March 29, 2015
People dancing in movies are all doing the same dance.
Except Cher. She's doing The Monkey.
Based on that set of clips the essential movie dance is: Face forward, plant your feet apart, elbows up and out sideways, punch one fists up and then the other in a way that causes movement in the rest of your body. No real footwork is involved. The actors in the movies in that video are not Fred Astaire.
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42 comments:
So that's what an Atheist party looks like. They do have fun.
I note that they did not Square dance.
People dancing in movies are all doing the same dance.
That's not true. Some are pair dancing which requires awareness of another. Modern "solo" dancing (whose origins in rock I tried to pinpoint, e.g., here) requires an extreme awareness of self.
I missed the Cher part.
Did they fail to include Kevin Bacon, or did I miss it?
"Some are pair dancing which requires awareness of another."
Almost all of the pairs have the couple standing side by side doing the same dance toward the camera.
We, the little people out there in the dark, are the partners. And we're not dancing cheek to cheek. We're a thousand miles away.
But I'll grant you these actors have some awareness of us.
No boot scoot, no two-step, no dancing...
External rotation of the humerus. Makes it look like more is going on than is
Bacon was there. Very heavy Travolta presence.
Also a lot of Cameron Diaz
That video made me smile, but I wish they'd included the scene from The American President where the two dance at the State dinner to "I Have Dreamed."
Needs more Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, a couple of seconds isn't enough.
Of course a few decades ago everyone was doing tap moves, which evince the same level of self-awareness as do today's dances. Also Gregory Hines and Michail Baryshnikov may not be Fred Astaire, but he couldn't do a lot of what they can.
Fred Astair not there.
Unfair to Fred Astair.
But best to the others not to compare.
Baryshnikov was quite an admirer of Astaire.
"I have been invited to say something about how dancers feel about Fred Astaire," Baryshnikov said. "It's no secret. We hate him.
"He gives us complexes, because he's too perfect. His perfection is an absurdity that's hard to face." Classical dancers could deal with legendary rivals from the past, such as Nijinsky, because their accomplishments were known from books and from photographs that don't move, Baryshnikov said. With Astaire it was another story:
"The problem with Astaire is that he's everywhere -- moving. You know, you give your own performance and receive applause and you think maybe, just maybe, it was successful, and you go home ... and turn on the television to relax and there he is. Making you feel nervous all over again.
"You remember the remark by Ilie Nastase about Bjorn Borg: 'We are playing tennis, he is playing something else.' It's the same with Fred Astaire -- we are dancing, but he is doing something else."
And then there was the fabulous Nicholas Brothers
Ugh. With a few exceptions, mostly white people with no sense of rhythm or skills. Thumbs down.
At least one couple was doing jitterbug or swing, and another was doing a Tango.
+100 for the Baryshnikov on Astaire quotes!!!!
As the saying goes, Ginger Rogers had to do everything Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels. In bed. While dealing with two cocks.
As far as dancing, she did a good job of not getting in the way.
I am Laslo.
At least one couple was doing jitterbug or swing, and another was doing a Tango.
"As far as dancing, she did a good job of not getting in the way."
This is not meant as an anti-Feminist statement. But it does kinda work that way, too.
I am Laslo.
"While dealing with two cocks."
Upon review, I probably should have written 'two ERECT cocks.' Sometimes I think I am too subtle in my insinuations.
Maybe add 'throbbing,' too.
I am Laslo.
Don't get me going on about Esther Williams.
Let's just say she liked 'water sports.'
Obviously.
I am Laslo.
I think in the scene from "13 Going On 30", they were dancing to Thriller.
Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman" was doing the Tango. (With someone else, obviously, but I have no idea who.)
Patrick Swayze, "Dirty Dancing", and Rita Moreno, "West Side Story", were a couple more that could do more than a generic movie dance.
In fairness, "the same dance" has to be defined pretty broadly for this to work. Moving in time to music sets certain requirements and the human body sets certain restrictions. There are only a few truly distinct dance moves.
Reminds me of the Pachibal's canon comedy bit.
http://youtu.be/JdxkVQy7QLM
Astaire danced with a number of partners who were borderline klutzes. The trick was to let them stand there while he made some impossibly fluid movements that engaged the attention of the audience.......I think Astaire introduced more musical standards to the public than Sinatra. He was many composers favorite singer. He never tried to upstage the melody and he enunciated the lyrics with precision.
I ADORE that scene in Billy Elliot. And also the last scene.
A twitter follow said... "You can tell how a guy is in bed by how he dances"
So, it sort of follows that most if not all movie love-making scenes are the same... I guess.
"Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman" was doing the Tango. (With someone else, obviously, but I have no idea who.)"
*************
Gabrielle Anwar, who later was one of the main characters in TV's "Burn Notice".
An Astaire post here! Go figure!
Astaire used to dance on stage with his sister Adele...until Adele quit. When she tried to come back, Fred was a big film star...and when she saw how much he had progressed, she decided not to come back!
William wrote -
"Astaire danced with a number of partners who were borderline klutzes. The trick was to let them stand there while he made some impossibly fluid movements that engaged the attention of the audience."
AKA Dancing With The Stars.
After Gene Kelly performed "Singing in the Rain," they should have retired the genre. It had been solved.
tim maguire said...
Reminds me of the Pachibal's canon comedy bit. . .
Have you seen this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC2eiOF7KjY
Sometimes it's not "The Monkey". Sometimes it the "The Funky Chicken"
The dance routines in 1950's B movies were the worst, except for all the others, especially The New Carioca, straight from the brain that gave us King Kong
He shoulda stuck to monkeys.
The actors in the movies in that video are not Fred Astaire.
In fairness, who is? Amd would anyone pay 12 bucks to watch a movie where there was actual dancing as in old Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly movies?
I don't think Patrick Swayze belongs in that film. He was a ballet dancer. He was not Astaire, but he could dance.
Christopher Walken would disagree.
Fred Astaire could dance with a hat rack and make the hat rack look good!
I read, but can't find the quote, that Fred Astaire said his favorite dance partner was Gene Kelly.
Charming -- I was expecting a clip from A Chorus Line though.
They could've added Shipoopi and The Farmer and the Cowman too.
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