Where did the Moonwalk/Michael's dance moves originate?

eternitys_child

Proud Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
4,709
Points
0
Location
USA
I have heard of various sources for the Moonwalk. I do know that Michael did not originate it (much to the surprise of many of my friends strangely enough) and he has said as much.

Recently in one of the article about Thriller I read that the dancer that taught it to Michael witnessed Michael's first performance of it (the oe who said he wondered what took Michael so long before he actually used it). Now I just saw this article referring to Bojangles Camel walk. Now showing Michael how to do something is not the same as being the originator so both the story about the man who taigh it to Michael and what is said about the Camel walk may be true.

Does anyone know, and does anyone have a link to a vid of Bojangles doing his Camel walk? I think WBSS posted some of his dancing once when they did a countdown of the best dancers of all time on some TV show.

And Robinson dropping out of school to start his career at the age of 7? Wow. I guess MIchael isn't the only one who stasrted young.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20071224/bs_ibd_ibd/20071224lands01

They Hit The Right Notes
Cord Cooper Mon Dec 24, 5:36 PM ET


By perfecting their skills, innovators Scott Joplin and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson helped vault black culture into the mainstream. "

Joplin, the legendary ragtime pianist, was influenced by his mother, who played the banjo and instilled a love for music in young Scott.
Joplin (1867-1917) began improvising on the church piano after services, drawing large crowds as he played his own arrangements of hymns and spirituals.
Since she couldn't afford lessons but wanted him to hone his talent, Joplin's mom, a maid, persuaded clients to let him practice on their pianos while she cleaned house.
By his early 20s, Joplin had become an accomplished musician. He studied harmony and composition at a black college in Sedalia, Mo., and spent the next several years entertaining saloon audiences with the new ragtime sound.
By 1898, he'd formed his own group and published six tunes. His first hit, "Maple Leaf Rag," was published in 1899, moving Joplin and ragtime into the national spotlight, notes Peter Gammond, author of "Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era."
Joplin went on to write classics such as "The Entertainer" and "The Gladiolus Rag," as well as two ragtime operas.
The Dancer
Bill Robinson saw talent as a way to break through racial barriers. Born Luther Robinson in 1878, he spent his early years in Richmond, Va. His parents died when he was a baby.
While living with his grandmother, he became interested in local minstrel shows and began dancing in local beer gardens for spare change.
To encourage large donations, Robinson worked on his routines and formed dance partnerships with friends. At age 7, he dropped out of school to pursue a career in show business.
By perfecting a range of dance numbers in his late teens and early 20s, he was ready when opportunity hit. In 1902, singer-dancer George Cooper asked Robinson to be his partner.
Stepping Out
Robinson became one of the first black vaudevillians to break into other media.
"He developed his own style, wearing full dress, top hat and carrying a cane, and leaving the stage with his signature exit, the Camel Walk, a dance that Michael Jackson was to adapt much later as the Moon Walk," Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cornel West wrote in "The African-American Century."
Robinson went on to perform in London and at New York's Palace Theater. He appeared in 14 films in the 1930s and '40s, including hits such as "The Little Colonel" and "Stormy Weather."
He became known as the ultimate scene stealer. Reason? Those feet.

"Bojangles's dance was controlled, light, perfectly timed, tapping out a rhythm as clear as a Louis Armstrong note, and it opened a public window on black vernacular dance," Gates and West wrote. Bojangles died in 1949. Schools in Harlem, N.Y., were closed the day of his funeral
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

is the camel walk that side shuffle that JB used to do? u tube wontwork on dialup
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

is the camel walk that side shuffle that JB used to do? u tube wontwork on dialup
No. It is front to back. When Bojangles does it (and from what I could see of JB it is a quick step rather than a long glide like Michael does. Bojangles did it as a tap step, if you can picture that, but the gerneral movement is the same as the moonwalk.
 
Last edited:
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

So does anyone remember the name of the dancer who supposedly taught the moonwalk to Michael? I think his name started with a D. I am wondering if he had already lengthened the stride from what Bojangles did.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Jeffery Daniels, I think.
Thanks. Thast is who I was trying to remember. I just found this in the urban dictionary:

Moonwalk50 up, 11 downWhat is now known as the cobra which is rotating around on your heels while moving your upper arm/chest muscles to the beat was the original moonwalk. It can be seen in the first scene of the movie Breakdance, also on Michael Jackson Victory tour performances

The one Michael Jackson performed at Motown 25 is known as the backslide and was taught to him by Jeffrey Daniels and Geron Canidate who had performed it on Soul Train. Jeffrey Daniels first (not first ever) execution of the Moonwalk in the UK (82' TotP, introduction of street dancing to the UK) can be seen here


www.twilightplayers.com/videos/jeffreydaniel.wmv

The earliest video for the backslide is that of Bill Bailey in 1955

www.putfile.com/media.php?n=tp-bailey (file origin from www.offjazz.com)

People think it might date back to the 20's.

Other variations are gliding, which is when you do it to the side, moving forwards and staying static (on the spot).
1. Did you see when Michael Jackson performed the Moonwalk at Motown 25?

2. Damn, that Moonwalk was sick!





The moonwalk is at 2:02 in the first video and it is the same style as the one Michael does. It's pretty good too!
 
Last edited:
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

There are several people who claim to have taught Michael the moonwalk. Its actually called the back slide, and the rotating step that Michael used to do is originally known as the moonwalk. I've heard that dancers used to perform the moonwalk in the 1930s to exit away from a dance partner or obviously to exit stage. There is a clip of a dancer named Bill Baily from the 1950s doing the moonwalk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbPd2iu4bg

The shuffle James Brown used to do is called the mashed patatoes. You can see Michael do the camel walk I think in his audition tape for Motown. When he does that slow, stiff walk forward.
 
Last edited:
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

At least all the following acts claimed credit for teaching "Moonwalk" to Jackson:
1) group Boogalo (Michael Chambers, Popin Pete, others)
2) group Shalamar (Geron "Casper" Candidate, Cooley Jackson, Jeffrey Daniel)
3) group Backshuffle
4) group Jakarta (Indonesia)
5) Marcel Marceau (not directly, but via visual observation)

There is no doubt that if anyone would ask, much more acts and goups will tell how they taught Michael to "Moonwalk". I listed only those who told about themselves (some of them just never stop talk about even though they directly contradict to each other).
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

At least all the following acts claimed credit for teaching "Moonwalk" to Jackson:
1) group Boogalo (Michael Chambers, Popin Pete, others)
2) group Shalamar (Geron "Casper" Candidate, Cooley Jackson, Jeffrey Daniel)
3) group Backshuffle
4) group Jakarta (Indonesia)
5) Marcel Marceau (not directly, but via visual observation)

There is no doubt that if anyone would ask, much more acts and goups will tell how they taught Michael to "Moonwalk". I listed only those who told about themselves (some of them just never stop talk about even though they directly contradict to each other).
Didn't Michael himself once say it was from kids on the street?

Currently whoever wrote what is on Wiki credits Marcel Marceau.

One dance site I found says it goes back to the 30's (as WBSS says) but as used by mimes and that is its origin.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Yes, Michael has credited kids on the street. Of course, I don't think he meant litterally, but figuratively. The step became popular again with street dancer's in the 70s and 80s and Michael I'm sure means he saw kids on the street performing it and thought it would be a cool thing to do.
 
Last edited:
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

There are several people who claim to have taught Michael the moonwalk. Its actually called the back slide, and the rotating step that Michael used to do is originally known as the moonwalk. I've heard that dancers used to perform the moonwalk in the 1930s to exit away from a dance partner or obviously to exit stage. There is a clip of a dancer named Bill Baily from the 1950s doing the moonwalk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbPd2iu4bg

The shuffle James Brown used to do is called the mashed patatoes. You can see Michael do the camel walk I think in his audition tape for Motown. When he does that slow, stiff walk forward.

Bojangles goes backwards while walking forward in the video. The article is posted says he did it as a stage exit as you described it was used by dancers in the 30's. I looked up Michael's Motown audition on you tube and am not sure which part he does it in. What a shame they don't show his feet. Can you say what time he does it at? Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZGf4LujriI
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Yes, Michael has credited kids on the street. Of course, I don't think he meant litterally, but figuratively. The step became popular again with street dancer's in the 70s and 80s and Michael I'm sure means he saw kids on the street performing it and thought it would be a cool thing to do.
Did you look at the 'twilightplayers' url I posted?

www.twilightplayers.com/videos/jeffreydaniel.wmv


It shows Daniels doing it. Obviously he didn't invent it either but his is really the same as Michael's version whereas the earlier versions were only the same in their foundation (that you move backward while seemingly walking forward).
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Isn't that it at about 2:38? Or am I mistaking the camel walk for something else? Could be, but I think that's it.

By the way, Michael's natural talent shows in that video, he's unreal.
 
Last edited:
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Isn't that it at about 2:38? Or am I mistaking the camel walk for something else? Could be, but I think that's it.

By the way, Michael's natural talent shows in that video, he's unreal.
Okay. I see what you are referring to. I don't think that looks like either the move Bojangles makes at 2:23 in the clip Trish posted or like a prelude to the moonwalk. All of Michael's moves in the audition remind me of James Brown however.

The Bojangle move is closer to the moonwalk than the one Michael did at 2:38 in the audition I think because Bojangles move was one step forward and smooth slide and move back whereas Michael's looked like a series of tapes. I could see Jame's Brown's move in the clip I found of him because he did it straight on so you can't really see how his feet move.

As to MJ crediting it to the kids in the street I agree with you that it didn't necessarily mean they taught him. Every dance move there ever was probably was done by some kid in some street somewhere before it was done professionally. lol Kids create.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Oh, see, I didn't mean the moonwalk, I meant the camel walk at 2:38. Anyway, since we're talking about his dancing, lol, here's a clip of Michael at a James Brown concert in 83. Look at him move man, he's so clean and quick. Nobody is a better dancer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQCl1dnLvVo&NR=1

I meant the Camel also. I can see it being a forrunner to the moonwalk but I can't see the step Michael is doing in the audition as being a forunner to a moonwalk.

I'll check the clip.

Cool but too short. lol
 
Last edited:
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Michsel learned it from the street kids and took it and moulded it into his own . Of course it was out before in a sense but michael mad what it is , thats all i care about. He is a genious.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Back in the late 70's and early 80's, the brothas would have dance contests outside all the time. When they competed with each other, it was called doing the boogaloo. It was not called break dancing.

They would take turns showing off their moves....sometimes alone...sometimes with a partner.

We would stand around them in a circle and watch them compete. They usually had the competitions during lunch time at school, after school, or outside in the neighborhood. It was kinda like what teenagers did back in the 50's when they would stand as a group and harmonize while others stood around and listened, but in this case, the brothas were dancing.

The dance that always instantly ended the contest was the backslide, because it was a hard dance to do, and there weren't a lot of guys that had it down. The best dancer would do it with no forewarning, and after he did it, everyone would tell the other guy, "Ooooooo!!! He cut you up!!! It's OVER!!!"

This is why everyone went crazy when Michael did it on Motown 25.

When we got back to school the next day, everyone was saying, "Did you catch Michael last night?! Did you see him?! He hit the move on us!! Michael hit the move!!!"

If Michael said he got it from the kids in the innercities, I believe him, because the brothas were always doing it outside. When he toured back in the 70's, he always came to the innercities. That's how, and where, I met him. And when he was touring the innercities in the late '70's, that's when the boogaloo was being done the most.

Before he did that dance on Motown 25, he never showed signs that he knew that dance. He never did it in any dance routines while performing with his brothers as a member of The Jacksons. He just from nowhere, caught everyone off guard with it. And that's exactly how those guys used to do it outside. No forewarning...no announcement...just BAM!! Michael did it just like that.
 
Last edited:
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

EC: I just stated the fact that there are too many of those "kids" and they contradict to each other.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

And yes, seeing the clip WBSS21 offered, why I can immediately understand that none of prior "Moonwalk" performances, including Daniel's, did not effect viewers any near as much as Jackson's?
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

EC: I just stated the fact that there are too many of those "kids" and they contradict to each other.
The names you listed are not what I took Michael to have meant by kids. It is instead something like what AllForMJ just described, although I did not know the history before.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Before he did that dance on Motown 25, he never showed signs that he knew that dance. He never did it in any dance routines while performing with his brothers as a member of The Jacksons. He just from nowhere, caught everyone off guard with it. And that's exactly how those guys used to do it outside. No forewarning...no announcement...just BAM!! Michael did it just like that.

I love that story. I never knew that. I didn't know the significance. I didn't need to know it to be absolutely awestruck the first time I saw Michael do that move. I can't even imagine what it was like for those that it had that added significance for. Thank you for sharing. You just made something very special even more special to me.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

You're welcome. One of the things that makes him so awesome and exciting is you never know what he's going to do until it's coming at you. That's why I love it when he keeps what he's working on a secret...much like he's doing right now. He's really good at surprising people. It's a lot of fun.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Mike may have saw how the kids did it and people take credit for it but the fact is from the videos posted that the backslide has been used in different ways by dancers over the years. It's a technique very talented and agile dancers learn by beat, they don't "think" as MJ said in the LWMJ documentary, they feel what they dance to and that's how Mike was that night nearly 25 years ago. But he joined a long list of dancers who did that. He just took it to everybody and next day EVERYBODY was doing it.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

And it's still...to this very day...a dance that many people cannot do. If it's not done right, it does not look good. Only people that can actually do it, do it smoothly. If the person doesn't look like they are gliding...if they got traction...they are doing it wrong.
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Mike may have saw how the kids did it and people take credit for it but the fact is from the videos posted that the backslide has been used in different ways by dancers over the years. It's a technique very talented and agile dancers learn by beat, they don't "think" as MJ said in the LWMJ documentary, they feel what they dance to and that's how Mike was that night nearly 25 years ago. But he joined a long list of dancers who did that. He just took it to everybody and next day EVERYBODY was doing it.
Well I hope you don't mean you think he didn't practice it.

I was looking for the quote from Daniel saying he asked Michael what took Michael so lonbg to do it and Michael said he wanted to make sure he had it right. I didn't find it but found this instead. Check it out. There are interviews with Daniel, Jermaine, and Janet about that first performance. Yes, they do say that Michael did not know what he was going to do ahead of time that night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQGSa5BvKAQ
 
Re: Where did the Moonwalk really originate?

Here is another one from the same site. It ends the same but shows some of the other moves that Michael may have gotten from Jeffrey Daniel. Very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0-isEu89aA&feature=related


Wow! I also found this in the comments (from someone called cheekbeatah). We are back to Michael learning it from kids.

Well.... I might as well add my two cents in too.... Jeffery IS a large part of Michael's dancing as we know it today, as are Geron " Casper " Candidate and Derek " Cooley " Jackson.. They taught Michael how to moonwalk. I went to highschool with both of them. Geron is in 4 or 5 of Michael's videos. He's standing next to Jeffery in the Bad video.

You Tube is amazing.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top