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Themoonwalk, orbackslide, is apoppingdance move in which the performerglides backwards but their body actions suggest forward motion.[1] It became popular around the world when American singerMichael Jackson performed the move during the performance of "Billie Jean" onMotown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, which was broadcast in 1983; he later incorporated it in tours and live performances.[2] Jackson has been credited as renaming the "backslide" to the moonwalk and it became his signature move.[3][4][5]
Holman (2004) identified early evidence for the moonwalk in a statement made byArthur Marshall, who was anAfrican American composer ofragtime music.[6] Marshall stated, "If a guy could really do it, he sometimes looked as if he was being towed around on ice skates. The performer moves forward without appearing to move his feet at all by manipulating his toes and heels rapidly."[6][7]
Holman also states: "A dance that appeared around the turn of the century inBlackminstrel shows called Stepping on the Puppy's Tail also had an amazing resemblance to the moon walk. Stepping on the Puppy's Tail was described as moving each foot alternately backwards 'like a horse pawing the ground.'"[6]
There are many recorded instances of the moonwalk; similar steps are reported as far back as 1932, used byCab Calloway andCharlie Chaplin.[8] In 1985, Calloway said that the move was called "The Buzz" when he and others performed it in the 1930s.[9][10]
The 1935 animated short filmDancing on the Moon, directed byDave Fleischer and part of theColor Classics series of animated short films, contains a segment where the protagonist cat dances the moonwalk.
In 1943,Bill Bailey performed the first on-screen backslide in the movieThe Cabin in the Sky. This dance move closely resembles what was later called the moonwalk. In 1944,Judy Garland andMargaret O'Brien portrayed something similar to the move in their performance of "Under the Bamboo Tree" inMeet Me in St. Louis, though their performance lacks the illusion created by the genuine moonwalk.[11]
In 1958, on thePat Boone Show,Dick Van Dyke performed a similar variation of the moonwalk andcamel walk in hiscomedy routine called "Mailing a Letter on a Windy Corner".
In 1955, it was recorded in a performance bytap dancerBill Bailey. He performs a tap routine, and at the end, backslides into the wings.[12] The Frenchmime artistMarcel 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.[13]
In 1958, Mexican dancer-comedianAdalberto Martinez "Resortes" also performed the moonwalk in the filmColegio de Verano ("Summer School").
In a November 1969 episode ofH.R. Pufnstuf, Judy the Frog teaches everyone a new dance called "The Moonwalk", which includes two instances of a stationary moonwalk.[14]
On the April 9, 1970 episode ofThe Dick Cavett Show,Marcel Marceau demonstrated several kinds of "mime walks", one of which was a backslide. Cavett tried to do it himself but found it too difficult.
In 1972, inseason 5, episode 9 ofHere's Lucy, "Lucy and Jim Bailey",Lucie Arnaz does the moonwalk while singing "Fever" withJim Bailey.
In the late 1970s, the long-running African-American TV dance showSoul Train featured a dance troupe called "The Electric Boogaloos" which routinely performed popping and locking dance moves including the moonwalk.[15]
It has also been acknowledged that the professional wrestlersMichael "Purely Sexy" Hayes,Terry Gordy, andBuddy Roberts started doing the moonwalk as their trademark ring entrance by 1979 when they formed a wrestling stable known asThe Fabulous Freebirds.[16]
James Brown used the move.[17]
In 1980, in the music video for their single "One Step Ahead" by New Zealand rock bandSplit Enz, keyboardistEddie Rayner is seen performing a predecessor of the moonwalk, andNigel Griggs (former bassist forSplit Enz) allegedly taught him how to perform it.
The 1981 music video for "Crosseyed and Painless" by new wave bandTalking Heads features authentic street dancers, including Stephen "Skeeter Rabbit" Nichols, doing the moonwalk.[18]
Another early moonwalker waspopper and singerJeffrey Daniel, who moonwalked in a performance ofShalamar's "A Night to Remember" onTop of the Pops in the UK in 1982[19] and was known to perform backslides in public performances (including weeklySoul 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 withGwen Verdon in season 1, episode 10 ("Come One, Come All") of the TV seriesFame.[20]
InFlashdance, the move was used in the B-boy scene, whereRock 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 firsthip hop movieWild Style andMalcolm McLaren film clip "Buffalo Gals".[21]
In the 1984 movieStreets of Fire, actor and performerStoney Jackson executed a moonwalk as the leader of a fictional group, The Sorels, who lip-synced to theDan Hartman song "I Can Dream About You". The movie was filmed in thenorthern spring of 1983, also predating the iconic Michael Jackson moonwalk.
Donnie Yen performs a moonwalk in the 1984 Hong Kong filmDrunken Tai Chi.[22]
SingerBobby Brown ofNew Edition was the one of "three kids" Jackson said taught him the dance step in his autobiography,Moonwalk.[23] It had been rumored thatJeffrey Daniel taught Jackson the moonwalk; however, Daniel was touring withShalamar at the time, so Jackson reached out toSoul Train dancer/employee Cheryl Song to arrange a meeting with dancer Geron "Caszper" Canidate. At this point, Ron Wiesner Jackson's management contacted Caszper to arrange private dance lessons for Jackson in June 1981. Caszper, who claims to have a copy of the check and original contract, spent one week privately instructing Jackson how to perform the moonwalk.[citation needed] Jackson first danced in public on March 25, 1983, during the television special,Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever,[24] in front of a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The dance became world-famous two months later when the show premiered on television. Dressed in hissignature black trousers, silver socks, silver shirt, black-sequined jacket, and rhinestoned glove, Jackson spun around, posed, and began moonwalking. Music critic Ian Inglis later wrote that Jackson encapsulated a long tradition ofAfrican-American dance movements in that one performance.[17] 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 "combinedJackie Wilson's athleticism with James Brown'scamel walk". Following theMotown 25 special, Jackson contacted Daniel to master the technique further once Daniel returned from tour.[citation needed]
Jackson's autobiography was titledMoonwalk, and he also starred in a 1988 film titledMoonwalker.
Alexei Kovalev has been known for using the moonwalk in hisNational Hockey League career.[25] 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. In 2009, R&B singerThe-Dream teamed up withKanye West to create thesynth-pop-R&B record "Walkin' on the Moon", in which The-Dream includes a Jackson-inspired high note. The music video does not feature the moonwalk, though it plays on the premise with a CGI moon background and a simple 2-step by the singer to give the impression he is "walkin' on the moon".[26]
In 2000, model Eli Swanson briefly performed a moonwalk in the music video for theBritney Spears' song "Oops!... I Did It Again".
In 2017,Jason Derulo briefly used the moonwalk in his song "Swalla". In 2018,Alessia Cara briefly used the moonwalk in the music video for her song "Trust My Lonely".[27] In 2019, street dancer Salif Gueye performed the moonwalk inDavid Guetta's music video for the song "Stay (Don't Go Away)".[28] In 2019, Chinese boy groupWayV released a song titled "天选之城 (Moonwalk)". The moonwalk is featured in the music video.[29]
In 2020, the bandPuscifer briefly features the moonwalk in their video "Apocalyptical" and it is also mentioned in the song's lyrics. In 2020, South-Korean boy bandBTS performed the moonwalk briefly in the music video of their song "Dynamite". In 2025, South-Korean Girl GroupLe Sserafim performed the moonwalk briefly in their music video of their song "Hot".
We first worked with him in 1980, but he did not do the moonwalk publicly until 1983 [on Motown's 25th-anniversary TV special].
Shoot ... We did that back in the '30s! Only it was called The Buzz back then.
