It is with immense pride and gratitude that I welcome you to this year's recital.... A celebration of artistry, dedication, and the enduring legacy of one of the greatest entertainers of all time, Michael Jackson. Tonight's performance is more than a showcase of dance; it is a journey through the life, influence, and musical genius of an icon whose impact continues to shape generations.
This past year has been an incredibly difficult one for me, as I experienced the loss of both of my grandparents. Their passing has deeply impacted my heart and my spirit. I would like to take a moment to dedicate this show to them. They were my constant supporters in all my endeavors, especially my dance career. Their love, encouragement, and belief in me continue to guide me, and I carry them with me in everything I do.
Over the past several months, our dancers have poured their hearts into preparing for this moment. They have committed countless hours to rehearsals, pushed through challenges, supported one another, and grown not only as performers, but as individuals. Their discipline, resilience, and passion are evident in every step you will see on this stage. This performance is a testament to their hard work and their unwavering dedication to their craft.
As we reflect on Michael Jackson's life-his innovation, his storytelling, and his ability to move the world through music and dance-we are reminded of the power of the arts to inspire, to unite, and to ignite something meaningful within us all. It is our hope that tonight's performance captures even a glimpse of that magic.
I would like to take a moment to extend my deepest gratitude to those who make this work possible. To my mother and my family, thank you for your constant love, support, and encouragement. Your foundation allows me to continue pouring into others.
To my incredible team of teachers, your commitment, creativity, and care for these dancers does not go unnoticed. You help shape not only strong performers, but confident, disciplined young people.
To the parents and guardians, thank you for trusting us with your children, for your sacrifices, your time, and your unwavering support throughout this process. We could not do this without you.
To my coworkers and supervisors, thank you for your continued support, collaboration, and belief in this program and its vision.
And finally, to our dancers, thank you for showing up, for trusting the process, and for giving your all. You are the heart of this production.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
With gratitude and thanks to the Most High, Talita Jackson
ACT I - The Boy Who Wanted to Shine
Before the world called Michael Jackson a king, he wasjust a boy trying to make senseof love the only way he knew how- by earning it
Hegrewup in a housewheremusicfilledevery corner,wheresilencedidn'tlastlongenough to settle. Practicewasn't something you did; it was something you lived. And somewhere between the harmonies and the corrections, he held onto onequiethope- I want you back, thatfeelingof beingenough the first time.
Whenhefinally stepped onto astage, somethingclicked.The lights came up, the crowdleanedin, and suddenly lifefelt as simple asABC For the first time,joy didn't have to bechased .it met him there. Night after night, hesanglike he was promising the world, I'll be there, even if he wasn't sure who would say it back. From the outside, it looked effortless.
From theoutside, itlookedeffortless. He movedthroughsongs like a boy untouched by pressure, laughing hiswaythrough Rockin' Robin, light and quick, as if childhoodwould lastforever. But it didn't. It rushed past him, turning into somethinglouder, faster - a Teenage Symphony that never slowed down long enough to understand.
There were moments, though, when the noise faded. In those quieter spaces, he searched for connection.... something real, something steady.... the kind of friendship he sang about in Ben. Because even surrounded by people, it's possible to feel alone.
Life kept moving. Cities changed, faces blurred, and he kept going, mile after mile- Twenty-Five Miles at a time - chasing something he couldn't quite name.
On stage, though, everything made sense. That's where he became something more. Notjust a boy, but a presence, precise, electric, alive. He moved like a Dancing Machine, every step exact, every moment controlled. He pushed himself harder, Workin' Day and Night until perfection wasn't a goal anymore.... it was the expectation.
And yet, beneathall that discipline, there was still light. You could hear it when the musicsoftenedwhenyouth slipped back through the cracks.... a Pretty Young Thing still full of wonder, still capableofjoy. It showedin the way he moved, in the way he smiled, in the quiet moments where that light refused to disappear.
But growing up changesthe questions. What once felt simple started to feel complicated. The world watched him constantly but rarely understood him. He began to wonder about connection, about distance, about why everything felt so close and yet so far away, just part of Human Nature.
ACT II - The Man in the Mirror
And fame doesn't stay gentle.
The energy intensified. The world demanded more, and he answered with Jam movement, rhythm, release. But tension still crept in. Conflict followed. So, he said it plainly Beat It, a call for peace in a world that seemed to thrive on confrontation. Still, something darker lingered beneath the surface, something unpredictable, like a Smooth Criminal slipping through the edges of his life.
The noise grew louder. The stories came faster. At some point, he stopped trying to explain and simply drew a line: Leave Me Alone.
And yet, even then, he looked beyond himself.
He saw a world divided and chose to say it didn't have to be that way. That it didn't matter if you were Black or White The message was bigger than him now.
Somewhere along the way, the boy who wanted approval disappeared into the man the world couldn't ignore - though deep down, he was still chasing one quiet truth: Make My Father Proud . But being seen by everyone doesn't mean being understood. The rhythm of his life changed. It grew heavier, sharper, harder to carry. Everything felt louder, like the world itself was pressing in, demanding more.
He tried to push through it, to rise above the chaos, but eventually the weight of it all had to find release. Not just anger, but exhaustion. Not just frustration, but a need to be heard beyond the headlines.
Because beneath everything, the fame, the spectacle, the myth, he was still human.
That realization didn't come all at once. It arrived slowly, in moments of reflection, in questions that didn't have easy answers.
Because he could see what was breaking You could hear it in the way he cried out for the earth, Earth Song - a plea, a lament, a question the world couldn't ignore.
It wasn't performance anymore, it was mourning.
And after that kind of grief silence doesn't come easily. It lingers. It echoes.
So, he searched for distance. Not from the world, but from the weight of it. Not fame. Not noise. Not expectation. Just peace.
A place untouched by everything that had taken so much out of him .... A Place with No Name.
Somewhere he could breathe again. Somewhere the world couldn't reach him.
But even in escape, reality has a way of finding you. Because loss isn't something you can outrun. It waits. And when it returns, it doesn't ask permission.
Loss became something he understood too well. Some lives, some moments, some brilliance Gone Too Soon. And beneath all of it, the past never really left him. There was still a part of him searching for what he missed, trying to explain what couldn't be explained - Childhood. Not as nostalgia, but as something unfinished, something taken before it could fully exist.
ACT II-CONTINUED
He told stories others didn't want to hear. Stories about forgotten lives, about innocence slipping away, Little Susie and so many others like her, unseen and unheard.
At times, it all became too much.
So, he imagined something else. Not fame. Not escape. Justpeace. Aplace with no name.
Noexpectations. Nonoise. Just space tobreathe. And in that stillness, clarity finally came
He began by reaching outward. He wasn'tjust singing anymore, he was calling out, urging something more than awareness- action. Aresponsibility to care, to give, to try, to Heal the World.
But the deeper truth didn't stop there. Because change couldn't live only in intention-it had to begin somewhere real, somewhere immediate. So, he turned inward. The Man in the Mirror.
Change, he realized, doesn't start with the world. It starts with the person standing in front of you. And in that realization, something softened.
Not a grand solution.
Not afinal answer.
Just a quiet understanding - that every voice, every choice, every act of kindness carries further than we think. And maybe that's where it begins. A reminder, gentle butunshakable: We Are the World.
Not as a statement. But as aresponsibility.
Performance Order
I want you back
Anora Davis, Eden Davilar, London Hobson, Marley Turner
ABC
Mila Baker, Clara Banks, Talia Brody, Elliot Comet, Charlotte Hiltz, Ingrid Homan-Brewer, Mila Jackson, Mariyah Lyle, Zoey Sampson,Emma Simon, Grace Simon
I'll Be There
Koi Artis, Rylee Davis, Aareya Parnell, Saige Wiggins, Kenzleigh Wilson
Rocl<in' Robin
Maria Heppes, Nina Scott, Amina Scott, Calla Tan, Asha Wilson, Eliza Woltz
Maria Heppes, Nina Scott, Amina Scott, Calla Tan, Asha Wilson, Eliza Woltz
Creative Movement
Ms. Deja Scott Ballet 1/11
Ms. Challen Wilkes
Hip- Hop 1/11
Ms. l'Kira Athy
Aero II
Ms. Alissa Shea
Hippety Hop
Ms. Talita Jackson
Jazz II
Ms. Elise Briggs
Aero I
Ms. Alissa Shea
CDT Tap
Ms. Challen Wilkes
Ballet/Tap Combo
Mrs. Melinda Merritt
Earth Song
A Place with No Name
Milan Bailey, London Hobson, Kaliyah Beaner-Howcott, Brooklynn McCrae,Carmen Taylor, Marley Turner, Laila Wright
Gone Too Soon
Childhood
Anora Davis, Booker Hurst, Daisy Seay, Zuri Thomas, Amarna White
Little Susie
Heal the World
Elise Alvarado
Man in the Mirror
We Are the World EVERYONE
CDT Lyrical
Ms. Elise Briggs
Jazz I
Ms. l'Kira Athy
CDT Modern
Mr. Rodney Williams
Pre-Ballet II
Mrs. Melinda Merritt
CDT Ballet
Ms. Farron Anderson
Modern
Ms. Elise Briggs
CDT Jazz
Ms. Talita Jackson
Finale
Ms. Talita Jackson
City Dance Theatre
Julian Adams
Charli Alston
Veronica Blunt
Elle Bullock
Nia Callahan
Jordan Drumgole
Ayla Emery
Stacie Guirand
Kelsey Harrington
Vakaylan Harris
Serenity Henley
Samora Johnson
Taylor Jones
Aniya Karriem
Kennedy Loney
Lochlan Nestrick
Jasmine Norrell
Zaria Parker
Sky Philips
Luna Ricasta
Alijah Wilkes
Azadeh Wolfe
Narrator
Shanna Battle
Artistic/ Company Directors
Teachers
Ms. Farron Anderson
Ms. l'kira Athy
Ms. Alissa Shea
Ms. Elise Briggs
Mrs. Melinda Merritt
Mrs. Challen Wilkes
Ms. Deja Scott
Talita Jackson City Dance Program Director/ City Dance Theatre Co- Director
Rodney Williams City Dance Theatre Director
Alvarado, Elise
Artis, Koi
Bailey, Milan
Baker, Mila
Banks, Clara
Beaner-Howcott, Kaliyah
Blackston, Skylar
Brody, Talia
Brown-Athy, Journey
Buck, Dylan
Cartwright, Kaydence
Chandler, Brooklynn
Comet, Elliot
Dark, Kimora
Davilar, Briella
Davilar, Eden
Davis, Anora
Davis, Rylee
Goldsborough, Harmony
Gonzalez, Lara-wren
Gray, Eryn
Greene, Tiana
Heppes, Maria
Hiltz, Charlotte
Homan-Brewer, Ingrid
Hobson, London
Hurst, Booker
Jackson, Mila
Jasper, Jade
Jasper, Janai
Jones, Neah
Lee, Marlo
Lyle, Mariyah
Mathews, Millie
Mccrae, Brooklynn
Melson, Janea
Mills, Raleigh
Naylor, Leeyah
Nestrick, Declan
Nicolas, Vera
Palmer, lyana
Parnell, Aareya
Powell, Charleigh
Pride, Serenity
Robbins, Isaiah
Rooks, Jayde
Sampson, Zoey
Scott, Aria
Scott, Nina
Seay, Daisy
Simon, Emma
Simon, Grace
Smith Amina
Smith, Kourtney
Spell, Trinity
Stinney, Arielle
Stinney, Brianni
Tan, Calla
Taylor, Carmen
Thomas, Ericah
Thomas, Zuri
Turner, Marley
White, Lucy
Wiggins, Saige
Wilson, Asha
Wilson, Kenzleigh
Wilson, Te'Nielle
Woltz, Eliza
Wright, Amarna
Wright, Laila
Epilogue - The Legacy
His life wasn't a straight path. It was movement constant, unpredictable, alive.
He gave the world rhythm, but also reflection. He made people dance, but he also made them think. He turned music into something bigger than sound something that could connect, challenge, and heal all at once.
And through everything, one truth remained.
The boy who wanted to make his father proud never really left He just grew into someone searching for something deeper. Not applause. Not validation. But peace.
Because in the end, after all the music fades and the world grows quiet, the question doesn't disappear. It lingers, soft, steady, and personal: Did he finally Make My Father Proud
Or did he learn that being enough was never something the world could give him?
