Michael Jackson's iconic anti-gravity dance move demystified by Chandigarh neurosurgeons

A study has revealed the secret behind Michael Jackson's iconic gravity defying tilt in the 1987 music video Smooth Criminal.

Led by neurosurgeons Nishant S Yagnick, Manjul Tripathi and Sandeep Mohindra from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh (PGI Chandigarh), the study tried to establish how the pop star managed to successfully execute this dance move.

The study done by the Chandigarh neurosurgeons concluded that the King of Pop's dance move was an illusory trick. Even most highly trained dancers can only maintain a tilt of about 20 to 30 degrees.

Michael Jackson. Twitter @MjVevoOfficial

The trio wrote, "The move is incredibly hard to pull off, requiring athletic core strength from strengthened spinal muscles and lower-limb antigravity muscles."

In the music video, Jackson leans his body forward at an impossible angle of 45 degrees with his shoes still resting on the ground and his spine straight as a rod. He also recreated this move in several live acts.

It is believed that he used a harness to achieve this feat in the video. For live performances the doctors give credit to his impressive core strength and a pair of specially designed shoes, an invention patented under his name. These shoes had slots in the heels that would hook onto a nail in the ground and help maintain his balance as he tilted forward.

The doctors have urged fans to not attempt this dance move as they would risk potential spinal injuries if they pushed their bodies too hard.