think what Michael did for me in that moment was made me feel noticed. He made me feel seen. And of course, this is the biggest pop icon of all time, acknowledging me. And don't get me wrong, it was incredible. But one thing I take away from that now is the idea that we don't have to be a pop icon to make another human feel seen, to make them feel acknowledged. We all want to be seen. That is human nature. And whether it's someone in your immediate circle, your spouse, your sister, your best friend that needs acknowledgement, or a stranger, someone in service, bagging your groceries. When I think about that and how just acknowledging someone can change their whole day, can be really impactful. It's made me want to be a person that does that because, as we know, giving fills our cup so much. And when we acknowledge someone and we see that, we see them light up because of that, it makes us light up as well. So one of the things I took away from Michael was just to be someone who acknowledges people, who makes them feel seen. The other incredibly important life lesson that I learned from this experience, that I only learned recently once I had some time away from it and some perspective was the power of presence. Because as you can imagine, I was living a dream life. It was a dream. And in the blink of an eye, it was gone. If we are not soaking up the moments as they're happening, we're missing out. We're missing out on so much of life. Booking the job was the next big thing. But then the next big thing was, well, I just can't wait till we're on stage in London. Until you feel that audience, until you feel that energy as a performer, which I would have loved to experience. But if my mind is so far down the line at the next thing, am I really soaking up everything that's happening right now in front of me? And there's a scene in this is it. When I watch it now as an adult, I can realize this one moment where I'm like, I look tired. And I remember thinking, sometimes I was tired. We were dancing really hard, really full out. Physically it makes sense to be tired. Had late nights at rehearsal. I had very little responsibility. I was in my early 20s, I had no children, I just had to show up to work and do a great job. And I did. I was doing that. But what did I have to be tired for? Actually, absolutely nothing. But I didn't realize the ability to feel tired and also inspired, and how so quickly inspiration can actually take place of the tired. I actually have a whole episode about this, about how we can help our mind make the most of our moments and our days. And I didn't have this tool in my early 20s yet. And don't get me wrong, I was so grateful. I was so excited. I was so passionate, and I was present. Those moments where Michael was there, Michael was in that room, where we were learning choreography from Travis Payne and Stacey Walker and Tony Testa and Kenny Ortegues telling us the vision. I was definitely present. But it's in the in-between where it's easy to just be waiting for the next exciting thing. And the next exciting thing doesn't always come. The next check on the box isn't what we thought it would be or how it would feel. And it doesn't really matter whether you are working your dream job right now or you're just waiting to graduate high school so that you can start your life and then get your dream career. Or you can meet the partner that's gonna make you feel good. It doesn't matter what part of our path we're on. The point is that if we're not present for it, it's going to change, it's going to be different, it might even be gone. So this is just a reminder for myself as much as you to say, let's make the most of all of it. Let's make the most of every day. Let's be present for the really highs, for the really lows, and even for the in-between. I think presence is the greatest gift that we can give ourselves. And it's actually my biggest life lesson that I still have yet to learn because there have been moments in the recent years where I realize that I'm not present and I've missed something. My newborn's not a newborn, which doesn't mean I'm not soaking her up, but like, oh, it's gone. You hear parents say all the time, enjoy it, enjoy it when they're little, it goes so fast. And it does go fast because time is fleeting. Time is a thief and it and it moves quickly. But that's why we want to be in it. We want to be where we are, who we are, and experience it fully. And to kind of connect these two points, I think that the more present we are, the more connected we can be, and the more we have to give. The more we have to give to see and notice someone else, like we talked about, and to even give ourselves. Because we are in the here, we are in the now, which is all we have. Getting to dance for Michael Jackson was the greatest honor. And as I shared in the first episode, when I auditioned, I didn't question who I was, I was me. And booking an opportunity like that being me, little me who loves bold, bright things, and a little girl who dreamed of dancing on a stage for a living, it is still surreal to this day. And I'm grateful for the lessons that I learned to be someone who makes other people feel valued and to be present for all of it. Because this podcast is a place of self-reflection for myself as well. If you want, you could spend time reflecting on a life lesson that you are still working through. Presence is one of mine. If there's something that you feel keeps tapping you on the shoulder every so often, every couple of years, then there's just more work that we can do. And I think that's the work of being a human. I think that's the growth. I think it's the beauty. And the more we acknowledge it, the better we can do at it. Thank you for being with me today and sharing in my memories that I have of getting to dance for MJ. I have an exciting episode coming up for you next week where I will be talking to one of my fellow dancers from This Is It. So be sure to tune into that one. And if you are enjoying the show, it would mean a lot to me if you left a comment, a review, a five star rating. I'm really passionate about this podcast and these conversations to help spread the word would mean so much. This is Essence Embodied by Tyne Stecklein.