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  • He sucked at it...but yes, older than MJ lol.

  • NOW THAT REALLY LOOKS LIKE THE MOON WALK THE REST OF THE VIDEOS MAKING CLAIMS ARE B.S.

  • ZOMG.

    Michael Jackson CopyWrited.

    ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG.

  • Mesmerising!

  • Truth is, Bill Bailey probably wasn't the first to do it either. By the time He performed it on a TV screen, it had probably been done underground in the community for years. A lot of pop culture from African Americans started that way, especially back then.

  • @everettedl Bojangles was doing it in the 1930's I beileve so its atleast that old. He did it in a movie with Shirley Temple. But then again wonder who did before that? It could be over 100 hundreds year old.

  • This is more of a backslide though, Michael improved it and he never said he made it up anyway.

  • e o MJ sábia fazer melhor!

  • @dentedeleo nao sabia ele apenas aprimorou mais ele aprendeu com dancarinos de rua :D

  • Comment removed

  • this proves that mj didnt make moonwalk up

  • @xXmakkatakXx yeah only thing is michael jackson made it a legend. the original people made the moonwalk a peace of shit. Michael Jackson invented the expert moonwalk. soo yea. plus everybody knows that.

  • this is talent.

    rip Bill bailey

  • MJ said it him self he learned it from break dancers. and alot of break dancing moves are taken from all sorts of things like acrobatics and other dances. so nothing is being stolen cuz MJ admitted he didn't make it up. Break dancers smoothed out the moonwalk, which is the version MJ does

  • He actually did this first in 1943. Check out the movie Cabin In The Sky.

  • This is the REAL TALENT! All these imitations making this type of dancing very typical and dull.

  • Moonwalk at 1:29

  • @htnguyen32 thanks a lot :)

  • I was surprised to learn that the moonwalk was so old. I guess MJ took something cool and improved on it.

  • @vonijoe How did he improve it?

  • @TheEnglishJack The earliness of Mr. Bailey's dance is impressive, but speaking for myself only, I'm more impressed by the moonwalk that I've seen MJ do (and I'm really not a huge fan of MJ). Similarly, many cover songs are better than their originals. Improving on a thing does not diminish the original, nor does my original comment belittle it in this case.

  • I say , let us gather the greatest lunar Kinesthetic historians from all the land and ye the common people shalt be the Judges as to who speaketh the truth. There shall be merriment and whimsical frollicking and a beheading or two.

  • I seriously doubt if Michael Jackson could tap dance this way.

  • @spacecowboy5000 - I don't know about that way but Michael did have some tap dancing experience. If you watch his movies he incorporated some tap dancing moves into some of his dance moves and stage performances. Supposedly he also took some skating lessons which, allegedly, is partially how he got his famous spin down pat.

  • @A86 Sorry. My comment didn't come out like I'd wanted. Yes, Michael was a talented and skilled dancer who was serious about his art. He was no doubt one of the greatest performers of the 20th century. While I do respect his work I do have a problem with his fans.

  • @spacecowboy5000 - As a fan myself I agree. Some fans can be an embarrassment (though some of MJ's haters are just as annoying). Not implying you're a hater, just going into a stream of consciousness now. Lol

  • the tune kinda sounds like billy jean too if you simplify it

  • that didnt really seem like the moon walk to me...

  • maaaaaan you don't know a thing about the moonwalk...

    at the begining the moonwalk is performed by marcel marceau, the step's name is "la marche contre le vent" the walk against the wind...you can see it in "silent movie" by mel brooks...

  • bello. molto bello.

  • that's not the moonwalk that is the backslide, michael was the first to do the moonwalk by perfecting the backslide and calling it the moonwalk!

  • that's npt the moonwalk that is the backslide, michael was the first to do the moonwalk by perfecting the backslide and calling it the moonwalk!

  • Bill Bailey is wonderful by the way he done the Backslide, Jeff Daniels is also fantastic, but they seemed weighty - Sorry Guys! Michael Jackson turned the Moonwalk not into something special, he turned it into Magic by walking on the tips of his toes, and the gravity defying lean in Smooth criminal. Michael is a hyponotic & mesmerizing dancer and this African American dance is a marriage made in heaven, he's earned it, MJ is the greatest Entertainer so stop moaning.

  • it is sad that Micheal Jackson died , but why should he get the credit for creating the moonwalk ?

  • @love187punk s not getting him credit for creating it! just he was the modern day moonwalk master

  • Geez, can you imagine him being your father and teaching how to hop-scotch? That would be tooo wild to see. I can only, I mean only, imagine how much fun he could have with that.

  • Bailey is better

  • thumbs up if at first when u read it u thought it said "Bill Haley"

  • its at 1:30

  • Eh well.... he's alright at it but Michael professionalized it. I give Bill the credit for coming up with it in the first place.

    R.I.P. Bill Bailey & Michael Jackson<3

  • moon walking starts at 1:30

  • @mstrdk

    lol thanks

  • That Bailey family was mighty talented!!! He is the brother of Pearl Bailey!

  • Micheal Jackson didn't create the Moonwalk, they've been doing it for years on the Soul Train. He just helped popularize outside of black communities.

  • Many dance steps/moves have been performed for hundreds of years all over the world and are being revived or recycled by current generations. just fyi--- moonwalk and back sliding are two different moves that are still being confused to this day. Overall, I love this performance

  • @lateefahflower Thank you for saying that at the end. People will forever call the Backslide the Moonwalk no matter how much you tell them or show them.

  • @antigoniem06

    You're welcome. One of my goals is to keep dance history pure and true. It doesn't matter the genre or style

  • Mike learn't to do the moonwalk from Jeffrey Daniel a member of the disco group Shalamar. Jeffery performed the moonwalk on the Top of Pops in June 1982 while doing their latest hit "A Night To Remember".

  • Copy and paste this into youtube search box:

    the walking up and down bit (1)

    The clip looks reversed about 12 seconds in. Not sure what year, maybe 50's.

    And copy and paste this into youtube search box:

    Max Wall / Cafe Del Mar

    credit to cullyvan for that clip.

    Both clips are Max Wall

  • what is the song?

  • MJ was a choreography as well as a singer. Im pretty sure that all those choreographers out there dont invent every move. He was genuis for the way he put the moves together, not to mention he wrote the songs that went along with them.

  • There are recordings where you can see African Americans do the moonwalk, back in the 1930's, even the 1920's. Michael Jackson was NOT the first. Not even the best. I have seen men doing it smoother and more convincing than Michael ever did. He was good...! But a few of these men in the 20's and 30's were even better. Smoother and more realistic. I saw it on TV, once. Truly amazing, a pleasure to watch.

  • @telescopereplicator Smoother and more realistic than MJ? In the 20's and 30's? You can't be serious.

  • This is good. But it is not even close to the first moonwalk. Off by a few decades.

  • I thought michael said he learned it from kids in harlem.The greatest modern dancers Ive ever seen is in central park.Thats where the real talent is.Unbelieveable talent.I hope those kids over there will get some recognition 1 day,because they're incredible to watch.amazeing!

  • The song Bill is tapping to is called "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise". It took me about 3 years to track it down since first hearing it being played here, so I thought I'd help anyone else who liked the tune.

  • @normanlamont I think that Les Paul & Mary Ford did a song by that name, back in the late 40's or early 50s. Think it's the same song?

  • @normanlamont Thanks!

  • I believe it was King Solomon who said "There's nothing new under the sun."

  • @logicpractitioner What he actually said is: "There is no new thing under the sun."

  • @57highland No. I'm correct. I always read from the GTTPV (Get to the Point Version).

  • The lesson is that new things are rarely inventions, they're usually adaptations.

    I expect there were dancers doing moonwalk variations long before there were any other people around to watch.

  • Michael Jackson learned the moonwalk from Soultrain dancers.

  • Now THAT is how you dance!

  • he didnt invent the moonwalk an old tv show from mexico called cantinflas

  • bet this video started getting views after MJ dead

  • @elzizoumexicano That would have helped but it was mostly from the Qi episode featuring this clip.

  • Even his sister has said that this step was very popular in the outskirts of American cities .... BUT his genius to enter the pitch in time with the music with the magic charm that's totally him, recognize that the charisma that he had no equal ... was pure magic ... dancing in a manner so natural almost like there is no effort, with as much grace and charm that was a thing of Michael Elisângela, WHOS IS BAD NOW?

  • Ooooh especially for the "BLOG SPACE ELISANGELA" prq she posts the video and allows no further comment and put at the end: WHO IS BAD? Michael never said he invented the pitch, everyone wants to know that you know, the fans know ....

  • Até a irmã dele já disse isso esse passo ficou muito popular nas periferias das cidades americanas....MAS a genialidade dele de introduzir o passo no momento, com a música com o charme magia isso é totalmente dele, reconheça que o carisma que ele tinha não existe igual... era pura mágica... dançar de maneira tão singular quase como se não houvesse esforço, com tanta graça e charme isso era coisa do Michael ELISÂNGELA, WHOS IS BAD NOW?

  • Ooooh especialmente para o "BLOG ESPAÇO DA ELISÂNGELA" prq ela posta o vídeo e não permite comentário e ainda põe no final: WHO IS BAD? Michael jamais disse que havia inventado o passo, todo mundo que quer saber disso sabe, os fãs sabem....

  • "Brush, drop, step."... "The Buzz".... "Popper".. Meh,.. "Moonwalk " has much more appeal! Cha'mone!

  • Yes, backslide was the original name of it, but this move may be a descendant of a basic tap move, the step + brush back, when the dancer does a step backwards, and then brushes back his other foot. This makes two other tapping sounds, and while the dancer have to keep kis brushing foot very close to the floor, simulteanously balancing on the other (same weight/balance as in the backslide), it was a minimal modification to eliminate the two clicks and just pull the brushing feet on the ground.

  • This old? It was done in Cabin in the Sky in 1943 also......

  • @friendsfamilyaccount  by Bill Bailey

  • michel took lessons from street dancers..several of which i know personally...

  • @podzillart know peronally? pfft...

  • You see, nobody reads books anymore, so nobody knows a damn thing. The move is called the "Backslide" (the "Moonwalk" is actually on the spot), and Michael paid a 16 year old $1,000 to teach him it.

  • @aaronfromhastings that's right! .. the backslide! BILL BAILEY'S BAD !!!

  • wow....bill's is shifting diagonally, michael's is straight

  • @QuackerMan45 Good point...I didn't notice that at first.

  • Que tio como baila!! esto pueden ser los origenes del moonwalk, pero la elegancia de Micke no la supera ni Fred Astaire, no creo que se copien unos a otros, simplemente perfeccionan o hacen los pasos suyos añadiendoles su toque, es lo que los hacen artistas... no copian el paso... lo hacen evolucionar ¿alguien duda que en los actuales pasos de baile de los más famosos artistas del momento no hay algo de Michael o de Madonna? Miraos el video de Alejandro Lady GAGA.

  • Wonderful 

  • michael's was smoother but hey, this is tap

  • No se quien nació antes si Bill Bailey, Resortes o Fred Astaire porque estos 3 grandes artistas hacen en algun video que he visto una especie de moonwalk.Mi pregunta es: se copiaron unos a otros?Por que todo el mundo critica a Michael?

  • Nil novi sub sole.

  • Amen, My president is Mixed, my skeleton White

  • He is actually very talented....

  • everything's been done before, its just taken a different shape n form, the tappers back in the days, called this the 'get off' because they were back sliding as they were getting off the stage.

  • not the "get off", it may have been called that as the time went on, but bill bailey called this the "backslide".....if you read his lips he says "backslide" as he is doing it, but the crowd cheering and clapping drowned his words out....but read his lips, he says backslide. ; )

  • Great vid. Guys someones got a vid on here that is from 1899 of some men moonwalking and break dancing. It is older than this vid...They have been moonwalking forever.

  • Now that's a REAL entertainer! He entertains others while showing them that he really loves what he's doing. Not like all those dull artists and dancers you see on TV nowadays.

  • Amazing!! He manages to inject so much charm and delight into it.

  • Awesome footage!

  • he did invent the moonwalk

  • mistaking tap dance steps for the moonwalk … Basic stupidity !…

    However , the moonwalk has a history : check videos on Cab Calloway and others on this site …

  • Such rythm and grace! Billy's the best tap dancer and moonwalker ever!

  • Michael never claimed that he 'invented' the moonwalk. He actually several times tried to explain that he watched, among others, street dancers doing similar moves and tried to copy it. just like with all the other things mj did, he took it to a new level. so he still deserves the praise he got.

  • @sirisspives : Michael never claimed that he 'invented' the moonwalk. He actually several times tried to explain that he watched, among others, street dancers doing similar moves and tried to copy it. just like with all the other things mj did, he took it to a new level. so he still deserves the praise he got

    You right!

  • @sirisspives Let's give himk credit for doing it professionaly,

  • @sirisspives True. Also if you check out old (child star) Shirley Temple films, there are many dance routines featuring Bill "Bojangles" Bailey and her, and I recall a few instances of Bojangles performing the moonwalk. It is probable that Michael Jackson saw these films, too.

  • Remember these guys where not around in the age of MTV and we MUST give Michael jackson LOTS of credit since though he was popularising black dances that are as old as Africa he managed to break down the barrier and force the door open.He was the first to be seen doing all the staff these dances became Michael Jackson dances and with respect he did them so well and respect MUSt always be given to him. With the older guys as Public enemy said - Most of my heros don't appear on no stamps!

    a

  • @sirisspives what new level?

  • This is awesome. 5 starsss

  • Here are the facts: There were many forms of the Moonwalk prior to Michael Jackson. However, it was Jeffrey Daniel who specifically taught MJ the Moonwalk. Daniel, who was in the group Shalamar at the time, called it the "backslide." He displayed this dance move on television prior to Jackson, albeit to much smaller audiences like on Soul Train and in the UK. Jackson was so impressed by Daniel that he personally met with him to learn the move firsthand by the master choreographer. Case closed.

  • who gives a damn who invited what this is just amazing dancing can we just appreciate what we are watching cus we never know invented what somebody from his area could of taught him so lets just be happy we got to see it

  • mj past life

  • back then, you couldn't use clever camera/studio tricks. either you had it or you didn't

  • Michael Jackson learned the Backslide from Jeffrey Daniel. Jeffrey didn't even know about this guy. Street dancers had been doing this kind of move in the 60s probably and 70s but it was a little more bouncy. Jeff was one of these kinds of people.

    Jeffrey smoothed it out and taught it to Michael. Moonwalking/dancing was originally a sequence of moves simulated lighter gravity. Michael decided to call the backslide the moonwalk when he learned it. As a result, this name stuck with the world.

  • The inventor of the moon walk was a talented dancer back in 1906 named Trevor Allen.

  • @TheKentuckyCATz you being serious? im gonna go look it up heh

  • holy shit, I didnt expect that at the end

  • wow so this is the original moonwalk....great dancer!MJ was the one who make the dance famous..........

  • Michael Jackson was taught the Moonwalk by Jeffrey Daniel from Shalamar.

  • bill bailey made the moonwalk not m.j.

  • he can survive in any kind of earth quake.

  • You all know this is Pearlie Mae's brother, right? What a talented family.

  • would have loved to see Bill Bailey and Gene Kelly do a movie together

  • WOW!!, that was the moonwalk for sure

  • I thought this was old news? We been knowing this since the 80's...Yeah, moonwalking originated with tap dancing way back in the day...so did a lot of b-boy (breakdance) moves.

  • Back Slide

  • And I always thought M. Jackson was the first one to moonwalk...

  • my friend zatch resembles him.

  • I wounder if this is were Jeffery Daniels learned this from when he was small who taught it to Mikeal Jackson who delivered this to the the world in the 8o's

  • wow!

  • we know michael didnt invent the moonwalk--it's been out--dancers, inner city youth, Jeffrey Daniels and others kept it alive. MICHAEL PERFECTED IT AND MADE IT POPULAR!!!!!!!!!

  • @nucanin i agree

  • At 1.28 secs, he moonwalks.  Excellent. It's been going for years.

  • The great thing about this is that it shows us clearly that there have always been fantastic people doing fantastic stuff - it didn't just start with MJ and it won't end with him. It makes me realise all the incredible stuff my folks tried to tell me about was just that - incredible!!! But I wouldn't listen. And for my punishment, I have a son who won't listen when I tell him all the music I like is just as good as Green Day and so on :-) Who cares what is best - just give us the good!!

  • @twangbarfly MJ is not all about the moonwalk. Why everyone talks like MJ only moonwalks and did nothing else? he could do 7spins at one time and pause at a TOESTAND

  • @foreverneverO7 Hi - I never mentioned the moonwalk - and by the way, I don't care how good MJ was,  Neil Armstrong is clearly the precursor of the moonwalk.... :-)

  • @twangbarfly lol and as he said "that's a small step for him but a giant leap for mankind", i say mj's moonwalk is a giant leap for pop culture. :-p

  • @foreverneverO7

    Well I can spin 5 times and pause at a toestand. Its not impressive.

    Much more impressive is how fast and clear M.J danced and overall

    he created the dance routins. It was a complete new art of expressing the

    human body.

  • @49634900 oh u could do that? u should post it up! lol but u're right! . it's the way he executes the moves that's so amazing and hardly could be duplicated. i've watched lots of other dancers, they lack speed, precision, fluidity and soul in their moves. when mj dances, it's like his body dissolves into and flow with the music..

  • @foreverneverO7

    I did already. Go on my channel and see the video "A mix of various dance routines". I do 5 Spins at 1:51.

  • OMG look at the last dance move. Is that the moon walk, already in 1955

  • Wissen ist Macht!

  • Look at that man Bill Bailey. Being a Michael Jackson fan is so enriching. I love dance and being his fans introduces you to THE best dancers like Bob Fosse, Bill Bailey and others.

  • haha he looks so chill like his legs are going nuts but his top half is just chillin lmao WOW!

  • This is good!,

  • Michael never claimed to have invented the moonwalk. Watch his interviews. He always said clearly that his dance move came from the street dancers. I never heard him mention this guy. I have to watch this again. I didn't see a moonwalk here.

  • @eric251982 oh really? like the moonwalk at 1:30? you either need to clean the semen out of your eyes or find the nearest cliff and jump.

  • @eric251982 the moonwalk is at the very end of the video.. its a very fast moon walk.

  • thats really called the backslide and its much older than 1955

  • @Diamondgrl2007 well what MJ did was the same as that...

  • @david181993 i know but im just saying its really called the backslide

  • @Diamondgrl2007

    * totally agree !!! why everybody calls this the moonwalk ?? moonwalk is different .. when you do a moonwalk you have to turn in a circle !! like no gravity lol

  • @SpinoFromParis that is EXACTLY what the moonwalk is!!! i try tellin everybody that and they're telling me different..

  • u r talking about another type of moonwalk .. i love the circle one but the main one what michael started was like this in this vid.

  • movie "Cabin In The Sky" 1946.. check out the kitchen scene.. the Moonwalk

  • Try Cab Calloway He is the FIRST person credited for a dance move with an illusion of moving forwards while actually moving backwards..much like the moonwalk.. Proof of Cab Calloway's influence in MJ is seen in Janet Jacksons music video Alright. its sort of a tribute to him

  • happy feet!

  • Jefferey Daniel from the group Shalamar taught him how to actually do it. Who knows where he first saw it because he studied all of the dancing/performing greats. He brought it main stream and perfected the technique, thats why he gets the credit. Dance involves a freeing of the body so any move you have ever seen or will see has already been performed in some form or another.

  • Totally agree. Most of the earliest backsliding came from tapdancing, which is why he always wore tap shoes. It's much smoother than with any other shoe.

  • See the video of Chaplin doing the moonwalk in a silent film - pre 1932

  • This was not the first. Bill actually did it in a musical "Cabin in the sky" in 1943.

  • yup that out dates micheal i wonder if thats how he got it ? O_o who knows who did it first probably a moonwalking neanderthal.

  • pfttttttt......well michael did it the best : )

  • Michael didnt create the Moonwalk which would mean that he didnt steal it, the kid who he paid 1000 bucks to teach him did, and The way Bill did it, it looked to forced and not smooth original or illusion like at all so Michael did in a way create it, not in the traditional sense but he made it work and it looks a whole lot better than ANYONE b4 him.

  • wow he did invent it i thought michael jackson did but this hapend before he was born

  • John W. Bubbles, He's the first one. He did it in the 1943 movie "Cabin in the Sky". Look it up!

  • billie bailey .. hes he 1st one..

  • Everyone who says "mj stole it from billy" go and search for some facts! you'll will see that he didn't! he saw a small kid who did the moonwalk on the street and he asked him to teach him it! and IF you wodeed wwhy there is a small kid who says "i learned him everything he knows" in smooth criminal video, then you know what i mean!

  • He got it from Marcel Marceau, a mime he used to see as a child, he even became friends with him in old age and performed with him, search it.

  • he didn't get it from Marceau

    he got it from seeing street kids doing it, he even said so in the Oprah interview

  • About 100,000 years of modern humans means the moonwalk could have been done long ago, and we just don't have footage of it. How far does t.v. take us? Less than 100 years. However, the moonwalk dance movement was taught to Michael Jackson by one of the former dancers, named Casper, on the formerly running and popular American television program called 'Soul Train'. Michael paid Casper $1,000 for two lessons at a dance rehearsal studio in L.A.. Jackson made it world famous at Motown 25.

  • Now I'm officially never going to believe what I hear or see as fact and forever unchangeable. It seems as if no matter what we say or do, see or hear, write or read, believe or deceive, there is always something prior bigger better faster cooler nicer bolder weirder greater taller beyond and between.

  • @DBDP3 Good on ya. Can't agree more!

  • Wow, Bill Bailey killed the moonwalk. MJ did he so much better

  • watch the cavemen invented it,lol

  • the ancient egyptians probably knew the moonwalk, too... who cares, could be as old as dancing. maby the eskimos invented it and called it "icewalk" ;.)

  • thats not the moonwalk thats the backslide

  • moonwalk is a backslide stupid fuck.

    MJ's Moonwalk is the move bill does but then perfectionated.< or what the word is.

  • @jees030 I think before you start calling people "stupid f*cks" you should at least know the word is not "perfectionated"......I belive you mean "perfected"? :)

  • @jees030 *perfected

  • @helliebabe stfu. im dutch so fuck it