Michael Jackson’s gravity-defying Smooth Criminal dance move was down to core strength and an illusion, scientists have found

The late singer was famous for being able to tilt 45 degrees, seemingly without anything to hold him up.

Fans were amazed to see him do the dance move in his 1987 Smooth Criminal video – live.

However, a team of neurosurgeons has cracked the mystery behind the seemingly impossible feat.

The three surgeons revealed in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine that Jackson designed a special shoe with a triangular slot in the heel which hooked onto a metallic peg that came up from the stage floor at the right moment.

This allowed him to lean forward at a seemingly impossible angle without collapsing.

Scientists explained how Michael Jackson was able to do the move.as neurosurgeon Dr Nishant Yagnick explains, “it’s not really possible physically to do it. He was cheating gravity.”

Dr Yagnick and his colleagues Dr Tripathi and Dr Mohindra from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, explore the phenomenon and its consequences in a Journal of Neurosurgery article called ‘How did Michael Jackson challenge our understanding of spine biomechanics?’. When the human body bends from the waist, the erector spinae muscles in the back are able to support it. However, if you bend from the ankle rather than the spine, the strain is put on the calf and the Achilles tendon, which are not really suitable to the task.

Pic: Journal of Neurosurgery:

Spine
Image:

But they noted that Jackson did have very good core strength.

“Several MJ fans, including the authors, have tried to copy this move and failed, often injuring themselves in their endeavours,” they wrote.

Long-time Jackson fan Nishant Yagnick, from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, led the research

The scientists explained that most trained dancers can achieve no more than 25 to 30 degrees of forward tilt.

Strain is shifted from the erector spine muscles which support the spinal column to the Achilles tendon.

Image:

Michael Jackson was known for his impressive dance moves
“This allows for a very limited degree of forward bending from the ankle joints, while keeping a stiff straight posture – unless you are Michael Jackson,” they said.

“MJ pulled off a gravity-defying 45 degree move that seems unearthly to any witness.”

The authors said that despite the illusion, Jackson’s physical abilities were still very impressive.

“Even with specially designed footwear and the support of the hitch member, the move is incredibly hard to pull off, requiring athletic core strength from strengthened spinal muscles and lower-limb anti-gravity muscles,” they added.