michael jackson dance moves

[gnarly]

hey. first post. anyway, aside from his (not so) private life, which is really kinda getting creepy by now, he's still one hell of an entertainer. not sure about the person, but still, he can put on a show. was wondering, how does he do that bending thingy? he stands and lowers himself down. and can I do it? as in, normal without any props or if any, do it easily? thanks =)

[Sabor]

u mean that move is real.. not a show bizz trick!? :shock:

u r talking about the fancy move he did with the fellas behind him in Smooth Criminal right?.. when he leans fwd at an impossible angle?

lol .. beats me.. i know if i did it i need to have a soft mattress with a plump pillow under me :lol:

[Sagitta]

Don't know too much about Michael Jackson...but here are a couple past threads on him:

Michael Jackson dancing (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2823&highlight=michael+jackson)

Speaking of Michael Jackson (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=923&highlight=michael+jackson)

Learn to dance like Michael Jackson (http://www.dance-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=259&highlight=michael+jackson)

[playbunni2k5]

i didnt think that was a real move either, ive tyried it so many times, i watch the video over and over again, i canm do loads of his moves including the moon walk (PROPERLY!) and most of usher's moves are taken from michael jacksons.

[gnarly]

well, not sure if it is a real move, just wondering actually, if its all props. magnets? really over developed calf muscles that would be really noticeable by now? not sure. thats why i came here :P

[playbunni2k5]

i dnt think he does it himself luv its either props lyk string or summik :)

[Vince A]

We have a guy in UCWDC, named Chris, who is a MJ impersonator, and he does DO that move to perfection. No props, no matresses, etc!

[gnarly]

but, if its strings, its one hell of a job, cuz they have to attach the strings and remove it pretty quick, especially during a concert. highly doubt it, but possible. anyother ideas?

[gnarly]

and how does he do it? =) care to share?

[Vince A]

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[DanceMentor]

I think to a degree it's an optical illusion and strong toes.

[gnarly]

optical illusion? but viewing it from tv and frmo infront of the stage gives two different angles. not sure. tried looking around on the net and i can't find any info on this, and i'd think that people would write about this. strong toes? sounds possible, but what about their centre of gravity?

[gnarly]

We have a guy in UCWDC, named Chris, who is a MJ impersonator, and he does DO that move to perfection. No props, no matresses, etc!

you said he could do it, right? any idea how he does it? would like to know=)

[Vince A]

We have a guy in UCWDC, named Chris, who is a MJ impersonator, and he does DO that move to perfection. No props, no matresses, etc!

you said he could do it, right? any idea how he does it? would like to know=)
I have no idea how it did it . . . it was done on a stage, so if there are wires or some kind of supports, he figured out how to do them . . .

I was standing in the back of the theater where it was performed, and it looked so totally michael jackson!

Sorry I couldn't be more help to you!

[Sakura]

*HUGE Michael Jackson fan here -- owns the 2 DVDs of his music videos (I don't have the new, "Greatest Hits" DVD though, and I don't have, "Dangerous: The Short Films..." :evil: )* :wink: :roll: :wink:

The move you're talking about, Gnarly, is called the, "Leaning Tower of Pisa," move. It was faked -- everyone involved had very strong, thin strings/wires attatched to them and they were lowered down to a 45 degree angle to the ground, then brought back up.

=^_^=;; Heh, heh... Smooth Criminal is one of my *FAVORITE* videos Michael did. 8)

I meant to answer this yesterday! But the topic had disappeared after I'd finished a post I was working on!

Sakura Kitty :kitty:

[lovetomove7]

Hi guys...

Michael does that live as well and in fact has a shoe patented that would allow him to execute the famous 45 degree live on stage. It's not all smoke and mirrors.

[gnarly]

so...2 conflicting stories, who to believe? i would like to believe that i could do it and impress others, but, oh well. you said he has shoes? what's so special about them? and can i make it?

[lovetomove7]

Hey gnarly!

Yes he has special shoes but I'm not entirely sure how the mechanism works. I once read on the Michael Jackson Internet Fanclub when it was up that there are hooks that come up from the stage when he performs it live and I would imagine that the shoe hooks onto the hooks on the stage. I could be wrong.

[Sakura]

Hey gnarly!

Yes he has special shoes but I'm not entirely sure how the mechanism works. I once read on the Michael Jackson Internet Fanclub when it was up that there are hooks that come up from the stage when he performs it live and I would imagine that the shoe hooks onto the hooks on the stage. I could be wrong.

Lovetomove, great to have you on DF! :D I could always recognize MJ by his "trademark" shoes and socks, but I didn't know they were specially patented! :shock: 8)

The hook idea seems very plausible, because wires would just be too much of a hassle, and non-immediate. But I'm sure he had plenty of time between the making of that video and the tours where he performed that routine to figure out how he was going to make the Pisa move work. :)

Sakura Kitty :kitty:

[gnarly]

i checked out some videos. in one of them, one of his backup dancers slips up. i noticed after they do the move, they have to take a step back, for each leg. like sliding it out of a catch or something. so, looks like there is a hook that pops up. cuz i couldn't see anything. anyway, the backup kinda slips a little and you can see that his leg is caught up in something as he moves back. looks like we know how now =) thanks =)

[Sakura]

Gnarly, love your location! :lol:

And back-up dancers slipping up is always funny... Not for the poor dancer though! :shock:

SK :kitty:

[gibbo15]

my friend hannah knows everything there is to know about Mj and what hapens is they dance and then they all get into position magnets are turned on they lean forward and then lean up. thats why one of his dancers slip because the magnets are turned off and he was abit l8a cuming up so he fell abit.

[pygmalion]

Hi gibbo15. Welcome. :D

[dancersdreamland]

Welcome to the Forum Family, gibbo15. Look forward to seeing you on the boards!

[naz]

in the 80's film clip he used wires. performing live he used patented shoes that have a hitch. look it up on google "michael jackson's patent" for more info.

[martincohen84]

hi just to clear things up on the mj shoes debate over whether he uses wires or magnets or clips i have a pair that i bought and they use the clip method. a heel attachment is screwed on that has a slit in it and you slide into a custom board or stage that has metal prongs.

once you slide in it forms a brace/support that allows you to lean at unatural angles although it still hurts your legs as thats where your supporting the weight.

anyway i cant find the board at the moment but when i do ill post pics of it in action (i already have the pics of the shoes but someone needs to give me thier site address i can post the pics to)

anyway hope that helped.

p.s im making a mock music video about "they dont really care about us" but im not making fun of mj.

[/img]

[doubletake]

On the dangerous tour he uses special made shoes and hooks.

The move can be done without it, of course the lean isn't as strong. I've seen people doing it on soul train.

Here's video of Michael doing it on the bad tour without the special shoes, using his own body.

http://media.putfile.com/lean22

[nima_guitar]

You guys crack me up man. lol, the replies are just so crazy it makes me think where did you guys go to school?

1) I'm not trying to take anything away from Michael, he's a great dancer and an extremely talented person. And I don’t care what goes on in his private life, just like I don't care that Russell Crow beats people up in his free time, he is still a good actor to me. And just like you wouldn’t care if your lawyer has gang bangs at night as long as he does his job well.

2) Now coming to the lean move. I don't care what you think straps him to the ground (screws, magnets...) even if he did lock his feet to the ground the moment (also known as torque) caused by the center of mass (around where your chest is) almost 1 meter away from your central axis of revolution is gigantic for any man's ankle to be able to withstand at such an angle since the gravitational force becomes more effective as the component in the moment arm increases in size as you lower down the slope of the incline. SO... if you were an engineer or a physicist you would know how retarded the idea of locking your foot to the ground is in order to do such a move. And if you don't believe me try it, some how lock you feet to the ground and try leaning, oh and WORNING! By the way you will fall and break both your ankles as you totally bend them 180 degrees.

3) Therefore, it can only be with a harness from above, which is why if you ever watch live shows when he does the move, there is always a distraction before the move (e.g. lights go out crazy guy walks in with and plays with fire) before the dancers can hook on their harnesses.

I hope this works for you, if not look into the text by Johnston called "Vector mechanics for engineers"

[Backstreet]

Ok here's how it is done -- Special shoes that are rigged. The shoes have to have ankle supports and a special board. Basically the heel of the foot is rigged to support your weight and it catches in the hook. How do I know?

http://www.malloymodernmagic.com/the_lean.htm

I own that very product as my studio has used it in dance productions. We have to have our shoes rigged by them in order for it to work and the shoes have to have ankle supports.

[Backstreet]

You guys crack me up man. lol, the replies are just so crazy it makes me think where did you guys go to school?

1) I'm not trying to take anything away from Michael, he's a great dancer and an extremely talented person. And I don’t care what goes on in his private life, just like I don't care that Russell Crow beats people up in his free time, he is still a good actor to me. And just like you wouldn’t care if your lawyer has gang bangs at night as long as he does his job well.

2) Now coming to the lean move. I don't care what you think straps him to the ground (screws, magnets...) even if he did lock his feet to the ground the moment (also known as torque) caused by the center of mass (around where your chest is) almost 1 meter away from your central axis of revolution is gigantic for any man's ankle to be able to withstand at such an angle since the gravitational force becomes more effective as the component in the moment arm increases in size as you lower down the slope of the incline. SO... if you were an engineer or a physicist you would know how retarded the idea of locking your foot to the ground is in order to do such a move. And if you don't believe me try it, some how lock you feet to the ground and try leaning, oh and WORNING! By the way you will fall and break both your ankles as you totally bend them 180 degrees.

3) Therefore, it can only be with a harness from above, which is why if you ever watch live shows when he does the move, there is always a distraction before the move (e.g. lights go out crazy guy walks in with and plays with fire) before the dancers can hook on their harnesses.

I hope this works for you, if not look into the text by Johnston called "Vector mechanics for engineers"

Btw, I am sorry to say but you are completely wrong. It can be done with shoes that have ankle supports and it is the exact same thing they use in the live performances. Like I said, I own the product and I even provided the link where it is purchased from.