page_title: Moonwalk (dance)
section_title: Michael Jackson and the moonwalk
hierarchical_section_title: Moonwalk (dance) / History / 1980s / Michael Jackson and the moonwalk
caption_attribution_description: This is a cropped version of the other photo. High resolution negative scan - 256 pixels/inch. Photo by Alan Light - Michael's hat says "Kahala Hilton" which is the name of the hotel he was staying at. I was staying there too. NOTE: Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post any of my photos, but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can. Thanks.
context_page_description: The moonwalk became popular around the world following Michael Jackson's moonwalk during the performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, which was broadcast on May 16, 1983. He would go on to include it during tours and live performances. Jackson has been credited as renaming the "backslide" to the moonwalk and it became his signature move.
context_section_description: 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 Derek Cooley Jackson and Caszper Candidate went to teach Jackson. However, Jackson, who later became known as Cooley Jaxson, was not able to pick up and master the technique until Daniel returned from tour and worked with him. Michael Jackson first performed the dance in public on March 25, 1983, in front of a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The dance became world famous two months later when Jackson performed it during a television special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. Dressed in his signature black trousers, silver socks, silver shirt, black-sequined jacket, rhinestoned 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.
caption: In 1983, Michael Jackson performed the moonwalk during a performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever which made it a global sensation.
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