Michael Jackson, 33, smiled as he bent his head a little and placed his lips in a kiss against five-year-old Sage Galesi’s cheek. “You did such a good job, Sage,” he said.

Although Sage was old enough to be in kindergarten, she had an intelligence in her that even Michael saw and liked. She giggled a little. “Thank you, Michael,” she said, giving him a hug, which he returned.

“You’re welcome, Sage,” Michael replied. A few moments passed before Michael bent his head a little to whisper in her ear. “Do you know what your first name means?”

Sage looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think it means ‘wise’ or ‘healthy’. Of course, in my case, I think it definitely means ‘wise’.” She turned to Michael. “Why do you ask?”

He smiled. “Because I think your name is a lovely one.”

Now it was Sage’s turn to grin a little herself. Now that she thought about it, maybe he had a point there. “Thanks for the compliment, Michael,” she replied. “And I couldn’t agree more there, too.”

Michael smiled and then whispered in her ear, “You look so beautiful, Sage.”

Feeling it was ridiculous at her age to blush, Sage smiled to herself. Seeing this, Michael took her hand in his (just as he had done with her in the short film for the song Black or White, which was from his album Dangerous) and kissed the back of it, as though she was a lady of high society, causing Sage to giggle a little.

“Oh, Michael,” she said, “you certainly know how to charm a girl.”

“Thank you, Sage,” Michael nodded in reply.

Taking a deep breath and then letting it out, Sage headed over to the stereo sitting on a table in the studio. She lowered the volume on the stereo so that it was at the right level for her to hear the music, and then reached up to press the Play button.

As the instrumental version of the song Black or White began playing, Sage began moving her feet, her small hips, her legs… her whole body and self to the music. All the while, she kept in mind what Michael had told her mother Joanelle and herself about dancing one day while they were taking a break from shooting the short film for Black or White.

“Thinking is the biggest mistake a dancer can make. You must feel it. You must feel the music, let it take you over and become the visual embodiments of the instruments.”

As Sage began telling herself mentally to feel the music, she felt the music doing just that — taking over her and helping her become the visual embodiments of the instruments. In her case, it was the drums.

When the song came to an end, an all-too-familiar hand reached over and pressed the Stop button on the stereo. By that time, Sage had stopped her dancing and was standing there, her feet close together. A smile adorned her face, and her hands were at her sides.

“My, my, my, Sage… I didn’t know you were a good dancer.”

Sage turned around, and saw Michael standing there, leaning casually against the door frame of the studio. He was eyeing her with a smile on his face.

Sage smiled a little herself. “Uh, thanks, Michael. I guess maybe I am, and I didn’t even know it at first.” She then lifted one shoulder in a shrug almost as though to say “Well, it could be true.”

Still, Sage had to admit, Michael was right in his observation about her.