By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
STEPPING out of the lithe-footed shadow of his childhood inspiration Michael Jackson is something of a ‘Neverland’ experience for Georgian-born and Cypriot-raised dancer Leeco Kosmidis.
Speaking at a Berwick café just a short walk from his home, Kosmidis is set to perform in Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson The Immortal show during a kind of homecoming in Melbourne this coming week.
He raves over Jackson’s “amazingness” as a musician, singer, dancer, showman and perfectionist with a prodigious work ethic.
“From three years old I’d watch the TV, I used to copy him – his lean, his moonwalk. That was my inspiration.
“I was dancing by myself when I was three years old just by feeling, whenever I heard music. I was from a musical background: my father was in a band and my mother playing a piano.”
Kosmidis, who speaks four languages, is a truly international performer. For the past two years, Kosmidis has been touring the world with Cirque du Soleil’s 49 international dancers, musicians and acrobats reviving the King of Pop’s signature moves en masse.
He said he had been “faking” Jackson’s moonwalk until he and the other dancers fastidiously workshopped the move as part of the show.
There has been great attention to every detail, all the way down to emulating the way Jackson opened his hand or tilted his head. Jackson’s original musicians and choreographers have worked behind the scenes.
Fans and non-fans will recognise Jackson’s famous leaning motion and his other electric movements in sequences to the tunes of Billie Jean and Black and White.
The show is a spectacular combination of giant props such as a glove sculpture and penny-loafer shoes, and a huge video projection surface larger than a basketball court backed by Jackson’s voice and song.
Kosmidis says the show gives to the fans a little path to Michael Jackson – “to be touched” by his presence.
“Our show is so energetic. It shows the side of Michael Jackson as a rock star.
“I never get bored and sick of the show. Every time you listen to his music you hear something new whether it’s his music, his lyric, his message or his metaphors – that’s why he’s a genius.”
When Jackson died from a pharmaceutical overdose in 2009, a devastated Kosmidis felt he “lost someone that I know”.
Seeing the show brings home the tragedy, Kasey says. “It’s the loss of a legend. It’s a way of saying goodbye to him.”
In his downtime every two months, he rushes back to his wife Kasey and daughter Isabella who live near her parents in Berwick. He enjoys the region’s quiet life, enjoys some Cypriot friends. “My wife and baby are here. Home is where the heart is.
“At the start, I was nearly breaking down on tour. We’d been so close together and my wife was the one holding me up.”
He and Kasey have adapted to long separations during the two-year world tour. “She’s a super wife, super woman – she’s studying, getting high distinctions and taking care of my daughter,” Kosmidis says.
“Who still gets butterflies seeing their partner after 10 years?” Kasey says. In the meantime, she is studying mental health nursing at Chisholm Institute’s Berwick campus.
Kosmidis wants to do a lot more dancing, directing and choreography – and move into other creative realms such as acting.
“You will remember my name for a long time,” he says. “That’s because I chase my dreams. Michael Jackson was a dreamer, he also chased his dreams.
“I’ll knock doors down until one person tells me to come in.”
Kosmidis banged on many doors to land a place in Cirque du Soleil’s talented troupe.
The trained hip-hop dancer’s first breakthrough was winning So You Think You Can Dance in its first season in Greece. It proved a crash-course in learning different styles.
“I then felt you could throw any style at me and I could do it. I tried to think how Michael Jackson would do it – so even when I did a solo I’d watch his videos and imagine how he would do it.”
He then took a risk, travelling to the US with his fledgling family with no job offers and no working visa but a resolute belief that he would succeed.
He took New York dance classes but without a working visa, plenty of doors slammed shut in Los Angeles. “We didn’t really have enough money to go to the States. We had a seven-month baby.”
At the brink of despair, he heard about a coveted audition and place in the Michael Jackson The Immortal show – beating about 2000 other auditioners. “I got goosebumps when I heard about it. From that time I never lost faith I’d get it.
“I was killing the audition, I was nailing every move and I was so focused.”
It was the break he had been dreaming of. “Now I am living my dream.”
Michael Jackson The Immortal is on at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne on 9-13 October. Tickets: cirquedusoleil.com or Ticketek on 132 849.
