Kenny Ortega shares the ‘biggest thing’ he learned from Michael Jackson

Kenny Ortega was a longtime collaborator of the late Michael Jackson. Now, he’s sharing the most important lesson the King of Pop taught him before his death.

Sitting down with the Chicks in the Office podcast, the legendary choreographer said that the late singer encouraged him to make his sets feel like safe spaces for creative exploration.

“He would always start by saying, ‘Kenny, we can’t let fear into the room. Fear only gets in the way of creativity. We can’t let fear into the room,'” Ortega said. “And he was aware of it. He watched for it.”

The High School Musical director said that Jackson would stop tour rehearsals if he saw an executive or accountant in the venue.

“He didn’t want the money people in the room going, ‘You can’t do that. We can’t afford that. We can’t,'” Ortega continued. “At the end of the day, you know, we had to balance a budget. He didn’t really like to do that very much, but he was a creative genius and he just didn’t want anything in the space.”

Ortega directed Michael Jackson’s This Is It, a posthumous documentary giving fans a look at MJ’s final show preparations before his death. He also worked on three of the singer’s prior tours, including the Dangerous World Tour, HIStory World Tour, and Michael Jackson & Friends.

Jackson died on June 25, 2009 from a cardiac arrest caused by an overdose of propofol. His personal doctor Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 for giving him a lethal dose of the drug. Ortega testified at Murray’s trial, saying the artist was sick during his final days.

When Ortega moved onto his Disney Channel projects, he took Jackson’s spirit of creative collaboration with him. He said his style of directing involved asking the kids for their own input and allowing them to try new things, which gave them a sense of autonomy they hadn’t experienced before.

“I could create an environment for them that enabled them to play and be kids and to have fun and to use their voices,” Ortega said.

Listen to the full episode of Chicks in the Office with Kenny Ortega below.