Gliding

From Time Magazine:

Goal: To learn to moonwalk

Supplies:
• A slick floor
• Black pants
• White socks
• Black loafers
• Years of dance training (optional)

Step 1: Start with your feet together. That's easy enough, right?

Step 2: Raise your right heel so that you're standing on the ball of your right foot.

Step 3: Shift your weight onto that still raised right foot so that the left one feels weightless.


Step 4: Lower your right heel slowly while moving your (still weightless) left foot backward until the toes of your left foot are aligned with the heel of your right foot. If you do it right, it should look like your left foot is floating backward across the floor.

Step 5: Lift your left heel and shift your body weight so that you're now standing on the ball of that foot.

Step 6: Repeat steps 4 and 5, this time with the opposite feet

And that's the moonwalk. It's actually a very simple dance — and one Jackson didn't invent out of thin air. Its origins can be traced back to French mime Marcel Marceau's "Walking Against the Wind" trick, in which he pretended to be pushed backward by an imaginary gust of wind.

If you're having trouble, try practicing in your socks. Sure, it's a little more Risky Business than King of Pop, but the lack of friction will give you a boost until you get the hang of it.

When done correctly, the dance will produce the illusion of walking forward while actually moving back. You can swing your arms with every step, or copy what Jackson did and hunch up your shoulders while grabbing onto your hat. You are wearing a hat, aren't you? You should probably wear a hat.