Because of its popularity, the moonwalk has become a part of the dance curriculum in many forms of dance from jazz to hip-hop. Videos and books have been produced to teach it, and YouTube is full of both instructional and demonstration videos. Here is the basic overview of the dance:

1. Stand with your feet parallel. Wearing flat-soled shoes with low friction is a good idea. Shift your weight onto your left foot.
2. Slide your right foot back until the toe is even with the left heel, keeping the foot flexed (this will cause your heel to lift off of the ground and your knee to bend. This is good! It is what creates the illusion of walking forward even as your body moves back).
3. Keeping the right toe in place, straighten your right leg, which will pull your entire body backwards, shifting your weight onto your right foot.
4. As your left leg is pulled back, allow it to continue until the left toe is even with the right heel, again keeping the foot flexed and bending the knee. This move should happen at the same time as step three.
5. Repeat step three, but with the right leg, which will cause the right foot to come back, and then the move is repeated as often as your choose.

While the individual steps are easy to teach, actually performing the moonwalk dance well is a more tricky thing. Here are some tips to help smooth out your performance:

• Keep your center of gravity low. Avoid any up and down motion in the torso – the upper body should seem to glide across the floor.
• When straightening the flexed leg, imagine you are pressing down into the floor.
• Keep practicing until the move is smooth and almost mechanical.
• Leaning the body forward as if you expect to go in that direction can increase the illusion that you are walking forward but moving backwards.

While it has been well over twenty years since Jackson made the moonwalk a household name, it is still a fun move to add to any dancer’s repertoire. Whether being perfected or ridiculed, it is an iconic part of American dance culture.

How to Moonwalk