🕺🏽 Origins of the Moonwalk 🚀
🕺 (Dance) 🕺🏾
The moonwalk is a dance move in which the dancer moves backwards while seemingly walking forwards. A popping move, it became popular around the world after Michael Jackson performed the dance move during a performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever on March 25, 1983.
This special was broadcast May 16, 1983. It subsequently became his signature move.
Technique
An illusion
is involved in creating the appearance of the dancer gliding backwards. Initially, the front foot is held flat on the ground, while the back foot is in a tiptoe
position.
The flat front foot remains on the ground but is slid lightly and smoothly backward past the tip-toe back foot. What is now the front foot is lowered flat, while the back foot is raised into the tiptoe position. These steps are repeated over and over creating the illusion that the dancer is being pulled backwards by an unseen force while trying to walk forward. Variations of this move allow the moon walking to also appear to glide forwards, sideways, and even in a circle.
Origins of the Moonwalk
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Michael Jackson Moonwalk Evolution
1983-2009
On March 25 of 1983, Michael Jackson performed the moonwalk during Motown 25: Yesterday Today Forever television special when he performed Billie Jean from his album Thriller. Since Michael first performed the moonwalk in 1983, Michael would then use the moonwalk during all of his performances of Billie Jean during his tours and when performing at other events. The moonwalk has become one of the most famous dance move in Michael Jackson, Dance, Entertainment, and Music history. To share my love for Michael and the moonwalk, I have made a evolution video of Michael using the moonwalk though his life.
1983-2009
Michael Jackson - Moonwalk Evolution
(1983 - 2009) HD
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Moonwalk Evolution
(1983 - 2009) HD
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(1983 - 2009) 4K
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History
There are many recorded instances of the moonwalk; similar steps are reported as far back as 1932, used by Cab Calloway. In 1985, Calloway said that the move was called "The Buzz" when he and others performed it in the 1930s.
In 1944, Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien featured something like the move in their performance of "Under the Bamboo Tree" in Meet Me In St. Louis, though their performance lacks the illusion created by the genuine moonwalk.
In 1955, it was recorded in a performance by tap dancer Bill Bailey. He performs a tap routine, and at the end, backslides into the wings.
The French mime artist Marcel Marceau used it throughout his career (from the 1940s through the 1980s), as part of the drama of his mime routines. In Marceau's "Walking Against the Wind" routine, he pretends to be pushed backwards by a gust of wind.
In the 1950s, Dick Van Dyke performed a similar variation of the moonwalk and camel walk in his comedy routine called "Mailing A Letter On A Windy Corner".
In 1958, Mexican dancer-comedian Adalberto Martinez "Resortes" also performed the moonwalk in the film Colegio de Verano (Summer School).
In a November 1969 episode of H.R. Pufnstuf, Judy the Frog teaches everyone a new dance called "The Moonwalk", which includes two instances of a stationary moonwalk.
1972 Lucie Arnaz in Here's Lucy Episode 9 of Season 5 "Lucy and Jim Bailey" Lucie does the Moonwalk whilst singing "Fever" with Jim Bailey
Choreographer Bob Fosse moonwalks in his role as the Snake in the 1974 film "The Little Prince".
It has also been acknowledged that the professional wrestlers Michael "Pure Sexy" Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts started doing the moonwalk as their trademark ring entrance by 1979 when they formed a wrestling stable known as The Fabulous Freebirds.
James Brown used the move and can be seen performing it in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1981 in the promotional single and music video Crosseyed and Painless by new wave band Talking Heads, authentic street dancers, picked by David Byrne, are featuring, including Stephen "Skeeter Rabbit" Nichols doing the moonwalk.[15] It reached to 20 on the US dance charts. Another early moonwalker was popper and singer Jeffrey Daniel, who moonwalked in a performance of Shalamar's "A Night To Remember" on Top of the Pops in the UK in 1982 and was known to perform backslides in public performances (including weekly Soul Train episodes) as far back as 1974. Michael Jackson was a fan of Jeffrey Daniel's dancing and would eventually seek him out.
Also in 1982, Debbie Allen performs a moonwalk during a scene with Gwen Verdon in Season 1, Episode 10 ("Come One, Come All") of the TV series Fame.
In Flashdance, the move was used in the B-boy scene, where Rock Steady Crew's Mr. Freeze (Marc Lemberger), with an umbrella prop, mimed the wind blowing him backward as he first walks forward, fighting the wind, then starts moonwalking backwards. Mr. Freeze's version was also shown in the first hip hop movie Wild Style and Malcolm McLaren film clip "Buffalo Gals".
Derek (Cooley) Jackson and Geron (Caszper) Canidate taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk. He saw Cooley and Caszper do the moonwalk dance on Soul Train, so he had his manager called Soul Train to introduce Cooley and Caszper to Jackson. The dance was popularized in 1983 when Jackson performed it during a television special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, on March 25 of that year. Dressed in his signature black trousers, silver socks, silver shirt, black-sequined jacket, single sequined glove, and black fedora, Jackson spun around, posed, and began moonwalking. Music critic Ian Inglis later wrote that Jackson encapsulated a long tradition of African-American dance movements in that one performance. The audience cheered Michael's moonwalk. Moonwalking received widespread attention, and from then on, the moonwalk became Jackson's signature move for his song "Billie Jean". Nelson George said that Jackson's rendition "combined Jackie Wilson's athleticism with James Brown's camel walk". Michael Jackson's autobiography was titled Moonwalk, and he also starred in a 1988 film titled Moonwalker.
In the 1984 movie Streets of Fire, actor and performer Stoney Jackson executed a moonwalk as the leader of a fictional group, The Sorels, who lip-synced to the Dan Hartman song "I Can Dream About You".
Alexei Kovalev has been known for using the moonwalk in his National Hockey League career. He performed the move after scoring a goal on February 7, 2001, and on January 3, 2010. Kovalev moonwalked onto the ice after being named one of the stars of the game and again after scoring in a 2008 celebrity charity soccer game.
Betty Boop's
Minnie The Moocher (1932)
Minnie The Moocher (1932)
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In 1955, it was recorded in a performance by tap dancer Bill Bailey. He performs a tap routine, and at the end, backslides into the wings.
The First Moonwalk - Bill Bailey
The Apollo Theatre
New York - 1955
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In the 1950s, Dick Van Dyke performed a similar variation of the moonwalk and camel walk in his comedy routine called "Mailing A Letter On A Windy Corner".
In 1958, Mexican dancer-comedian Adalberto Martinez "Resortes" also performed the moonwalk in the film Colegio de Verano (Summer School).
In a November 1969 episode of H.R. Pufnstuf, Judy the Frog teaches everyone a new dance called "The Moonwalk", which includes two instances of a stationary moonwalk.
1972 Lucie Arnaz in Here's Lucy Episode 9 of Season 5 "Lucy and Jim Bailey" Lucie does the Moonwalk whilst singing "Fever" with Jim Bailey
Choreographer Bob Fosse moonwalks in his role as the Snake in the 1974 film "The Little Prince".
It has also been acknowledged that the professional wrestlers Michael "Pure Sexy" Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts started doing the moonwalk as their trademark ring entrance by 1979 when they formed a wrestling stable known as The Fabulous Freebirds.
James Brown used the move and can be seen performing it in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1981 in the promotional single and music video Crosseyed and Painless by new wave band Talking Heads, authentic street dancers, picked by David Byrne, are featuring, including Stephen "Skeeter Rabbit" Nichols doing the moonwalk.[15] It reached to 20 on the US dance charts. Another early moonwalker was popper and singer Jeffrey Daniel, who moonwalked in a performance of Shalamar's "A Night To Remember" on Top of the Pops in the UK in 1982 and was known to perform backslides in public performances (including weekly Soul Train episodes) as far back as 1974. Michael Jackson was a fan of Jeffrey Daniel's dancing and would eventually seek him out.
Also in 1982, Debbie Allen performs a moonwalk during a scene with Gwen Verdon in Season 1, Episode 10 ("Come One, Come All") of the TV series Fame.
In Flashdance, the move was used in the B-boy scene, where Rock Steady Crew's Mr. Freeze (Marc Lemberger), with an umbrella prop, mimed the wind blowing him backward as he first walks forward, fighting the wind, then starts moonwalking backwards. Mr. Freeze's version was also shown in the first hip hop movie Wild Style and Malcolm McLaren film clip "Buffalo Gals".
Derek (Cooley) Jackson and Geron (Caszper) Canidate taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk. He saw Cooley and Caszper do the moonwalk dance on Soul Train, so he had his manager called Soul Train to introduce Cooley and Caszper to Jackson. The dance was popularized in 1983 when Jackson performed it during a television special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, on March 25 of that year. Dressed in his signature black trousers, silver socks, silver shirt, black-sequined jacket, single sequined glove, and black fedora, Jackson spun around, posed, and began moonwalking. Music critic Ian Inglis later wrote that Jackson encapsulated a long tradition of African-American dance movements in that one performance. The audience cheered Michael's moonwalk. Moonwalking received widespread attention, and from then on, the moonwalk became Jackson's signature move for his song "Billie Jean". Nelson George said that Jackson's rendition "combined Jackie Wilson's athleticism with James Brown's camel walk". Michael Jackson's autobiography was titled Moonwalk, and he also starred in a 1988 film titled Moonwalker.
In the 1984 movie Streets of Fire, actor and performer Stoney Jackson executed a moonwalk as the leader of a fictional group, The Sorels, who lip-synced to the Dan Hartman song "I Can Dream About You".
Alexei Kovalev has been known for using the moonwalk in his National Hockey League career. He performed the move after scoring a goal on February 7, 2001, and on January 3, 2010. Kovalev moonwalked onto the ice after being named one of the stars of the game and again after scoring in a 2008 celebrity charity soccer game.
"Minnie the Moocher" Betty Boop HD 1080p
HD transfer of the classic Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon "Minnie the Moocher" featuring the legendary Cab Calloway
HD transfer of the classic Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoon "Minnie the Moocher" featuring the legendary Cab Calloway
The Origins of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk: Vintage Footage of Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis Jr., Fred Astaire & More
Michael Jackson took one giant leap for pop history on March 25, 1983 when he gave an adoring public their first taste of his signature moonwalk in honor of Motown Records' 25th birthday. (See below)
Novelty-wise, it wasn't quite a Neil Armstrong moment. Like many artists, Jackson had many precedents from which he could and did draw. He can be credited with bringing a certain attitude to the proceedings. The expert practitioners in the video above are more ebullient, tapping, sliding and proto-moonwalking themselves into a state of rapture that feeds off the audience's pleasure.
The line-up includes artists lucky enough to have left lasting footprints---Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis Jr., Fred Astaire, as well as those we'd do well to rediscover: Rubberneck Holmes, Earl "Snakehips" Tucker, Buck and Bubbles....
Lacking the Internet, however, it does seem unlikely that Jackson
would've spent much time poring over the footwork of these masters. (He
may have taken a sartorial cue from their socks.)
Instead, he invested a lot of time breaking down the street moves,
what he referred to in his autobiography as "a 'popping' type of thing
that black kids had created dancing on the street corners in the
ghetto."
Jackson's sister, LaToya, identified former Soul Train and Solid Gold dancer Jeffrey Daniel, below, as her brother's primary tutor in this endeavor. (He went on to co-choreograph Jackson's videos for "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal".)
As to the story behind his moonwalk, or backslide as he called it
before Jackson's version obliterated the possibility of any other name,
Daniel gave props to the same kids Jackson did.
Charlie Chaplin's scene in Modern Times.
Charlie Chaplin dancing and singing
from "Modern Times"
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Dick Van Dyke do the Moonwalk?
from "Modern Times"
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Dick Van Dyke do the Moonwalk?
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Epic Dance Battles of History
Epic Dance Battles of History
Charlie Chaplin vs Buster Keaton
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