Moonwalk (dance)
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 is walking forward while mysteriously moving backward.
Although when most people think of the moonwalk they think of the signature Michael Jackson move, it was first popularized by James Brown,[citation needed] and the back-sliding move James Brown and Michael Jackson did is known as the "backslide," not the moonwalk.
The correct moonwalk, as it is known in dance, is a 4-corner illusion sequence that makes it seem as if the performer slides around in a square shape on the floor.
The move is a part of floating, a set of techniques and styles closely related to popping. Although he did not invent its mechanics 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
The move is based on a classic Jean-Louis Barrault pantomime exercise "Walking" (as featured in the 1945 film Children of Paradise) with some of the Pantomimes de Style technique Marche Contre Le Vent ("Walk against the wind", developed by Marcel Marceau in the 1950s) thrown in. When laypersons think of the moonwalk they almost exclusively think of the signature Michael Jackson move. The actual inventor, Solid Gold dancer "Cooley Jackson", taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk. This was evident at the extraordinary Motown 25 Concert, where he debuted it during his famous "Billie Jean" routine, in which the crowd was on their feet cheering.
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 heal over the toe of the opposite shoe. Then with 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 performance group The Electric Boogaloos, 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.
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