The moonwalk, or backslide, is a poppingdance move in which the performer glides backwards but their body actions suggest forward motion.[1] It became popular around the world when Michael Jackson performed the move during the performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, which was broadcast in 1983. He included the moonwalk in tours and live performances.[2] Jackson has been credited as renaming the "backslide" to the moonwalk and it became his signature move.[3][4][5]
^Banes, Sally. Writing Dancing in the Age of Postmodernism, Wesleyan University Press, 1994, p. 139.