Michael with Mekia Cox rehearsing ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ for Michael’s TII concert. Mekia remembers ~ Mekia Cox knew it was special when she was was chosen out of a field of 500 auditioners to be a dancer for Michael Jackson’s THIS IS IT concerts in London. As it turned out, the experience of working with the King of Pop will be unforgettable for reasons that Mekia could never have imagined when she was selected in the Spring of 2009. The 1999 Dr. Phillips grad participated in the final rehearsals of Michael’s life, a fact that is still hard for her to comprehend.

She keeps a red rubber ID band on her wrist as a reminder of an experience that went by so quickly that it seemed like a dream. “It feels like it didn’t happen” she says. “Then, you look at your wrist and realize, ‘I was a part of this, a part of something really special.’.

At the Grand Opening of This Is It, Mekia said “What can I say about Michael? What can you not say? He was amazing. Everything that you think he is, he was that much more. He was the kindest, sweetest soul you could ever meet. He would walk in the room and it would be ‘There he is’…It’s like the clouds would part, light would come down with music. He always looked out for us, he used to say, ‘Guys, make sure you don’t go surfing or skydiving, cause I’m gonna have you for the next three years. As Michael said, ‘It’s nice to be able to get up and say ‘I’m going to work!’” To finish off, Mekia said it was a “magical time”

What’s it like rehearsing with him? I was really excited to go to work every single day. The only day we didn’t work was Sunday. At the beginning, we worked during the day, then the second month we worked at night. He was a director. He’s an artist who knows exactly what he wants and knows how to tell you what he wants in the most loving kind way. All you can do is respect what he says and do exactly what he says.

What’s your favorite part of the film? ‘The Way You Make Me Feel.’ I look at it and it’s, like, is that really me? Am I on stage with Michael Jackson? It’s a dream. It’s surreal for all of us.