"...the Pure Funk Dance Crew Are Pure Funky!...They need to be engaged with.....They are exceptionally good dancers...Teaching Pure Funk has been a real pleasure and it's dancers like that who are keeping Michael's legacy alive..."
Jeffrey Daniel, Nov 2009.
Choreographer and Creative Director to Michael Jackson
Jeffrey Daniel was choreographer and personal dance teacher to Michael Jackson and is credited with introducing street dance into Europe through his work with Shalamar. He taught Michael many moves - the most famous of which was the Moon Walk. Jeffrey also choreographed Michael’s Bad and Smooth Criminal videos (in which he also featured) and was creative consultant on the live tours and other videos such as Ghosts. Jeffrey worked with MJ as a friend and mentor for more than 25 years.
The influence of Jeffrey Daniel and the American 'Soul Train' T.V. dancers, is evident today in the moves of Chris Brown, Usher and Justin Timberlake. This new generation of stars were inspired by Michael Jackson. Jackson in turn was inspired by the dancers from 'Soul Train'. He soon met, learned from, and later hired dancers and choreographers from the cult T.V. show. One of those young dancers was Jeffrey Daniel who had first come to fame on the programme before international stardom beckoned with Shalamar - selling 25 million records worldwide with hits such as “A Night to Remember”.
Jeffrey and his peers took a style of dance from the streets and clubs to the mainstream music and media world. The world saw a fusion of Jazz, Popping, Locking, Robotics, Wack, House and Hip Hop merged into effortless sequences. During his career Jeffrey has taught, worked and ranked alongside other friends and dance pioneers such as Casper Geron, Poppin' Pete, Tyrone Proctor, Don Campbell and The Electric Boogaloos.
Jeffrey performed a body popping and locking routine which saw the debut of the moonwalk in the U.K. on 'Top of The Pops' - the year before MJ performed the move on Motown 25. This episode was one of the most watched in the history of Top of the Pops.
UK Dance Master Classes
Each of the two hour classes will include the history and background of the West Coast Contemporary Street Dance style that took Jeffrey from Soul train to Shalamar's world tours and becoming the first Street Dance choreographer ever nominated for an MTV best choreographer Award for his work on Michael Jackson's "Bad" video.
The advanced class is open to higher level dancers and the beginners class will welcome all - aged from 8 to 88 that have aspirations of greatness and who are looking to have fun and learn. The Master Class will be the first of this type Jeffrey has ever taught in the UK. Jeffrey Daniel is in the UK for a limited time only before returning to Japan.
So you are all welcome to come and enjoy a celebration of the West Coast legacy of dance that has influenced the entire industry and generations since the late 1970's until 2009 by Los Angeles Master Pioneer, Jeffrey Daniel.