Michael Peters
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Michael Peters (August 6, 1948 - August 21, 1994) was an American choreographer. He was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in New York City, and died in Los Angeles, California from complications of AIDS.
He also did choreography for Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby". He went on to stage other memorable dance sequences for music videos, including Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" (which he has a brief cameo in), Lionel Richie's "Hello" (which he also has a brief cameo in as the dance instructor of Lionel Richie's blind love interest), and Michael Jackson's "Beat It". In this video directed by Bob Guraldi, which is vaguely reminiscent of "West Side Story", Peters co-stars as one of two gang leaders who prepare for a dramatic showdown/knifefight which is averted at the last moment by Jackson. Peters is dressed all in white, and wears sunglasses during the piece.
Peters' best known choreography (which was contributed to by Jackson) was that for the fifteen-minute video-opus "Thriller", directed by John Landis. A testament to the strength of these two collaborations is that more than a decade later, Jackson's stage shows still contained large elements of Peters' original footwork.
He danced with Talley Beatty, Alvin Ailey, Bernice Johnson, and Fred Benjamin, and worked with Michael Bennett. Bennett and Peters shared a 1982 Tony Award for Best Choreography for their work on the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. In 1985 he directed and choreographed the Ellie Greenwich jukebox musical Leader of the Pack.
Fred Astaire gave Michael Peters a personal award as either "The Greatest Living Dancer" or "The Greatest Living Choreographer".
At the time of his death, he was advocating for a choreography Oscar.
