The moonwalk or backslide is a dance move that gained widespread popularity after being performed by Michael Jackson on the 1983 television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, and has since become his signature move. The purpose of the moonwalk is to give the illusion that the dancer appears to walk forward while actually moving backward.
Although he did not invent its mechanics (which were pioneered by Marcel Marceau) and has never claimed to have done so, Michael Jackson came up with the name "moonwalk" and made it one of the most recognizable dance moves in history.
Origin
Michael Jackson has since performed the "4 corner" moonwalk dance step as later seen in the Victory concert tour, though he
modified this dance step to make it appear as if he were floating & rotating in a circle in the same spot. This step (also
called the "circle moonwalk") involves crossing the heel of one shoe over the toe of the other shoe, then sliding the flat footed
shoe backwards while at the same time crossing the reverse heel over the toe of the opposite shoe. Then a slight twist of the
ankles in either direction creates a slow spinning effect of your whole body. The illusion is to make it appear that you are
walking forward while your body is actually turning in a circle. Michael Jackson then later modified this dance as a stationary
moonwalk (without the turning effect) as seen in the "Smooth Criminal" &
"JAM" music videos.
Backslides have been performed on numerous earlier occasions, recorded as early as 1955 ending a performance by tap dancer Bill Bailey. Prior to Jackson, Jeffrey Daniel was "moonwalking" in a performance of Shalamar's "A Night To Remember" on Top of the Pops in 1982. A member of the Electric Boogaloos performance group, Timothy 'Popin Pete' Solomon, also performed a "moonwalking" move in the Talking Heads video 'Crosseyed And Painless' which aired around 1981.
Cab Calloway was performing a type of backsliding in the early days of his career. The earliest film record of this is from the 1932 Talkartoon Minnie The Moocher, an animated Betty Boop cartoon that features a live action sequence of Cab Calloway and his band. In this sequence we can see Cab Calloway dance in a style that clearly predates moonwalking, popping and electric boogaloo.
According to his obituary on apnews, famed mime Marcel Marceau can be credited with it: "Marcel Marceau inspired countless young performers - Michael Jackson borrowed his famous "moonwalk" from a Marceau sketch, 'Walking Against the Wind.'"
Trivia
The moonwalk is so world famous and a direct reference to Michael Jackson that it has been performed in many films and TV series, usually for comic amusement.
- In The Simpsons episode Stark Raving Dad (1991) special guest voice Michael Jackson tries to explain to Homer Simpson who he is. After naming several songs which leave Homer totally in the dark Michael dances a bit of Billie Jean and performs the moonwalk. Homer is impressed and wants to know "how you do that thing with your feet". Jackson explains how to do it, but as a result Homer slides forwards instead of backwards.
- Scott Evil performs the moonwalk at the end of Austin Powers in Goldmember (2003).
- In the final dance sequence in Shrek 2 (2004) Pinocchio performs the moonwalk. The underlying joke is that he, as a puppet, has the same sort of robotic dance moves as Jackson.
- In the film Back to the Future Part III,
Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen fires a gun at Marty's feet, commanding him to "Dance!". Marty complies by doing the moonwalk -- much to the confusion of the Old West characters around him.
External links
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