Meet the Brothers Who Choreographed Michael Jackson & Madonna

Welcome to Renegades, Gold House’s weekly editorial series spotlighting Asian Pacific luminaries defying stereotypes and paving their own path forward. This week, we sit down with choreographers Rich + Tone Talauega!

Madonna. Usher. Gwen Stefani. Michael Jackson. Over their illustrious career, Rich + Tone, two brothers from the Bay Area, have dedicated their lives to the art of movement and dance, infusing culture and history into every piece of choreography. From staging stadium tours with headlining artists to working with some of the biggest brands on the planet, the duo have cemented themselves as fixtures in the dance community. Their latest project Michael, the 2026 Lionsgate biopic, brings them back to their roots, chronicling the King of Pop through his iconic moves.

We ask all our Renegades: What did you want to be when you were growing up and how does that compare to what you do now?

Rich: Growing up I wanted to be a professional American Football player. It sort of differs from what I am today but is still in the area of movement. I think there’s a synergy between sports and the arts. Both have to do with working hard, rhythm, and discipline.

Tone: Our first love was sports, primarily football. The competitive nature, team building, mentorship, work ethic and building character were the things we found very similar to being a performer / choreographer. Being creative and breaking people down and building them back up to perform at a higher level. The comparison is very much the same in our minds.

You’ve been working with legendary artists since you were teenagers – from Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Usher, and more. How did those early career experiences expand your understanding about performance, movement, and storytelling?

RICH: Those past experiences played a huge part. Each artist we worked for had a different set of rules we followed. The music played a huge role in deciphering how to move to it. It opened up different ways of telling a story. Movement is so powerful in that way because we don’t use words, we use our bodies. And the experience of working with so many artists, and in some cases, not having the luxury of taking our time, really sharpened our way of thinking and creating at a fast pace. It’s a blessing to have that power now.

TONE: The object is to always be a student in every chance you get to work with incredible talent. You learn and then apply what you’ve learned. We found that it works to be familiar with their personality, what makes them tick, before you create movement and shape any performance. It’s basic psychology. Storytelling comes from understanding who you’re creating for, or “what is the want,” in a scene from a script. Movement and performance will follow. A lot of this knowledge comes from trial and error from our early years in show business.

As brothers, you’ve spent a majority of your lives working and creating together. What has your partnership taught you that only siblings would understand? And after all these years, do you still find ways to surprise each other?

RICH: Working with each other so long has taught a high moral code and purpose. Aside from that is patience and cognitive listening. This all has equated to a superpower of telepathy between us. I think the blood also plays a part in that. Both our parents have passed on and we hold them so dear in our heart. There’s a lot of honor we lean on to make them happy still.

Working this long together brings many surprises. I think those surprises come with life experience and how being in the moment plays a factor. I love seeing my brother in his moment. It inspires my approach and vice versa. Also, the music is the key to always being fresh and new with ideas and surprises!

TONE: We think our sibling partnership has taught us to have patience with each other, learn how to read the room and respect each other’s space. The moments where we do surprise each other usually is during the creative process. You get to see where we as individuals (not as a duo) have been spending our time researching and doing the homework. When we work in tandem, the project levels up because of the time away from each other, which becomes positive in most cases.

Dance is such a significant component of Samoan culture. How has that part of your identity influenced your work? Are there elements of traditional dance that consciously or subconsciously find their way into your choreography?

RICH: Our Samoan culture is quite significant in our lives. Song and dance is part of a tradition in Samoan culture that has been passed down from generations. It’s in our blood and we bring so much of our culture to what we do today in terms of attitude, creativity, and authenticity. In some gigs we’ve literally patterned some movements from traditional dance into choreography for pop culture. It’s a blessing to honor our culture in what we do.

TONE: Our Samoan culture has been a huge influence in our work since the beginning. We try to tap into our primal instincts first; a lot of that comes from our family and cultural upbringing and traditions. It’s about capturing a feeling before you can structure what you’re creating. We think it’s more subconscious than conscious where our traditional Samoan roots come into our work. The key is you never want to overthink what you’re doing. You feel the Samoan influences more than you see it. I’m very blessed to have a family that injected the importance of our Samoan roots.

It took about 4 years to develop Michael. What did the preparation process look like for a project of this grandeur and scale? How did you balance honoring Michael’s original choreography with bringing your own creative interpretation and style to screen?

RICH: The training process for Michael was detailed and hard. To dance like Michael Jackson you had to understand what he consumed and was inspired by as a child up to becoming the King of Pop. We created a training regimen that encapsulated movements from the late 60s-90s of trendy dances. We then mixed that all in with studying the greats like James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Wilson, and Fred Astaire. We balanced Michael’s original choreography along with creative interpretation with honor. We stayed true to his style, broke it down into a syllabus with terminology so we were able to format and teach his dance style. Aside from all of that, it was to honor the choreographers he worked with throughout the years. It was hard and arduous but seeing how Jaafar stepped up and delivered is the payoff we all needed to see. All the hard work paid off in the end!

TONE: We asked the question to ourselves: how do we get 40 years of American dance history in a short amount of time into one person? Our preparation was to first understand who we’re working with. It’s probably the most important ingredient because it will help guide what kind of program we build for the next couple of years.

We needed to challenge Jaafar to show us how much pressure he could handle, so “Billie Jean” became our way in. Through this process we realized he needed more of the 1970s foundation of movement in his body, so we rehearsed to 70s funk music everyday and got a ballet teacher to understand balance and lines.

You have the iconic “Thriller”, “Billie Jean”, “Beat It” and more so you honor the original by performing those numbers move for move, down to the details and explain the intention and meaning behind it. Where our creative interpretation comes through is talking with the lead actor about the choices he makes when it comes to nuances, hand gestures, and footwork.

It’s very slight, but very important, when it comes to MJ’s style. We are not in the business of doing impersonations. MJ has performed these classics a thousand times and made different choices every single performance. We knew there was space to do Jaafar’s own version while at the same time honoring the original.

Having worked with Michael during his lifetime, what emotions surfaced while collaborating with Jaafar to recreate fragments of his life? When scenes carry both spectacle and emotional weight – like the Pepsi commercial sequence – how do you ensure dance captures the heart of these moments?

RICH: I had nightmares! Working on a film about the King of Pop and we’re in charge of the dance which is a huge element of MJ came with so much anxiety, second guessing, and sleepless nights. There were so many emotional moments on set and the Pepsi commercial was definitely one because that incident changed the trajectory for MJ moving forward. Dance is a visceral language you understand without words. We just had to honor that, and it takes care of itself.

TONE: Sharing a lot of stories from our perspective of our time working with MJ really connected with Jaafar and you could see it on his face. The energy Michael had on stage was unmatched and explaining to Jaafar that if we could get close to that, we’ve achieved our goal.

It was important to us that Jaafar understood that dance can be used to cope with the pressures of family, relationships, and struggles. We wanted him to play the Pepsi scene in a very honest way. MJ would never want to let his fans or family down so we asked him to perform the moves as if on a live tour so the love of performing really comes through and it allowed his instincts as an actor take over.

There are longtime fans of Michael Jackson and those who are being introduced to him for the first time now. What was it like touring Michael around the world and sharing it with audiences across cultures and generations? Is there a moment from the press tour that stood out to you and revealed unique ways people connect with his legacy today?

RICH: It was literally living a dream dancing for Michael, and traveling the world, to eventually choreographing his film. There is nothing that comes close to that. Seeing a new generation of fans today while on the press tour is surreal and one commonality is still the dance. I have to pinch myself when seeing the world moonwalk everywhere we go to promote the film. It doesn’t matter where we are – Berlin to LA to Japan – his language of dance unites us all.

TONE: Touring with MJ was an incredible experience. If that was our last job ever, we would have been satisfied. To witness his fans sing the songs, dance, and be a part of spreading the message of love, peace and caring for humanity helped us understand that we should do more to make change and doing it together is more powerful. MJ was so far ahead in being aware of his superpower and educating the world through music and dance.

During the press tour, I think what really stood out was how the power of music and dance has this certain effect on people that no other art form does. No matter what race or age, the youth will always gravitate toward music and dance first. It truly is the universal language of the world which makes his legacy so timeless.

As you look ahead, is there a dream collaborator or project you’ d love to work on? What creative endeavors are you most excited to explore as Lionsgate continues the story?

RICH: I’m looking to get behind the camera more and tell stories through directing and producing. Theatre is something we’ve been doing and we had the honor of working on the Tony award-winning MJ the Musical so I hope to do more in that space too. We’re part of the creative team behind a Muhammad Ali musical, so we have things cooking.

TONE: The 2028 LA Olympics would be cool to work on. That’s the only thing we haven’t done and we think we can bring something very special and unique to it.

Favorite Book:

RICH: King Warrior Magician Lover by Robert L Moore, Douglass Gillette

TONE: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

First Job:

RICH: As a dancer - Tevin Campbell ; as a choregrapher - Monica First night video

TONE: Tevin Campbell spot date in Baltimore

Morning Routine:

RICH: An Americano then exercise

TONE: Write out to do list

Last Movie or Show You Watched:

RICH: Michael

TONE: Wonder Man

Underrated Choreographer:

RICH: Other than ourselves … Denna Thomsen

TONE: Anwar Burton