ORIGINS OF THE MOONWALK Dancers (in alphabetical order): Fred Astaire, Bill Bailey, Buck and Bubbles, Cab Calloway, Clark Brothers, Sammy Davis Jr., Daniel L. Haynes, Rubberneck Holmes, Patterson and Jackson, Eleanor Powell, Bill Robinson, Three Chefs (only the feet), Tip Tap and Toe (feat. Ray Winfield), Earl Snakehips Tucker Video edited by CFJ

As some people already know, a dance move called the moonwalk (a.k.a. backslide) had been existed before it became the "moonwalk". The video features the ancient moonwalkers and other greats who possibly influenced MJ's style of dancing.

The most well-known dancer as the "orignal moonwalker" should be Bill Bailey who performed it in the film Showtime At The Apollo (1955), which was also featured in the movie Tap (1989). But actually Bill Bailey, pupil of Bill Robinson, performed the very same step as early as 1943 in the movie Cabin In The Sky, which you can see here as well as the 1955 film.

The various scenes used in the video are from 1929 to 1955 (except Sammy Davis Jr. from '65 and '67). The oldest one is from Hallelujah, featuring Daniel L. Haynes as a minister pantomiming a train at a prayer meeting. I was totally amazed by his movement when I first saw that movie.

The most influential dancer on MJ's dancing is no doubt James Brown, but you can also trace the roots and origins of his style to those greats in the first half of the 20th century.

So, the question - "who devised the moonwalk?". My answer is "nobody". Or all the great imaginative dancers, including MJ, who made great efforts to move foward (should I say "backward" in this case?). I think the moonwalk is not a thing someone suddenly came up with one day. There must have been so many great unknown dancers other than the ones who were lucky to be recorded... In other words, Rome was not built in a day.

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Michael Jackson and two of his costume designers obtained a US patent (US5255452) in 1993 on "Methods and Means for Creating Anti Gravity Illusion". The invention outlines how a special pair of shoes attaches to a stage to allow leaning forward beyond the centre of gravity of the wearer of the shoes. A case study of this patent is presented here.

Background and Prior Art Interesting stage designs, lighting, fog generators, laser light shows, and large video screens have been used by music entertainers and dancers to enhance the appeal of their live and recorded performances.

In the past Michael Jackson had incorporated dance steps in his recorded video performances, wherein he and other dancers would lean forward beyond their center of gravity, thereby creating an impressive visual effect. In the video this effect was accomplished by the use of cables connecting a harness around the dancer's waist with hooks on a stage, thereby allowing the dancer to lean forward at the required degree.

However, since this requires stagehands to connect and then disconnect the cables, it has not been possible to use this system in live performances. Moreover, the cables obviously restricted arm and body movements.

Click here to see the full Patent.

At the end in the video below you can clearly see one of
the performers having trouble unhooking his special shoe.

The present invention overcomes the above noted deficiencies of the previously employed cable system by providing specialized footwear and a moveable hitch or post to which the specialized footwear can be detachably engaged to, allowing the footwear wearer to lean forward on the stage, with his or her center of gravity well beyond the front of the shoes, thereby creating the desired visual effect. The hitch or post protrude upwardly through the stage platform at a predetermined time.