by Trudy Tuttle

Created on: July 12, 2009   Last Updated: July 13, 2009

Elvis and Rock 'n Roll are inseparable. He came on the scene with body and soul. Music was no longer lovely tunes, thoughtful prose and a ballroom rhythm.

Ballroom dancing was taught in many public schools back then. Parents would enroll their kids in dance lessons. Rock 'n Roll took the punch of the WWII jitterbug and spread it around to all dancing. When you needed to rest from too much jive you blew everyone away with your waltz or rumba. Presley created a necessary place for the waltz, giving it status.

The American Bandstand audience knew a 10 when they heard it because "It's great to dance to." You could be the next Marlon Brando, but if you didn't dance, you were zilch at the Record Hops. And if the wallflower could dance! Well, what can I say.

Elvis was also a voice. He could grow fat, miss events, whatever he wanted. But what a voice! From the first note to the last, he held you captive. The seats were sold out and nobody was disappointed. When he spoke, you had to pause and listen. The humor was always a surprise sparkling through.

Elvis was a gentleman. He respected his elders, including Sinatra and Ed Sullivan. Presley held the door open for the Calypso Heatwaves, the Little Richard's, the Duane Eddy's, all instruments, all cultures. Mowtown became a whole way of walking, talking, dancing and 'their own sound'. There was room at the top for everyone. Every kind of music was hot, from Johnny Cash to Robert Goulet. Jail House Rock became a staged dance production. Broadway had the Jets dancing down the West Side. The contagion was everywhere. Today has evolved into unthought of directions but it's still Rock 'n Roll.

The stage performances of Presley, Little Richard and especially Jackie Wilson were starting to bring about a separation from 'partner touching partner' dancing. Ballroom could no longer contain 'swing' and it's offspring.

Michael Jackson took the new video technology and turned it into a full production. There's hardly a dance step today that he didn't invent. No singer or group can show up on stage with just a stool and microphone. His grunts, screams, hiccups were like a new music. His choreography couldn't be matched. Everything about each production came from outside the box. He didn't open up a genre like Presley did. He became a whole new ball game. Every extension from his peers and the next generations couldn't compare to the source.

Michael Jackson was a genius choreographer who took the amateur forever out of the music scene. Whole new dance cultures are coming out of this, expanding daily in their greatness. He did more for dancing than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But Jackson will always be the Pop dance genius, above all the rest. He stands alone.

Elvis Presley opened global avenues, sharing the stage with an eclectic and impressive list of people. No one will ever hear any music again without feeling its depth, its source and potential from head to toe and then some. Presley established an Era.

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