Artistes perform during the dance competition to mark the birthday of Michael Jackson; (above) a file picture of the star in one of his signature poses. Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh

The moonwalk swept everyone off their feet. No, we aren’t talking about the late Neil Armstrong, the first man to take the “giant leap for mankind”. It was the signature dance move of the King of Pop — Michael Jackson.

Amit Sagar Footwork Dance School on Wednesday organised a cultural programme to pay tribute to MJ on his 54th birth anniversary.

It was a “Thriller” as around 20 groups performed their acts. Different dance forms, including hip-hop, Bollywood steps and contemporary moves blew the audience away. All the groups literally put their best foot forward and said “Beat it” to the other contestants. With perfect expressions, footwork and synchronisation, the dancers truly revived the magic of the late entertainer. However, the Moonwalk — truly was the show-stealer as most groups tried their ‘legs’ at it.

The audience’s “Scream” of delight said it all when Dazzling Group put on a mask dance. The act received a thunderous applause.

Amit Sagar, the organiser of the programme, said Jackson was a great artiste and the programme was the very least that his dance academy could do to pay tribute to the legend. “For every dancer, Jackson is God. Whoever wants to learn dance especially western, he/she must watch the video albums of MJ. One can pick up steps and moves of the legend by watching him dance. It will help the dancer grow and hone his skill,” said Sagar.

He added: “Patna has no dearth of talent. Every group has performed outstandingly. I liked that each and every dancer tried to present some signature step of Jackson in their acts.”

While Vikki and Group presented a fusion of hip-hop and B-Boy dance styles, Dazzling Group’s mask dance had the audience cheering for them from the beginning till the end.

Vaishali, a dancer from NSI Group gave a solo performance. She presented a Bollywood style dance on a medley of songs, including “Dhunki Dhunki Lage” from Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, “Chikni Chameli” from Agneepath and others.

Up next was a solo performance by Shreya who wowed everyone with an Indo-Western dance on the track “Bhor bhaye panghat pe”.

Rohan Kumar, a 12-year-old who performed on the title track of the movie Desi Boyz, was delighted. “I am a huge fan of Michael Jackson. So being a part of this celebration really matters to me,” he said. Rohan, too, like many others in the event, Moonwalked.

Vikas Kumar Ashmit, a city-based western dance teacher, performed with 10 students on Jackson’s chart-topping numbers such as Dangerous, Billie Jean, Heal the world and others. “I have been copying MJ from my childhood days. So performing to his tracks felt great for me. Some of my students also performed with me. It was a great show altogether,” said the 29-year-old teacher of Western Dance School.