Gangsters roam a nefarious underworld, and Jackson is the hero-kingpin whom the camera follows as smoothly as if he were Fred Astaire gliding through a ballroom. But by the time the song “Smooth Criminal” came along in 1988, Jackson’s ability to tell a story in dance hit a high mark. Jackson is said to have insisted that his videos were called short films, and both “Beat It” and “Thriller” are absolutely that. Whether they are gang members or zombies, the dancers behind him are just as important as Jackson, adding character and depth to the video. The viewer sees Jackson’s perfection first, but it is buttressed by the eye-pleasing site of unison behind him. “Beat It” and “Thriller,” though, feature him at the front of a triangular formation of backup dancers. With the video for “Billie Jean,” Jackson established himself as a dancer-singer with his smooth, graceful walks, spins and poses as he moves through a desolate cityscape in a tuxedo. His performances were well-rehearsed and highly artisticĭancing onstage within live performance was one thing, but a video with the high production values of “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” or “Thriller” were well-rehearsed, highly choreographed artistic statements. Prior to Jackson’s “Thriller,” videos in which singers danced were rare. With MTV came videos that gave performers a second, visual platform with which to represent their songs and themselves. And the change came with the help of MTV, which launched in 1981. The moonwalk fit perfectly into the physically demanding, almost gymnastic genre known for floor spins, fast footwork and named steps like the worm.Įven before the moonwalk, though, Jackson had changed the way that Americans interacted with dance. But the moment is a particular part of dance history because Jackson bridged the gap between West Coast street dance and the East Coast break dancers, who were part of the early days of hip-hop. Jackson made the move a national phenomenon – kids everywhere were imitating him. So he incorporated that into the moonwalk,” said Jared Grimes, an entertainer and Broadway dancer. “Michael Jackson was really good at doing the robot style and isolations. In his first outing with the move, he adapted the moonwalk into his choreography at carefully selected moments within a sequence of moves: There’s the moonwalk, followed by a spin and then his trademark toe-stand with its freeze-frame pose that makes the crowd go wild. Jackson’s fame cut across all demographics with the 1982 album Thriller, and “Billie Jean” was one of the top hits from it. Michael Jackson performs live on stage, 1996, Jerudong Park, Brunei. As inventive and talented as dance groups at the time were, they lacked Jackson’s crossover appeal to a mainstream audience. Because Jackson was such a meticulous dancer - with a capacity for extreme control but also quickness - he gave the moonwalk a slick perfection.īy doing the walk on the national television stage in 1983, Jackson was able to popularize the move in a way that groups like The Electric Booglaoos could not. Jackson said in his memoir that he learned the move from some friends, and he worked on it in the studio. The Electric Booglaoos were doing it on Soul Train in the 1970s,” said Basil. Jackson learned the moonwalk from friends One of the most widely known dance troupes using the style were the Electric Booglaoos and among their moves were stylized, almost cartoonish walks, including what was called at the time the “backslide,” according to performer Toni Basil, who is widely known for the song “Mickey” but was also part of a dance troupe The Lockers. The style included sequences of pulsing or stop-and-start movements. The move, though, was already popular among West Coast street dancers who were using a precise, mechanized style of movement called popping. When the world saw Michael Jackson do the moonwalk for the first time, it was in a live solo performance of “Billie Jean,” following NBC’s celebration of 25 years of Motown.
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