Published By: Sayan Paul

Michael Jackson's Birth Anniversary: Here's How The "King Of Pop" Learned To Moonwalk

Jackson first performed the moonwalk in public on March 25, 1983, during the television show, 'Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'.

Michael Jackson - the King of Pop - continues to hold a special place in our hearts, even after so many years since his demise. But if there's anything more legendary than the late popstar himself, it's undoubtedly his iconic 'moonwalk'. The popping dance move was his signature; or more precisely an inseparable part of him that became a global phenomenon. And contrary to popular belief, he didn't really invent the moonwalk, but he modified it with his unmatched style and made it his own.

Well, the moonwalk was originally known as the ‘backslide’ and had existed (in a slightly different form) for long before Jackson came into the limelight. He first performed it in public on March 25, 1983, during the television show, 'Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'. The rest, as they say, is history!

Today, on the occasion of Jackson's birth anniversary, let's learn how he learned the dance move and made it a sensation.

But first, let's learn the history & evolution of the moonwalk

For the unversed, the moonwalk refers to the dance move in which the performer glides backward with their body actions suggesting forward motion. While we don't know exactly how and where the move originated, there are some recorded footages from as far back as the 1930s. Artists like Cab Calloway and Charlie Chaplin performed it at that time when it was called "The Buzz". During the same era, a slightly different version called "The Camel Walk" also gained prominence.

(Credit: htong2)

Bill Bailey, the late American tap dancer, performed backslide in the 1943 film, 'The Cabin in the Sky'. In 1958, legendary actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke performed a similar variation in his comedy routine called 'Mailing a Letter on a Windy Corner'. Later, in 1980, Eddie Rayner performed a predecessor of the moonwalk in the music video, "One Step Ahead", while Jeffrey Daniel did the same in Shalamar's musical, "A Night to Remember".

So, how did Michael Jackson learn the moonwalk?

According to some reports, Michael Jackson had first discovered the dance move in a show by Jeffrey Daniel (a member of Shalamar) in the early 80s.

He reached out to Daniel to learn it; however, the latter was touring with his band at that time. So, he called dancer Geron "Caszper" Canidate and arranged private dance lessons for himself. He spent around a week with Caszper to learn its aesthetics and technicalities. Later, he also took lessons from Bobby Brown (a member of New Edition) along with others.

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Dancer Derek "Cooley" Jaxson was one of the people who helped Jackson perfect his steps. As he later shared in an interview, "The backslide -- you slide backward and [you] make you look like you're walking forward. So it's an illusion. The moonwalk is in a circular motion ... like you're floating in air. ... And you keep continuing in a circle. The moonwalk was coined from Michael Jackson. That was a whole different dance move."

(Credit: JD's vision)

"Once we got the chance to finally teach him [Jackson], he kept saying, 'I can't feel it. I can't feel it,' and we're like, 'Feel what? You just do it,'" Jaxson said. "[And Jackson said] 'No, no, you don't understand. I can't feel it.' ... He wanted to feel that slide. He wanted to feel like he was moving forward but going backward. And once he got the feel, from my understanding, that's when he performed on 'Motown 25.'"

How the moonwalk became a global phenomenon

After debuting the moonwalk at 'Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever', Jackson received an unprecedented amount of love from every corner of the world. In that show, he was dressed in his signature black trousers, silver shirt, silver socks, black-sequined jacket, and rhinestoned glove.

(Credit: Historic Vids)

From then on, he started performing it at all his live concerts, especially during the song "Billie Jean". It became a part of his identity; so much so that he starred in a 1988 film titled 'Moonwalker', and his autobiography was titled 'Moonwalk'.

Notably, the book, 'Moonwalk', became a bestseller in fourteen countries.