Talk:Moonwalk (dance)

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Dance

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How-To

I (and perhaps many other curious folks out there) would really, REALLY like to know if someone who is knows the dance really well can conceptualize a dance diagram on this article for the rest of us to learn and practice -- Anon 2005-12-20.

Michael the Inventor

I am not interested in this article at all. But I think you may want to know Michael Jackson is one of the co-inventors of the moon walk mechanical stage apparatus. U.S. patents are in the public domain you can use pictures from Michael patent documentation. -- Toytoy 15:20, Apr 14, 2005 (UTC)

I looked for information on that and didn't find any; I did find information about an apparatus to "simulate anti-gravity", used on the "leaning forward without falling" routine. Can you please give a link to the apparatus you mention? Or was it a mix-up? -- tmegapscm 2005-08-10

That was a mix-up for sure. You don't need any mechanical apparatus to perform the moonwalk. 88.116.53.226 (talk) 23:43, 23 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Much Earlier Michael Jackson Moonwalk

During a 1975 Carol Burnett Show appearance with his brothers, while they were performing their hit "Dancing Machine" Michael did a few dance steps which were very similar to his later moonwalks. [1] This indicates that he was doing the moonwalk long before his groundbreaking "Motown 25" performance of Billie Jean in 1983. User:TimothyHorrigan Timothy Horrigan 01:13, 22 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bill Bailey

I removed this reference, Bill Bailey seems to have been quite a tap dancer but it's not even close to a backslide and there are other pieces of fact in the article showing that Michael Jackson was not first anyway.

However, it is important to note that the earliest video[2] for the backslide is that of Bill Bailey from 1955.

Arru 10:25, 21 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A surprise in the Bill Bailey video. I have just viewed Bill Bailey's routine, and I didn't see anything resembling a moonwalk until the very, very end. Then, boom, there it was...a walk-off move. Perhaps a bit more like a backslide, but nevertheless very legitimate. Maybe the editor who removed the link wasn't aware that the anticipated move was at the very end. I have been studying the moonwalk for about a year now, and I think Bill Bailey's move should be noted. Thanks Mbanak 04:35, 23 July 2006 (UTC).[reply]

Well what do you know! I reinserted it together with a note that viewers need to wait until the very end of the video. I've put it in external links since, given the other information in the article, Bill Bailey was not pioneering the backslide. Arru 14:26, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Given other claims in the origins section, Bill Bailey's reference was put there instead. I've refactored this part to make it less self-contradictory. Arru 15:01, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

One Step Ahead

2 years prior to Jackson, New Zealand band Split Enz had a video clip based on the Neil Finn hit One Step Ahead. The keyboardist Eddie Rayner performed the move, & though his feet were moving backwards in accordance to the technique, he actually slowly moves forwards. The video can be found here [3]

I removed this because the article can't claim it's a moonwalk prior to Jackson and an incorrect one at the same time. IMO it's a pretty skilled front float. Arru 15:01, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I do not know who Billy Bailey is but the Moonwalk, although not as polished was performed during the musical 'A Cabin in the sky' by a tap dancer. This film was from the late 1940's. Please give credit where credit is do!67.177.215.166 21:46, 27 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bryan Layne

Excised the following:

A variation more closely resembling the modern-day moonwalk was invented by Bryan Layne^{[citation needed]}, a cabinet installer from Mississippi, who called it the backslide.

Claims of "invention" must certainly be backed up by citations. Until then, it rests here. Arru 15:01, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Graeme Garden

Removed for lack of citation:

Prior to that Graeme Garden had performed a similar type of walk on The Goodies ^{[citation needed]}.

Arru 15:01, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Black crowd

where he debuted it during his famous "Billie Jean" routine, in which the black crowd was on their feet cheering. What is the relevance of the crowd being black? Saintkevin 23:00, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cooley ASSNAB??

"The actual inventor, Solid Gold dancer "Cooley ASSNAB", 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."

What kind of crap is this? Nowhere else I've heard that "Cooley ASSNAB" be the "actual inventor" of Moonwalk. Also, how can the crowd's cheering for Michael Jackson make it "evident" that he was taugt it by Assnab? Someone please explain to me... Bab —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.238.26.77 (talk) 10:49, 19 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Cleanup

Okay, I get it, it's Michael Jackson's signature move. I don't think the article needs to mention that half a dozen times. Toscaesque 19:43, 2 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Photoreq

I know there's already a photo for this article, but I have requested a new one because the current one is of very poor quality. Dar-Ape 03:12, 29 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Boogaloos

i found this video of the boogaloos from the 70's, doing moonwalks and the MJ "Cobrasteen" before MJ did it. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4702017

What a strange article

Almost the entire text of this article seems to be concerned with making absolutely sure that the reader knows that Michael Jackson did not invent the move. There are numerous examples of performances before Michael Jackson, all apparently under the heading of "origin". Shouldn't the origin just be concerned with the first time the move was performed or created? The article currently reads as if it has a chip on its shoulder about people thinking that MJ invented it, and just wants to reinforce over and over again that he didn't. The first section clearly explains that MJ didn't invent the move, and that should be sufficient. Yet the next sentence is simply "Jean-Louis Barrault mimed the Moon Walk before Michael Jackson." OK, we get it! Other people did it first!

I suggest we rename this article to "Moonwalk, Michael Jackson Did Not Invent The". --86.129.110.156 (talk) 10:02, 1 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What about the Kamikazi Kid episode of Quantum Leap, where Scott Bacula teaches a young Michael Jackson how to moonwalk?