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Comment by johnnybgoode | Hacker News Reader

There was some discussion about the relevance of Michael Jackson's death to Hacker News. lyime mentioned the moonwalk as a "dance hack", and this reminded me of the patented anti-gravity lean -- a genuine hack. Look at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Smooth_crimina... and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Smooth_cr... to quickly see why this is cool.

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The moonwalk actually existed years before MJ used it.

Here is a clip of a guy doing it in 1955: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VbPd2iu4bg

Later, street dancers in California incorporated the move into their style known as "popping." It was these same street dancers that taught MJ the move. And I mean these people were literally hired as teachers, not that he just saw people doing it.

But none of that takes away from what Michael accomplished as a dancer and as a singer. Clearly the man was a special talent.

He used the hack, that makes him a 'dance-hacer if such concept exists. No need to be the inventor of the hack itself.

The moonwalk was at best an exploit as it was a well known move in the popping scene at that point. MJ just took it into the mainstream.

The shoes though appear to be a fresh concept.

These shoes have nothing to do with the moonwalk.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe he was also known for perfecting the move, wasn't he?

I would doubt this. Popping isn't my speciality (i'm more a breaking geek). There were probably people more dedicated to specifically that dance style that would have outshone him at the time.

Dance that is exposed in the mainstream is a very thin slice of what is actually out there. Nor is it usually the "best".

I will confess that his moonwalk is pretty damn good though.

I have watched a ridiculous amount of popping in my life. I've been to several of the premier popping events and I have also been to many underground jams. I also have watched a ton of video.

And while I will say that there are a large number of people that dance "better" and certainly more technical than MJ...

I have never seen anyone TOUCH his moonwalk. As far as I am concerned he was the greatest there ever was at that move by far.

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