Gotta Dance

[filkertom]

An Eschaton commenter named Émile Gorgonzola and I started trading way cool dance videos this morning. Here are the first ones we came up with:

• Taco -- "'Puttin' On The Ritz" (uncensored)
• Gene Kelly -- "Broadway Melody" from Singin' In The Rain, parts one and two
• Fred Astaire -- "Puttin On The Ritz"
• Fred -- "Drum Crazy" in Easter Parade
• a hip-hop battle that will have you grinning all morning

I could list a bunch more, but that's where you come in. :)

Comments

[roane.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you didn't mention "Singin' in the Rain" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkEvy-9yVyQ) itself. :) I still get chills watching it sometimes. Gene Kelly was pure genius.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Well, I could just say the Whole Freakin' Movie. :) Brilliant. We were trading slightly different stuff, and it all started when I had cause to comment, "Gotta dance!" So that's where my head was.

On the other hand, now I can link up to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeYgju2qopM).

[roane.livejournal.com]

Point. :) Just about every musical number in that movie has something awesome about it. Damn it, now I wanna go watch it. *grin*

[sazettel.livejournal.com]

And he had a 103 fever when he filmed that. Boggles the mind.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Didn't go for the Puttin' On the Ritz trifecta by including Young Frankenstein?

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the same thing.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

[eyeroll] What fun is me picking all the good ones!? That's what I -- oh, for.... ;)

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

No no, I get it. It was a sociology experiment. You were waiting to see how long it would take before someone would a) mention it and/or b) post a link to it. Now, the question becomes how many other commentors will also link to it, having either not read the comment threads first or not caring and wanting to show that they too are in it for the Franky.

Best reaction quote I ever thought of for this scene: "I had no idea Gene Kelly went berserk like that."

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Hm... The Hummingbird and the Flower" dance is one of my favorites, even though the kids are semi-amateur dancers.

This is a classic, though maybe not quite safe for work. Sally Rand was amazing, and I'd love to learn to do that someday, if only the fans didn't cost a fortune.

The Evolution Of Dance is brilliant and hilarious, and everyone should see it at least once.

This clog-dancer is made of awesome, plain and simple.

Um... I'll stop here for now, though I'll probably think of more later.... :)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

My mom (in one of her last supper-club singing gigs) actually opened for Sally Rand in 1974. She let us kids stay and watch, because, really, it's not a particularly offensive act or anything. But it was just so weird to see this amazingly siliconed woman as old as my grandmother dancing nekkid under black lights with ostrich feathers....

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

I love "The Hummingbird and the Flower". "So You Think You Can Dance" has turned into an amazing show, and it's a shame it gets lumped in with all the bad reality shows out there.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[sazettel.livejournal.com]

The Nicholas Brothers in STORMY WEATHER (a movie I HIGHLY recommend for anyone interested in great music and dance) /www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBb9hTyLjfM

The video quality is not great, but you'll get an idea. These men utterly defied gravity in a way even Gene Kelly could not match. Better quality video, but a less spectacular number at the official website:

www.dailymotion.com/group/36139/video/x17d7d_nicholas-bros-1936

[ericcoleman]

The Stormy Weather number is the greatest dance number on film ever ... period.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

What is the name of that one by Fatboy Slim with Christopher Walken hoofing it up? That's an amazing video.

Here it is: Weapon of Choice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WW8flwpH-Q)

[eleri.livejournal.com]

Anything from Burn The Floor

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Disney's Dance of the Hours, from Fantasia (in segments):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osyrtxL7nS0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-0SXXD7bWk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kujWSIFoe94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdS8tvRdPKU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnMSXTcqlM8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yxjuq2Xfew
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtodQVKeye0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y09zYDkw0Mo

I forgot to add Hugh Jackman doing ballet in Oklahoma:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8gMhNZye-U

And this gem, which I got via akshuman last night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5xIJAD-Mec

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Everyone always forgets that Judy Garland could keep up with Gene Kelly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EuMImHN210) when needed.

Speaking of Gene Kelly, he could dance on roller skates (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aus1PA5-SyI). But then, so could "a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ce1agpBVM">Astaire. (Not to mention Ginger.)

To finish up: a little Ann Miller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUvc7bKAXXk). (And, if you prefer, the group version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MLbk7UeWfI).)

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I almost forgot: Christian Bale in the finest performance of his career (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_x658BgJMc). (Yeah, I mean that pejoratively. Shaddup.)

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

First one that came to mind was the "challenge dance" from "Tap". Cheesy movie, amazing dancing.

And for some more tap, how about some Eleanor Powell? (That Fred guy is in there too.)

[nightmarewriter.livejournal.com]

First a classic: Liza Minnelli and "Money Makes The World Go Around" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q.

And then something... random. A japanese group tap number from a period costume movie about a blind man. Don't know the context, but the dance is pretty wild! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fsDL24o8uM

To segue into music for a moment...

[scs-11.livejournal.com]

Taco's version of "Puttin' On The Ritz" has long been a favorite of mine, but until now I'd not seen the video. It's surprisingly similar to what I'd pictured in my head, tho mine has an ever darker undertone (the tap sequence would be done by skeletons in ragged tuxes, for example, and it would end with a pullback through a restaurant window so we end with starving people on street watching as he eats.) He was a one-hit wonder, but given the ironic tone of album I was amazed he even got one.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

Many years ago, I saw a Finnish film of the backstage view of a solo dance recital. Very interesting.

[danceswithlife]

Thanks. It had been way too long since I watched Fred Astaire dance. Made my evening.