History of the Moon Walk

Well, no doubt we've all been seeing clip after clip of Michael Jackson dancing the Moon Walk on tv lately. His death has sparked tribute specials from various networks. As I was watching a 20/20 special tonight I realized that even though I love Michael's work, I never learned how he came upon the moon walk. He first performed the Moon Walk on Motown's 25th anniversery special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever. As I reminiced with America I had a thought. I figured he wasn't the first one to perform the Moon Walk. I was right. I did a little digging and this is what I came up with.

The Moon Walk was first named "The Backslide" or "Walking On Your Toes".


The great Cab Calloway actually performed the moon walk in the 1932 film Minnie the Moocher.



French mime Marcel Marceau performed the moon walk in the 1940s and throughout his career.


(etonline.com)
Here Michael poses with the late Marcel Marceau. It is reported that Marcel was an inspiratonal influence for Michael.



In 1955 tap dancer Bill Bailey performed the dance.

In 1980 James Brown performed the dance in the film The Blues Brothers.



Jeffrey Daniel (on far left) from the former band Shalamar performed the dance for the song "A Night To Remember" on Top of the Pops in 1982.

Around the same time Electric Boogaloos member Timothy "poppin' pete" Solomon performed the move in the Talking Heads music video "Crosseyed and Painless."

So, how did MJ come to learn this dance? I've read different stories. Some report that Michael learned by watching Marcel Marceau. Others report that Jeffrey Daniel from Shalamar taught him the move.

Regardless of who started it, I must say I am most impressed with Michael's interpretation and variances.