Music

How Michael Jackson, James Brown, and Bruce Lee Inspired a Dazzling Dance Sequence in The Get Down

A video breakdown, with a little help from the Netflix series’ choreographers.

The Get Down, Netflix’s glittery, ambitious new musical series spearheaded by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, follows a fictional group of black and brown kids living in the Bronx in 1977 as disco hits its peak and hip-hop plants its roots in the underground. A highlight of the show is Rich + Tone Talauega’s eye-catching choreography, which samples its moves from a vast array of ’70s touchstones to convey the essence of each individual character. The brothers got their big break as teenagers when they were discovered by Michael Jackson’s choreographer, and have since worked with everyone from the King of Pop himself to Madonna, J. Lo, and Missy Elliott.

We recently visited the set of The Get Down to speak with the Talauegas about their vision for the series, and they answered our questions by showing off a few moves. Here, they break down the inspirations behind the show’s first big dance number as performed by the flamboyant dance-floor lothario Cadillac (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).