Michael Jackson’s gravity defying Moonwalk ‘achieved by mix of talent and high tech trickery’ could give dancers serious spinal injury if they copy it, say neurosurgeons

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Michael Jackson defined a generation with his music and often defied gravity with his dancing.

Now three Jacko fans, who all happen to be neurosurgeons, have analysed his incredible anti-gravity tilt and revealed it was achieved by a mix of his incredible talent and a little bit of magic.

However, they warned fans not to try to copy the superstar – who died nine years ago at the age of 50 – as they may do themselves a serious spinal injury.

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Michael Jackson (pictured in 1995) defined a generation with his music, and often defied gravity with his dancing. Now three Jacko fans, who all happen to be neurosurgeons, have analysed his incredible anti-gravity tilt and revealed it was achieved by a mix of his incredible talent and a little bit of magic

With hits like Billie Jean back in 1983, Jackson reinvented music videos of the 1980s.

He added story lines to his songs, special effects, cinematography, and amazing choreography, executing dance moves thought impossible by many at the time.

Neurosurgeons from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in India – Nishant Yagnick, Manjul Tripathi, and Sandeep Mohindra – set out to examine Jackson’s anti-gravity choreography from a neurosurgeon’s point of view.

They said that even the strongest of dancers can only maintain a 25 to 30-degree forward tilt from the ankle.

Researchers said people risked getting new forms of spinal injuries if they followed Jackson’s example and attempted ‘to jump higher, stretch further, and turn faster than ever before.’

Dr Tripathi,  said, ‘MJ has inspired generations of dancers to push themselves beyond their limits.

‘Though a visual delight, such moves also lead to new forms of musculoskeletal injuries.’

He added: ‘The King of Pop has not only been an inspiration but a challenge to the medical fraternity.’

Even the strongest of dancers can only maintain a 25 to 30-degree forward tilt from the ankle. Researchers have now warned dancers of replicating the daring dancing of the ‘King of Pop’ as the neurosurgeons warn that copying the dance move could lead to spinal injuries

In one memorable move featured in the 1987 video ‘Smooth Criminal,’ he pitches forward 45 degrees, with his body straight as a rod and his shoes resting on the stage, and holds the position.

The neurosurgeons document how the antigravity tilt was accomplished, taking into account Jackson’s talent and core strength, as well as his ‘inventiveness’ and use of a patented aid, that together seem to move his body past human limits.

In the video, the illusion of Jackson and his dancers’ seemingly impossible forward lean was created using strings and wires.

To accomplish the manoeuvre in live shows, a hitching mechanism which Jackson co-patented was built into the floor of the stage and the performers’ shoes.

This allowed them to perform the unlikely manoeuvre without needing to keep their centres of mass directly over their feet.

The system consists of pegs that rise from the stage at the appropriate moment and special shoes which can slide over the pegs to temporarily attach the dancer to the stage.

Ankle supports and cutouts in the heels of the shoes further helped the dancers maintain their posture as they defied gravity.

In the patent, it is stated that the illusion in the video was achieved by means of harnesses and cables which had to be connected to and disconnected from the floor by stagehands

The findings were published in the Journal of Neurosurgery.