Did You Know That Paula Abdul Was a Choreographer for Janet Jackson in the Mid-1980s?

“I have so many great memories choreographing and dancing with Janet! ‪She is truly a phenomenal performer!‬” – Paula Abdul

In the early 1980s, Abdul was discovered by the Jacksons, after a few of the band members had watched her while attending a Los Angeles Lakers game. She was signed to do the choreography for the video to their single “Torture.” Abdul recalled feeling intimidated by having to tell the Jacksons how to dance, stating that she was “not quite sure how [she] got through that.”

The success of the choreography in the video led to Abdul’s career as choreographer of music videos, notably Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done for Me Lately,” “Nasty,” “When I Think of You” and “Control” videos. It was also due to the success of the video that Abdul was chosen to be the choreographer for the Jacksons’ Victory tour.

Of her time with Janet Jackson, Abdul says “I’m very grateful, because this was really the big start to my career. When I was introduced to Janet, I was told by A&M Records that Control was going to be an important album for her, and when I started hearing demos, I was really, really excited to work with her. I felt like I had a chance here to really create something big for her. It was so inspiring.

“Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wrote genius music, and Janet had a really important voice in it. You don’t hear ‘Nasty’ and go, ‘Oh, this is a dance jam.’ It was a very different kind of song, kind of like how ‘Straight Up’ was for me: This could define an artist completely, and I wanted to create something that would be signature moves but also define her as being in charge.”

“This video was nerve-wracking for her, because she had never danced with just all guys. But I picked the best in the business, and everything came into place perfectly. I choreographed ‘Nasty’ — this is the craziest thing — in a half hour.

“I shared an apartment with some Laker Girls and there was no floor-length mirror, so I did it in the bathroom. There was no room in this little old apartment, and I choreographed it with a mirror that I could see from my waist up. That’s it. And everything worked out.”