How to do dance moves like michael jackson
Doctors explain Michael Jackson's impossible dance move
Published
Image source, Manjul Tripathi
Neurosurgeons have described in detail how Michael Jackson achieved biomechanically impossible dance moves in his music video Smooth Criminal.
In the 1987 routine, Michael leans from the ankle at a 45 degree angle, while keeping his body straight as a rod.
The illusion, which many have tried to copy, was thanks to specially designed shoes and the artist's core strength.
The spine experts warn others against attempting the potentially injurious but mind-boggling move.
Manjul Tripathi and colleagues from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, say in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine: "Most trained dancers with strong core strength will reach a maximum of 25 to 30 degrees of forward bending while performing this action. MJ pulled off a gravity-defying 45 degree move that seems unearthly to any witness."
Image source, RUBEN RAMOS
How MJ did it
If a person were to attempt the Smooth Criminal lean, they would notice that the bulk of the strain to strike the pose moves to the Achilles tendon in each ankle, rather than the erector spinae muscles of the back.
This allows for only a very limited degree of forward bend, even for someone matching Michael's strong athletic abilities, explains Assistant Prof Tripathi.
Michael got the extra degrees of tilt thanks to some fancy footwear.
A v-shaped slit in the bottom of each heel of his spats slotted onto a strong nail or "hitch member" driven into the ground, allowing the dancer to pivot and lean further forward, for the gravity-defying move.
Image source, Manjul Tripathi
Prior to the patented footwear invention, Michael had relied on supporting cables and a harness around his waist to create the illusion.
It's said that he and two Hollywood colleagues borrowed the footwear idea from US astronauts' boots, which can be docked to a fixed rail when working in zero gravity.
But even with specially designed footwear and the support of the hitch member, the move is incredibly hard to pull off, requiring athletic core strength from strengthened spinal and lower-limb muscles, say the doctors.
"Several MJ fans, including the authors, have tried to copy this move and failed, often injuring themselves in their endeavours," they caution.
Dr Tripathi said: "The chances of injury to the ankle are significant. You need strong core muscles and good support around the ankle. It's not a simple trick."
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How Michael Jackson's tilt move defied gravity
Story highlights
Michael Jackson created a dance move that defied gravity
To accomplish it he patented a special shoe
CNN —
Michael Jackson’s musical achievements are legend: the first artist to win eight Grammys in one night; the first artist to sell more than a million digital tracks in one week.
Michael Jackson Best MoonWalk Ever!! [HD]
His impact on dance has been just as powerful. Fans around the world have tried to imitate his smooth slides and spins, his racy crotch grab and pelvic thrust and, of course, his trademark moonwalk, with varying degrees of success.
But there’s one move that stunned the watching world: the gravity-defying tilt he debuted in his 1988 music video for “Smooth Criminal.
” In one scene, Jackson and a few of his dancers lean forward 45 degrees, backs straight, feet flat upon the floor, and hold the pose until they return upright with little apparent effort.
Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal Secret Anti-Gravity Lean
“It’s not really possible physically to do it,” said neurosurgeon Dr. Nishant Yagnick, a longtime Jackson fan who practices at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India. “He was cheating gravity.”
“You can bend a maximum of 25 or 30 degrees forward before you fall on your face,” added his colleague Dr.
Manjul Tripathi, another fan. “I tried to do it, and I fell.”
Fascinated by Jackson and his seemingly inhuman abilities, Yagnick and Tripathi began to investigate just how the pop legend was able to accomplish his feat. Along with another colleague, Dr. Sandeep Mohindra, they published their observations from a neurosurgeon’s point of view on Tuesday in the Journal of Neurosurgery: “How did Michael Jackson challenge our understanding of spine biomechanics?”
On the left, how the body is supposed to bend; on the right, how Michael Jackson did it
Journal of Neurosurgery When the human body bends forward with the back straight, the doctors explain, the erector spinae muscles that run parallel to our vertebrae “act like cables” and support the body as the center of gravity shifts.
But when the focus of bending is switched to the ankles, those erector muscles aren’t the major support. Instead, the strain is put on the calf and Achilles tendon, which aren’t really built for that role.
“This allows for a very limited degree of forward bending from the ankle joints, while keeping a stiff straight posture – unless you are Michael Jackson,” they explain in the study. “Most trained dancers with strong core strength will reach a maximum of 25 or 30 degrees of forward bending while performing this action.”
Though Jackson was in marvelous shape, even he couldn’t do the maneuver without help. So he and his team invented a special shoe that would anchor him to the floor during the tilt.
Michael Jackson's patented shoe.
United States Patent Jackson et al.Patented on October 26, 1993, the shoes “have a specially designed heel slot which can be detachably engaged” with a “hitch” (such as a nail) projected through the stage surface “by simply sliding the shoe wearer’s foot forward, thereby engaging with the hitch member,” according to the US Patent Office description.
“Very inventive idea of him,” Tripathi said with a laugh, “because even with that shoe, I am not able to do 45 degrees. You need a very good core of strength, and that strength was in Michael Jackson and his Achilles tendon.”
Yagnick agreed: “Normal people, even with the shoe, probably can’t do it. It takes a lot of practice to develop the core muscles, abs and central trunk muscles to get the strength to do it.”
Not only would most people need intensive training to accomplish the move, said Atlanta physiatrist Dr. Jose Garcia-Corrada, but they could seriously injure themselves if they fell. Garcia specializes in the medical rehabilitation of the spine at Emory School of Medicine.
“If you were to lose your core balance during the lean and didn’t catch the fall with your arms, you could hit your jaw,” Garcia-Corrada said.
“That might hyperextend the neck and cause serious spine damage.”
It’s not just the spine that might be affected, he added.
“You’re holding most of your weight with muscles that you normally wouldn’t use in this way,” he said. “You could really strain your back and legs muscles and tendons.”
Many audiences who watched Jackson and his dancers perform the feat on video and in concerts had no knowledge of the trick. To them, Yagnick said, it seemed like magic.
“When Michael Jackson brought out the video and then did it live on stages around the world, people didn’t know he had this shoe system,” he said. “Particularly in India, where Michael Jackson is very popular, many people tried to copy him, and some even hurt themselves.”
“MJ style,” as it is called in India, is so popular that one of the top dance groups is called “MJ5” because they imitate Jackson, while children emulate the moves in competitions like “Dance, India, Dance.”
junior michael jackson from INDIA(must watch)
Tripathi believes that Jackson’s legacy has “pushed whole generations of dancers to go beyond their limits,” which he says is putting new kinds of stresses on the spine.
“So in India, neurosurgeons are perplexed due to all these new kinds of neuroskeletal injuries we are now seeing.”
Studies on the newer forms of dance inspired by Jackson back up the doctors’ observations.
A 2012 study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports followed three types of hip-hop dancers: popper/lockers, breakers and “new schoolers.”
Popping and locking are foreshadowed in many of Michael Jackson’s routines.
Locking requires freezing from a fast movement and “locking” into that position for a short time before suddenly moving again. Popping involves quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to produce a jerking motion or “pop” in the body.
Breakers or “B-boys” practice a highly acrobatic type of dance that involves tumbling, spinning headstands and lifts in which the entire body is supported by one arm. “New schoolers” borrow inspiration from many styles of dance and fit them to the music.
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There were 738 injuries among the 232 dancers in the study; breakers had the highest number of injuries.
The study’s conclusion: Hip-hop dancers “should be educated concerning injury prevention, biomechanics, and use of protective equipment.”
A 2009 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found 1,665 injuries among 40 breakdance professionals and 104 amateurs, mostly in the wrist, spine, shoulder and ankle. Breakdancing, said the authors, “must be considered as a potentially high-risk dancing sport,” especially since dancers didn’t often take enough time to heal before jumping back into training.
That is a significant problem in India as well, Yagnick said, particularly among young people who see dancing as a pathway to a profession.
“We are seeing a lot of complex dance moves that they just copy but don’t really learn from a professional,” Yagnick said. “They are young, 18 or younger, and they want to get ahead, and they are pushing themselves. They don’t know what they are dealing with. There should be education on the right and wrong way to do things.”
How to learn to dance like Michael Jackson?
Posted on by HRTrain
Content:
- How to learn movements
- Michael Jackson moonwalk
- Pop Idol Dancing Secrets
- Video tutorials
Milk Jackson is considered one of the best choreographers and dancers in history. His skill was the best of the best among those who were in the pop industry.
He always did it easily, and so far he remains the most outstanding artist (of course, not in the literal sense of the word). You can enjoy his staging and movements in various videos. Michael is such a great dancer that the dance looks very organic and simple, as if you can immediately get up and repeat everything without difficulty! But, this is the great talent of Michael Jackson as an artist - to do the complex at ease and easily! How to learn to dance like him? What is the secret of movement? Naturally, the singer's hallmark is the well-known "moonwalk". This movement is a special technique where the dancer moves backward while trying to move forward. This is how the illusion of sliding is created.
How to learn the moves
It takes curly hair and shiny socks to learn the sliding moonwalk. They say it's the key to success! And here are the phased technical movements:
- On a full foot, put one foot forward;
- Take the second back and put it on your fingers;
- With the foot that is in front, begin to slide lightly and gently back past the foot that is behind;
- Now, with the foot that was in front, put on the whole foot, and lift the back one on the toes;
- Repeat these movements again and again.
All kinds of variations of the movements of the moonwalk, allow you to slide to the right, left, forward, as well as in a circle. Now you know how easy it is to learn this intricate movement.
Michael Jackson's moonwalk
The artist first showed the moonwalk way back in 1983 on an American live TV show while performing the song "Billie Jean". Young Michael, dressed in a hat, one glove, black jacket, silver T-shirt, silver socks and black pants, made a splash. He wrapped himself around himself and did this world-famous gait.
The dancing of the star attracted a huge number of spectators, and the movement itself called the moonwalk became very popular. Dancing is considered the second nature of the famous singer. The first is, of course, music, which occupied most of his life.
It is interesting that in 1989 they made a film where Michael played the main role, he portrayed himself. This movie is called "Moonwalker". The singer considered dancing such an important part of the image that even the biopic was called "Moonwalk", which translates as "Moonwalk".
Secrets of dancing pop idol
In addition to the moonwalk, dancers all over the world love to repeat another trick of the star. This is body tilt 45 degrees to the floor . You can see it in the video for the song "Smooth Criminal". There are a large number of variations and versions on the theme: how to perform this trick. Some argue that in the stage costumes of Michael himself and his dancers, special pins were installed, in the shape and size of the heel, which at some point advanced and fixed. The dancer himself patented this boot design.
How to learn to dance like Michael Jackson? Is it realistic to do it? Naturally, yes! A huge number of people are proof of this. The video tutorials below will help you. Carefully study the technique, turn on the music louder, and go ahead.
Video lessons
Uchieto.ru
Category:
- Training
Keywords:
- How to learn
- How to learn how to dance
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Michael Jackson's moon path: how to learn to dance
Michael Jackson's moonwalk even now causes great excitement among the public.
Learning how to dance it is not so difficult if you know some secrets of a pop idol. What are they and how to quickly learn the moonwalk?
Contents
- Pop idol and his moonwalk
- Why the movement is called so
- What are the characteristics of the dance
- How to do the moonwalk: technique
- Instructions for learning the movements of the moonwalk
- Moonwalking at home
- Step by step guide to moonwalking
- Moonwalking tips
- Video tutorial
- Pop idol dancing secret
Pop idol and his moonwalk
Everyone knows about this dance move. True, the authorship belongs far from the king of the pop industry. Michael Jackson made this movement popular by repeating it from the stage, but the authorship does not belong to him.
Help! It is difficult to name the exact creator of the moonwalk, so the authorship of this movement is attributed to the entire pop culture of that time.
As soon as Michael Jackson moonwalked the stage at one of the concerts, this movement immediately won the love of many of his fans. Literally everyone wanted to learn this kind of footwork and body movement.
At that time there were not a lot of dance lessons and many people tried to portray at least something similar to the famous dance couple by trial and error. Fortunately, now this is not a problem and anyone can learn this movement at any time of the day or night.
Why is the movement so called? At the same time, the dancer does not raise his legs, as if afraid to go into a gravity-free space, and the movements themselves seem light and airy, as if a person was holding on to the surface of the earth.
It is also known that before the performance by Michael Jackson, the dance was called differently. Having repeated it on stage, the performer himself gave him such a nickname, and it has stuck to our times. Therefore, the moonwalk is an initiative of Jackson himself, because before that the dance was called “backslide”, which translates as “retreat”.
And although the initial version of the name is more appropriate, to this day the movement is called the moonwalk.
What are the characteristics of dance
This dance movement is relevant for many dance groups. It is not difficult to recognize and distinguish him from the crowd, so users, seeing such a movement from the stage, will surely fill the hall with applause. In addition, the moonwalk performed by popular and skilled dancers looks like the dancer is floating in the air and touches the floor with only his toes.
Michael Jackson himself notes that even before his speech, such a movement was popular in the ghetto quarters. The blacks in these areas were excellent at performing the movement, moreover, Jackson considered them geniuses and systematically repeated that it was they who brought to life many elements of the current dance culture.
How to Do the Moonwalk: Technique
When it comes to technique, many professional dancers will attest to the fact that the walk is only superficially difficult.
Even a person who is far from the sphere of dance is able to master this dance movement. At a minimum, on the Global Web, a user can find hundreds and thousands of video tutorials and master classes on how to perform this element.
Moonwalk Instructions
How did Michael Jackson perform this gait? After the hype, he often used this gait and enjoyed the popularity of this movement.
Before starting work, it is worth choosing the right shoes. Shoes in which the dance element will be performed should be comfortable and resistant. No heavy boots in which it would be problematic to create an element of “weightlessness”.
It is worth choosing a room. In order to learn how to move smoothly, you need to find a free room that will not hamper movement.
Tip! Training is best done in front of a large mirror, which will help you fully control your movements, seeing them from the side. In it you can see the plasticity of the body and the smoothness of the movements of the dancer.
The dancer must stand straight and straighten his shoulders, the right foot is placed in front of the left so that the heel of one matches the toe of the other. Then the leg is bent at the knee joint, placed on the toe and simultaneously retracted.
How to learn the moonwalk at home
The moonwalk is not such a difficult dance element that you have to hire a teacher to learn it. This can be done independently at home, without the help of additional people.
Step-by-step instructions for teaching the moonwalk
In order to easily cope with the training, the user needs to perform the following algorithm:
- A person stands sideways in front of a large mirror. The arms should be relaxed, and the body weight should be evenly distributed on both legs, the left leg is placed behind the toe, and the body weight is evenly transferred to it. In this case, the person leans back a little. With a sliding movement, the right leg starts up backwards, while it is important not to tear it off the floor, but to keep the body weight on the left leg.
- As soon as the heel of the right foot is on the floor, the left foot takes over and begins to move behind the right foot in the same pattern.
- The weight is transferred to the right foot and the left foot is in a smooth glide.
In fact, everything is very simple, it is a matter of technique, as well as the correct and timely transfer of body weight from one leg to another. Over time, experienced dancers who have fully mastered the dance take the opportunity and put their hands into action. This helps to achieve more entertainment.
Moonwalk tips
The main recommendation is to use a mirror. Schools and dance studios often use mirrors and decorate the entire room with them. So the dancer can more clearly follow his own plasticity and movements.
The illusion of softness and smooth gliding should be created, and not the feeling that the legs are dragging. It is lightness that is the fundamental element of this dance.
In addition, experienced dancers are advised to perform the first movements slowly, until the very essence of the actions reaches the muscle memory.
Movements must be performed automatically and be extremely accurate. Otherwise, no moonwalk will work, but on the contrary, not a dance will come out, but something incomprehensible and strange.
Video tutorial
What is the secret of the pop idol dancing
Another favorite move attributed to the pop idol is the 45-degree body tilt. When Michael Jackson first demonstrated this movement, the audience was literally in shock.
Help! Some users still reproach Jackson for using insurance, because it is almost impossible to perform this action without additional equipment due to gravitational attraction.
By the way, Jackson has a patented product in the form of a boot with a specific heel that can be fixed.
