Michael Jackson's Anti-Gravity Lean (Video)

I grew up to Michael Jackson's music. And I like his music, but I especially loved his dances and performances. He's just so innovative in his dancing. He popularised group synchronised dancing, before that, there was very little group dance routines where everyone is dancing in sync. He has also pioneered many iconic dance moves in his performances, such as the moonwalk, robotic dance and the anti-gravity lean, which in my opinion, is the coolest....



It all started when he made the music video for Smooth Criminal, one of my favourite songs. There is a particular scene when a group of dancers, led my MJ, leaned, unassisted to the side up to an impossible 45 degrees. Back then, I was still young and was super amazed at it. But now, I read that it was done by hooking up wires during the shot, enabling them to lean outrageously. Thus was born the anti-gravity lean or more well known as the Smooth Criminal Lean.

However, as MJ did his live concerts, he wanted to perform the exact dance routines on stage as in his MVs and that included the Smooth Criminal Lean. He didn't want to use wires as that would interfere with the dancing and will take too much time to set up. After some brain racking, he decided to have some sort of pins on the stage and use modified shoes with a catch to hook on to the pins. All he needed to do is slide his shoe onto the hook, perform the lean and dismount. Seems simple enough but the effect is totally amazing, especially when seen live. Watch it in the video below, i think the lean in 1:35 is the best lean ever. Just so you know, the routine goes that MJ and co are dancing, when a guy comes out with a dynamite, dances around and "throws" the dynamite to cue them to do the lean.


A compilation of Michael Jackson's anti-gravity lean. Aka Smooth Criminal Lean.
Leans are at 0:25, 1:08, 1:38, 2:04.


I so miss MJ and his fantastic performances..