Man with Pocatello roots reflects on his time with the King of Pop

POCATELLO — The crowd roared as Mic Thompson danced to the rhythm of “Dangerous“. He was dancing right behind the King of Pop, moving to his lead and transferring his energy into his dance.

He was dressed in a black suit, just like all of the other backup dancers, wearing a fedora and shiny red gloves. The king was dressed the same, only without the gloves.

It was 1995, and Thompson was at the MTV Video Music Awards performing as a backup dancer for Michael Jackson. The dance they performed was a practiced and well-oiled routine.

“I was feeling his energy. I was his shadow,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s years of training and experience in dance had prepared him for this performance.

This story started when Thompson was a kid, practicing dance. And 28 years later, it still hasn’t ended.

‘A wonder world of dance’

Mic Thompson was born in Modesto, California, in 1965 to Delwin and Roberta Thompson. He was the youngest of five kids. While the children lived with their mother in Modesto, Delwin lived in Pocatello, managing the Bannock Hotel. When Thompson was 5, his family moved to the Gate City to be with his father.

Delwin was born and raised in Pocatello. Thompson said a lot of older people around town might know his father.

“My dad has roots here,” Thompson said.

But living in Pocatello didn’t work out for the Thompsons. Delwin wasn’t making as much money as he wanted. When he got the opportunity to work as a salesman, the Thompsons moved back to Modesto.

When Thompson turned 10, he decided to start learning how to dance at a studio called Dance City. It was a unique opportunity. At Dance City, he learned both ballroom and disco dancing.

“It was a wonder world of dance,” Thompson said.

After only five years, Thompson became the United States Junior Ballroom Latin Champion along with his dance partner.

But soon after this, punk rock was in, and disco was out. With that, Dance City closed its doors.

After his “wonder world of dance” was gone, Thompson didn’t know what direction to go or what to do with his talent.

“Now what am I going to do?” he wondered.

Before Thompson danced for Jackson

After Dance City closed, Thompson found work as a show boy dancer in Las Vegas at only sixteen, but soon his career would take him back to Idaho.

A friend of a friend contacted Thompson to ask him if he would come to what was then Ricks College (now Brigham Young University-Idaho) to do choreography work for the Showtime dance company.

He took them up on the offer, ended his contract and moved to Rexburg. Thompson choreographed a Christmas show and a spring show for the company without even being a student.

Still in his late teens, Thompson began to make video resumes for himself. He submitted one to the Academy Awards because he couldn’t go to auditions. The Academy Awards were the biggest dance production show of the year at the time, according to Thompson.

Thompson said that when he came in, all of these other well-known dancers looked at him and wondered, “Who is this guy?”

LaVelle Smith was one of those dancers.

Thompson and Smith became best friends and eventually moved in together. At this time, Smith became a backup dancer for Michael Jackson.

Thompson was 27 when Smith started doing choreography for Jackson. Smith wanted Thompson to to audition to become a backup dancer and told him that he would have to be the best one because everyone would think he just got the job because they were friends.

Thompson wasn’t totally sure how to dance in Jackson’s style, but he went to his audition in 1993 and was hired to join the team.

Now the time had come for Thompson to prove himself.

His music and his soul

Thompson had been dancing for Michael Jackson for two years as he worked to show the everyone that he had what it took to dance for the King of Pop.

After two years of rehearsals, Jackson put Thompson in as his shadow, meaning that he was “locked in” with Jackson.

“I was in my own world with Michael,” Thompson said.

Thompson loved Jackson’s music, and he thought that Jackson put himself into his songs.

“His soul came from his music,” Thompson said.

Thompson said that when he danced with Jackson, he had to put himself in another headspace to focus on his energy.

Jackson, Thompson and the other backup dancers practiced hard at rehearsals, where there wasn’t time to mess around.

“He demanded everybody just to be on it. When you’re at rehearsal, no one’s goofing around,” Thompson said.

Thompson said that he could also always feel the energy of the crowd watching them.

“People have viewed him as a person to look up to and admire,” Thompson said.

But nothing lasts forever, and eventually Thompson and the rest of the backup dancers were considered too old to continue performing with him. Thompson didn’t think that Jackson’s heart was in it after that.

Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at 50 years old.

‘The Ultimate Thriller’

Thompson stood backstage as he watched a Michael Jackson look-alike and his backup dancers move to the beat of Jackson’s music like he had all those years ago.

This was “The Ultimate Thriller,” a currently running tribute show to Michael Jackson that Thompson choreographs. The team that puts the show on were people that Jackson had worked most closely with.

As Thompson watched the show and heard the roar of the crowd, he reflected on his career before this and what led him to this point. If he hadn’t taken the chances that he had, he might not have even become a backup dancer for Jackson.

And he has often returned to his dad’s Pocatello roots, and still has family who live there. This year, Thompson (who was one of the original dancers) choreographed a production of Newsies for the Palace Theatre.

Thompson is still finding work in dancing. He does motion capture dance work for Disney to create their World of Color performance.

As Thompson watched The Ultimate Thriller, he hoped that Jackson would appreciate the tribute to his music and career that his closest advisors, technicians, choreographers and musicians have put to together.

And as Thompson watched the show, he knew that his story was still not over.