Teach Me to Moonwalk
The moonwalk is a dance routine popularized in the early 1980s by pop music icon Michael Jackson. According to Time Magazine, Jackson made history with a legendary performance of "Billie Jean" when he debuted the moonwalk at Motown 25, an ABC television special remembered as a landmark moment in music entertainment. Now acknowledged as one of the most recognizable dance steps of all time, the moonwalk involves fluid movements slipping and gliding across the floor with the illusion of walking forward, while actually traveling backwards.
Instructions
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Position your feet together, while standing tall and ready to dance. The left foot must be slightly ahead of the right. The toes of your right foot should be in line with half of the left foot.
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Raise your right heel and put your weight on your right toe in a way that you are standing on the ball of your right foot. While shifting your weight onto your right foot, keep your right knee bent to enhance the illusion of the right foot traveling forward.
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Slide your left foot back and keep your left leg straight. Keep it flat and looking and feeling weightless. This gives the continuing routine the illusion of standing on the left foot, while the right travels forward on a step.
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Raise your left leg to allow the toe of the left foot to point towards the floor. Soon after, the position of your left foot will already be adjacent to the position of your right foot. After which, your left foot starts to assume the position of your right foot, as the toes of your right foot start moving to face the floor.
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Slowly lower the right heel in the middle of moving your weightless-looking left foot backwards. Align the heel of the right foot with it in a way that your position would show your left foot seemingly floating backwards across the floor.
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Lift your left heel, then shift the body weight to position yourself standing on the ball of the other foot. Drag back the left foot to line its toes to the heel of the right foot. The left foot's heel should go slightly off the ground as you glide through.
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Repeat the fourth, fifth and sixth steps with each foot's movement switching and alternating accordingly. While working on the repetitive routine for each foot, both feet must be well coordinated and each one's movements must be the same speed. When switching leg movements for each step, make sure that when one knee is bent, its heel stays up until the other foot is all the way back in.
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Add the appropriate head and hand movements. When sliding your leg back, move your head forward in a way that it looks like it is being left behind by your foot work. After which, pull it back to the body once you are already switching the step for the other foot. When sliding your left leg back, your right arm should swing forward and vice versa. You can also do a another popular variation where the hands are placed inside your pockets.
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Continue executing the alternating steps for each foot until you finish one entire set of the moonwalking routine. One basic set would take a few seconds.
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Tips & Warnings
When doing the moonwalk, choose a ground surface that is not rough as friction makes it harder for your feet to glide. The routine's required footwork is best performed on a smooth, polished floor.
Wear a pair of socks or any pair of shoes with smooth soles when practicing so you can move around more comfortably. It is best to use low grip shoes. You may also wear sneakers, rubber shoes or dress shoes. For the actual performance, you may wear any pair of shoes that would fit your dance costume. This may be the same as your practice shoes, a pair of hiking boots or retro moon boots, just like what Michael Jackson used for his moonwalk.
Apart from doing the steps properly, smoothness and attitude are key to create an impressive moonwalking routine. Also, make sure that the tip of each foot never comes up off the floor throughout the routine.
For beginners, it is best to start methodically by practicing each individual motion, then gradually build up speed to perfect the moves.
