OT - Boy these guys could dance!

themerchantsofvintage

themerchantsofvintage

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I've started going through old movie footage to look at the clothing and especially what the guys were wearing. Came across some old dance routines and I could watch all day! I pretty well love (and have loved) watching anything to do with dance. If you have 5 minutes this old Jumpin Jive - Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers is worth the watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yGGtVKrD8
 
Yes, they were the dancing duo, Carrie. And I agree on the different work ethic back then - I remember reading once that Ginger Rodgers would sometimes have to do so many takes her feet would bleed.
 
I guess what it comes down to is that what we see on the film is actually what they were doing... no special/digital effects, no airbrushing, no body doubles. Just fantastically talented, driven, dedicated performers.

(My husband has a cousin who used to work with George Lucas and now has a visual effects & animation studio in SF--because of him we've gotten in the habit of sitting through ALL the credits at the end of a movie. It's really amazing--after the already interminable cast and film crew credits finally finish rolling, the credits for something like 7 to 10 VFX/animation studios, each with dozens of contributors, turn up. It takes something like 20 minutes to get through them all, and it makes you realize how little of the movie you just watched was "real"...)
 
That was a fun way to start the morning, Deborah, with Cab Calloway! And I love the Nicholas Brothers. How about those free-standing jumps up onto 3-foot tabletops!

Harold and Fayard Nicholas grew up in vaudeville and became big stars on the jazz circuit and were known for their very acrobatic and innovative dance moves. They continued to perform successfully on stage and in the movies into the 90s. Fayard (the younger of the two) lived to be 92! Here they are in 1936:

dsp_nicholasbros.png


Looking them up after watching that clip I read that one of their signature moves was a "no-hands" splits, where they went into the splits and returned to their feet without using their hands. Gregory Hines declared that if their biography was ever filmed, their dance numbers would have to be computer-generated because no one could duplicate them.

Carrie, it sounds like a project for your husband's cousin!

MC
 
Love Cab Calloway!

Here are a couple of my favs. The first is Eleanor Powell and Buttons the dog in Lady Be Good. The outfit isn't bad either!

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And the second from the same movie features the Berry Brothers.

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Everyone's familiar with Fred & Ginger's duos....but what you don't see much of is Fred's solo efforts. He was considered the best dancer in the world by Ballanchine, Nureyev, and Baryshnikov....


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Originally posted by chezmov
I remember reading once that Ginger Rodgers would sometimes have to do so many takes her feet would bleed.
Click to expand...

Here's the 'shoes full of blood' number...Astaire insisted the dance be done in one perfect take. They did it over and over for hours, and between each take, the black glass floor had to be mopped clean.

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I love watching clips of the dance numbers from old Fred Astaire movies. Man, could he move! No wonder he was so skinny...maybe I should take up moving like that, or at least trying to!
:christmasdancing:
 
Oh, I love the one with Fred Astaire dancing with the drum kits! Fantastic! I've seen one where he similarly dances with a grand piano but I couldn't find it online. Someone else is actually playing the piano (or maybe no one is and he's dancing to music made offstage), but Astaire dances alongside it, beating it rhythmically with his hands, pushing off from it, interacting with it in a totally amazing way as if it were an actual dance partner and ultimately jumping on top of it and sliding down the open lid in the finale!

Eew! The shoes full of blood one is intense. Never heard that story. STOP READING IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH: Reminds me of the necklace of shed big toenails presented to the dance director of the Nutcracker here in Portland one year by the ballerinas after the run was over.

MC
 
"no special/digital effects, no airbrushing, no body doubles. Just fantastically talented, driven, dedicated performers." so true! Same goes for many singers too - you don't have to sing in tune today to get a record deal!

Thanks for the history, MC! And thanks for sharing those clips Candy and Maryalice! Eleanor Powell was great! (Wish I could find some of those harem pants, too.) And, I absolutely adore Fred Astaire, especially loved him when I was a little girl. My brother-in-law and I used to have an ongoing feud of who was better - Astaire or Kelly. Not that Kelly is a slouch... Donald O'Connor doing his solo in Singin' in the Rain is also one of my fav dance routines. And then, of course, there's Cid Charisse...
Too long a list.

sigh!! My sentiments exactly Mary.

Jenn - that's how I used to keep in shape - I danced at least four nights a week. Then I got pregnant, hung up the heels and the rest, as they say, is history.
 
curiouser and curiouser...


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Spaghetti legs, is right! Will have to show David all these great clips. I guess the Rockettes not only had to be a certain height, but their ratio of torso to legs had to be specific as well - I can't get over how their knees, hips etc are all perfectly aligned.
 
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