Moonwalk ( dance ) - wikipedia Moonwalk ( dance ) Play media The moonwalk The moonwalk is a dance move in which the dancer moves backwards while seemingly walking forwards. A popping move, it became popular around the world after Michael Jackson performed the dance move during a performance of `` Billie Jean '' on Motown 25 : Yesterday, Today, Forever on March 25, 1983. This special was broadcast May 16, 1983. It subsequently became his signature move. Technique An illusion is involved in creating the appearance of the dancer gliding backwards. Initially, the front foot is held flat on the ground, while the back foot is in a tiptoe position. The flat front foot remains on the ground but is slid lightly and smoothly backward past the tip - toe back foot. What is now the front foot is lowered flat, while the back foot is raised into the tiptoe position. These steps are repeated over and over creating the illusion that the dancer is being pulled backwards by an unseen force while trying to walk forward. Variations of this move allow moonwalking to appear to glide forward, sideways, or even in a circle. History Play media Cab Calloway executed steps similar to the moonwalk ( sidewalk or toe stand ) as early as 1932. There are many recorded instances of the moonwalk ; similar steps are reported as far back as 1932, used by Cab Calloway. In 1985, Calloway said that the move was called `` The Buzz '' when he and others performed it in the 1930s. In 1944, Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien featured something like the move in their performance of `` Under the Bamboo Tree '' in Meet Me in St. Louis, though their performance lacks the illusion created by the genuine moonwalk. In the 1950s, Dick Van Dyke performed a similar variation of the moonwalk and camel walk in his comedy routine called `` Mailing A Letter On A Windy Corner ''. In 1955, it was recorded in a performance by tap dancer Bill Bailey. He performs a tap routine, and at the end, backslides into the wings. The French mime artist Marcel 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. In 1958, Mexican dancer - comedian Adalberto Martinez `` Resortes '' also performed the moonwalk in the film Colegio de Verano ( Summer School ). In a November 1969 episode of H.R. Pufnstuf, Judy the Frog teaches everyone a new dance called `` The Moonwalk '', which includes two instances of a stationary moonwalk. 1972 Lucie Arnaz in Here 's Lucy Episode 9 of Season 5 `` Lucy and Jim Bailey '' Lucie does the Moonwalk whilst singing `` Fever '' with Jim Bailey Choreographer Bob Fosse moonwalks in his role as the Snake in the 1974 film `` The Little Prince ''. It has also a been acknowledged that the professional wrestlers Michael `` Pure Sexy '' Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts started doing the moonwalk as their trademark ring entrance by 1979 when they formed a wrestling stable known as The Fabulous Freebirds. James Brown used the move and can be seen performing it in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1981 in the promotional single and music video Crosseyed and Painless by new wave band Talking Heads, authentic street dancers, picked by David Byrne, are featuring, including Stephen `` Skeeter Rabbit '' Nichols doing the moonwalk. It reached to 20 on the US dance charts. Another early moonwalker was popper and singer Jeffrey Daniel, who moonwalked in a performance of Shalamar 's `` A Night To Remember '' on Top of the Pops in the UK in 1982 and was known to perform backslides in public performances ( including weekly Soul 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 with Gwen Verdon in Season 1, Episode 10 ( `` Come One, Come All '' ) of the TV series Fame. In Flashdance, the move was used in the B - boy scene, where Rock 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 first hip hop movie Wild Style and Malcolm McLaren film clip `` Buffalo Gals ''. Jeffrey Daniel taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk. Jackson saw Daniel do the moonwalk dance on Soul Train and had his manager call Soul Train to introduce him to the dancer. Daniel was touring with Shalamar at the time so Cooley Jackson and Caszper Candidate went to teach Jackson. However, Jackson was not able to pick up and master the technique until Daniel returned from tour and worked with him. The dance was popularized in 1983 when Jackson performed it during a television special, Motown 25 : Yesterday, Today, Forever, on March 25 of that year. Dressed in his signature black trousers, silver socks, silver shirt, black - sequined jacket, sequined glove, and black fedora, Jackson spun around, posed, and began moonwalking. Music critic Ian Inglis later wrote that Jackson encapsulated a long tradition of African - American dance movements in that one performance. 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 `` combined Jackie Wilson 's athleticism with James Brown 's camel walk ''. Michael Jackson 's autobiography was titled Moonwalk, and he also starred in a 1988 film titled Moonwalker. In the 1984 movie Streets of Fire, actor and performer Stoney Jackson executed a moonwalk as the leader of a fictional group, The Sorels, who lip - synced to the Dan Hartman song `` I Can Dream About You ''. Alexei Kovalev has been known for using the moonwalk in his National Hockey League career. 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. References Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moonwalk ( dance ). Jump up ^ Banes, Sally. Writing Dancing in the Age of Postmodernism, Wesleyan University Press, 1994, p. 139. Jump up ^ `` Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009. TIME looks back on the King of Pop 's life and Career '', Time, p. 13, retrieved February 1, 2012, We first worked with him in 1980, but he did not do the moonwalk publicly until 1983 ( on Motown 's 25th - anniversary TV special ). Jump up ^ Suddath, Claire. `` How to Moonwalk like Michael '', Time, June 25, 2009. Jump up ^ Thriller 25 : The Book, ML Publishing Group Ltd, 2008. ISBN 978 - 0 - 9768891 - 9 - 9. Jump up ^ Pagett, Matt. The Best Dance Moves in the World - Ever ! Chronicle Books, 2008, p. 72. Jump up ^ DiLorenzo, Kris ( April 1985 ). `` The Arts. Dance : Michael Jackson did not invent the Moonwalk ''. The Crisis. 92 ( 4 ) : 143. ISSN 0011 - 1422. Shoot... We did that back in the ' 30s ! Only it was called The Buzz back then. Jump up ^ Cab Calloway in 1932 film `` The Big Broadcast ''. YouTube. Jump up ^ `` Under The Bamboo Tree - Judy Garland ( Meet Me In St. Louis ) ''. YouTube. 2010 - 07 - 06. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 18. Jump up ^ Bill Bailey in 1955. Jump up ^ `` Grand master of mime, Marcel Marceau, dies ''. CBC News. Associated Press. 23 September 2007. Retrieved 2007 - 09 - 23. Jump up ^ `` Did Jacko Jack the Moonwalk ? ''. Jump up ^ `` sssssSnake in the Grasssss ''. YouTube.com. Retrieved September 11, 2008. Jump up ^ Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson ( 2005 ). `` Top 20 : 7 The Fabulous Freebirds ''. The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame : The Tag Teams. ECW Press. pp. 46 -- 51. ISBN 978 - 1 - 55022 - 683 - 6. ^ Jump up to : Inglis, Ian. Performance and popular music, Ashgate Publishing, 2006, p. 122. Jump up ^ `` Talking Heads - Crosseyed and Painless - Official Original Video, 1981 ''. YouTube.com. Retrieved August 5, 2011. Jump up ^ `` A Night to Remember, Shalamar, Top of the Pops, 1982 ''. YouTube.com. Retrieved October 25, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Fame : Season 1 Episode 10 - `` Evolution of Dance '' Original Air Date : March 11th 1982 ``. YouTube.com. 2006 - 09 - 29. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 18. Jump up ^ Buffalo Gals ( first 12 seconds sample ) at YouTube Jump up ^ `` Youtube `` Alex Kovalev Moonwalk on ice '' ``. Retrieved 2014 - 01 - 15. Michael Jackson Albums Singles Songs Videography Unreleased songs Awards Records and achievements Studio albums Got to Be There Ben Music & Me Forever, Michael Off the Wall Thriller Bad Dangerous HIStory : Past, Present and Future, Book I Invincible Posthumous albums Michael Xscape Remix albums The Original Soul of Michael Jackson Blood on the Dance Floor : HIStory in the Mix The Stripped Mixes The Remix Suite Other albums Farewell My Summer Love Looking Back to Yesterday Thriller 25 One Night in Japan Bad 25 Soundtracks The Wiz E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Michael Jackson 's This Is It Immortal Compilations A Collection of Michael Jackson 's Oldies The Best of Michael Jackson 18 Greatest Hits One Day in Your Life The Michael Jackson Mix 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection : The Best of Michael Jackson Love Songs Number Ones The Essential Michael Jackson King of Pop The Definitive Collection Icon Scream Box sets Anthology The Ultimate Collection Visionary : The Video Singles Thriller 25 : Limited Japanese Single Collection 50 Best Songs -- The Motown Years : Michael Jackson & The Jackson 5 The Collection Hello World : The Motown Solo Collection Concert tours Bad World Tour Dangerous World Tour HIStory World Tour This Is It Filmography Michael Jackson 's Thriller Captain EO Moonwalker Michael Jackson 's Ghosts Miss Cast Away and the Island Girls Michael Jackson 's This Is It Michael Jackson : The Life of an Icon Bad 25 Michael Jackson : The Last Photo Shoot Michael Jackson 's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall Video albums Dangerous : The Short Films Video Greatest Hits -- HIStory HIStory on Film, Volume II Number Ones The One Live in Bucharest : The Dangerous Tour Michael Jackson 's Vision Live at Wembley July 16, 1988 Television `` Stark Raving Dad '' ( The Simpsons episode ) Man in the Mirror : The Michael Jackson Story Move Like Michael Jackson Michael Jackson 's Halloween Video games Michael Jackson 's Moonwalker Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Space Channel 5 Ready 2 Rumble Boxing : Round 2 Space Channel 5 : Part 2 Michael Jackson : The Experience Planet Michael Bibliography Moonwalk Dancing the Dream Specials Motown 25 : Yesterday, Today, Forever MJ & Friends Michael Jackson : 30th Anniversary Celebration United We Stand : What More Can I Give Live at the Apollo Michael Forever -- The Tribute Concert Assets Neverland Ranch Northern Songs Sony / ATV Music Publishing ( formerly ) Influence on society Heal the World Foundation Thrill the World Thriller viral video Thriller -- Live Michael Jackson : The Immortal World Tour Michael Jackson : One Related The Jackson 5 Moonwalk Health and appearance Personal relationships 1993 child sexual abuse accusations Living with Michael Jackson People v. 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Question: when did michael jackson first do moon walk
Answer: March 25, 1983