Dance in Film · 1991
Black or White (1991)
John Landis turns Michael Jackson's racial-unity anthem into a global dance relay devised with Vincent Paterson, then lets the uncut Panther Dance break the polished broadcast spectacle open with an angry solo in the street.
Black or White is a 1991 dance film centered on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 3 dance sequences ↓
Where to watch: Free authorized shortened version on Michael Jackson's official YouTube channel; MichaelJackson.com hosts the title, and Apple Music listed the 1991 Michael Jackson's Vision version on 2026-08-08. Availability may vary.
Featured clip
An excerpt — one number from the full work.
The dance sequences in Black or White
3 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Odissi freeway duet
OdissiDanced by Michael Jackson; Yamuna Sangarasivam · Choreography Vincent Paterson
The brief freeway exchange between Jackson and Sangarasivam, selected from thousands of performers.
A compact Indian classical duet places precise Odissi-inflected movement inside the short film's rapid global progression.
Watch this sequence · This sequence is on YouTube as a standalone clip. The opened official YouTube watch page is the shortened version and includes the song's cross-cultural dance section; no edition-specific timestamp is asserted.
Native American, West African, and Russian dance montage
International folk-dance montage (mixed/unspecified)Danced by Michael Jackson · Choreography Vincent Paterson
Rapid cuts among traditional-costume dance groups before the face-morphing finale.
The montage makes dance the film's central visual grammar for moving across cultures while keeping Jackson inside each ensemble.
Watch this sequence · This sequence is on YouTube as a standalone clip. The Library of Congress-hosted study identifies Native American, West African, South Asian, and Russian dancers; the official opened YouTube page is a shortened cut.
Extended Panther Dance
Panther Dance / expressive soloDanced by Michael Jackson
Jackson morphing from a black panther, dancing alone through the night street, then returning to panther form.
The wordless urban solo turns the short film's racial-harmony message into aggressive, physically charged movement and destruction.
Not currently available to stream. The Library of Congress-hosted study describes the complete eleven-minute film and this extended closing passage; the opened official YouTube page is explicitly shortened, so no viewing link is supplied for the Panther Dance.
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