"I just dance."

She has been called the "queen of tap" and is said to have intimidated Fred Astaire with her skill. Honestly,  even as a die-hard Fred Astaire fan... I don't blame him. Here comes Eleanor Powell! I am going to bet that you haven't heard of this movie. I could be wrong! I have to admit that I hadn't heard a thing about it until I went to research Eleanor Powell and fell head over heels in love with this dance sequence. The film that our upcoming dance is from came out in 1942 and wasn't a big hit in spite of its great dances and star-studded cast. At the beginning of this clip, you can spot Bert Lahr (possibly better known as the Cowardly Lion) and the indomitable comedian Red Skelton. This film is also notable as one of the first films Frank Sinatra ever appeared in. He is seen very briefly as a singer in Tommy Dorsey's Band. Oh yeah, and this movie has the Tommy Dorsey Band! Big-Band fans rejoice! Trivia: Apparently, the Bro...

Brace yourselves! Here comes the ballet!  A more ballet-educated human than I might point out that this dance could also fall into the "modern" category and they might have a very valid point. Twyla Tharp, the choreographer, is widely considered to have choreographed the first "crossover" ballet; a combo of ballet and modern.  Her work spans ballet to modern and jazz and frequently isn't easy to label as one thing or another. Twyla Tharp's choreography is unlike anything else and is in high demand . According to her website: " Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Ms. Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines." I could list all of her awards too, but we would be here all day.  Literally. It is like, book-length list.  Anyway, When I think of gro...

Well. It has been a while! I have been utterly neglectful of this blog for the past few years and it is time to put that to rights. I have gone through and updated the old posts and am working on a new one!  I shan't tell you what it is yet but I will give you a hint: it includes two of the people involved in the film that this next clip is from. Spoilers: Not Gregory Hines. Don't worry. He'll have his own post coming up. For my fellow dance technique nerds I also highly recommend this video which talks about the technical aspects of how this was done. This video makes mention of something that could be interpreted as incorrect in the footwork... The dance instructor that I asked said that it could be correct depending on the school of ballet. Any opinions? Enjoy!