When I was a kid growing up in the ’80’s I was obsessed with Michael Jackson. I had Thriller. I had the Thriller poster. I chewed a lot of gum. I was into one piece leather suits. Looking back, I can see how that may have caused my dad a bit of temporary concern.
What I was most obsessed with was The Moon Walk. The Moon Walk was a mesmerizing dance move Michael Jackson performed for the first time on March 25th 1983 on Motown 25. As you can see in the video below, the move lasted less than 3 seconds, and was completely awesome.
Origins of The Moonwalk
Michael Jackson wasn’t the first to do the move, or the first to be recorded on film doing the Moon Walk. Here’s a recording from the Apollo Theater of Bill Bailey Moonwalking off stage after a tap-dancing performance. The earliest known performance of the Moonwalk IS BY Cab Calloway in 1932. [Wikipedia]
Though as you can see in this video by Marcelo Sousa, the basic form and function of the Moonwalk had been evolving for quite some time before MJ’s 1983 performance. The original move was called the “Backslide.”
The Origins Of The Moonwalk from Marcelo Sousa on Vimeo.
Super Moon Walk
Then last week the Super Moonwalk popped up. The Super Moonwalk is a trick of RUNNING backwards at high speed. Performed by a street performer in Santa Monica, CA.
Teach your Kid How to Moon Walk
When I was a kid I had it all wrong. I didn’t watch much TV and my parents didn’t get cable so I really only saw the moon walk at friends houses and when kids at school did their best hack imitations. I really envy youth growing up with YouTube instant access to everything awesome. Don’t make the same mistake my parents did. Teach your kid the right way to moonwalk. Otherwise he’ll learn it on the street.
Here are some How To Moonwalk videos including the below from Wired How To featuring Coolie Jaxon. Derek ‘Cooley’ Jaxson and Geron ‘Casper’ Candidate were two dancers who were seen performing the backslide by Michael Jackson prior to his 1983 performance at Motown. The two were asked to teach the move the MJ. And Now Cooley is teaching you.
Moonwalk On!
-Mike
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