Michael Jackson's anti-gravity illusion shoes - GIF and patent

Michael Jackson's anti-gravity illusion shoes. Awarded US patent #5255452 in 1993.

https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...ckson_lean.gif

Jackson was such a good dancer that the illusion worked - it was commonly thought that he was just performing an extremely difficult dance move.

I believe this was Jackson's only patent, co-held with two of his costume designers. Interestingly, the patent mentions a previously-invented similar type of shoe intended to be worn by astronauts working in zero gravity.

https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...an_patent1.jpg

https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...an_patent2.jpg

https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...an_patent3.jpg

https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...an_patent4.jpg

More: https://www.google.com/patents/US5255452

Perhaps Jackson took his inspiration from a candy stretching technique:

<video controls autoplay>
<source src="https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net/stretching_candy.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>

That particular dance performance had to be so well choreographed in order to pull off the illusion I think I read somewhere that it took months to get perfect. If a single dancer misted 1 of the embedded studs in the floor the routine would have been ruined

A rare crosspost from this thread. I believe we've located Michael Jackson's long (LONG) lost cousin.

<video controls autoplay loop>
<source src="https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net/kicking_pipes_off_a_stack.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>

<video controls autoplay loop>
<source src="https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net/construction_worker_dancing.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the video tag.
</video>

A modern twist on the Village People.

I'm interested to note that the patent date is 1993, and as such I don't quite see how he could get a patent for it because in 1982 or thereabouts I was the fabricator for The Sydney Theater Company and we were putting on a production of Chicago wherein one of the dancers had to lean forward towards the audience, I fitted his shoes with keyhole plates in the heals that located with coach type bolts in the floor. A little more difficult to locate, but the same idea.