HOW SMOOTH MOVE DEFIED GRAVITY

MICHAEL Jackson’s gravitydefying 45-degree forward tilt was a combination of a stage trick and the pop legend’s physical ability, scientists say.

The “mind-boggling” dance move, first seen in the 1987 Smooth Criminal video, was a clever illusion invented by the pop star.

Fans were amazed to see him repeat the feat live — and were completely fooled. A team of three neurosurgeons wrote in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine: “Several MJ fans, including the authors, have tried to copy this move and failed, often injuring themselves in their endeavours.” A patent registered under Jackson’s name reveals how the trick was achieved. The pop legend designed a special shoe with a triangular slot in the heel that hooked onto a metallic peg that emerged from the stage floor at just the right moment. This allowed Jackson to lean forward at a seemingly impossible angle.

In their article the scientists explain how most trained dancers with strong core strength can achieve no more than 25 to 30 degrees of forward tilt. During the move, strain is shifted from the erector spinae muscles that support the spinal column to the achilles tendon.

“MJ pulled off a gravity-defying 45-degree move that seems unearthly,” they wrote. But they stressed that despite the illusion, Jackson’s physical abilities were nonetheless impressive.

They wrote: “The move is incredibly hard to pull off, requiring athletic core strength.”