An entry about... dancing. That's a first.
Jun. 5th, 2008 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tilly_stratfordFirst, soft violins, then sweet saxophones
Then blue clarinets croon
When it's my turn I turn into a loon
When the drum takes the melody
When the drum carries the tune
Wow, you have no idea how vivid memories this clip of Fred Astaire conjures up in my mind. Easter vacation, I've got to be around seven or eight years old, we've spent the day in the swimming pools at Raufoss, and I'm that delicious kind of exhausted where all you can do is sit snuggled up in the corner of the sofa watching movies, and Easter parade is on. I remember the car ride to Raufoss, where they were discussing Astaire on the radio, and mentioning that he was such a perfectionist dancing he would demand retake after retake, until there was blood in his shoes.
All that. I haven't thought about that in years. (And it's not an important piece of memory, it's not interesting to anyone but me, but that was the first time I ever saw Fred Astaire dancing).
There's a lot of pieces of the old musicals to be found on YouTube, yay. This is still my favourite scene from a movie musical ever:
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IT'S SO SAD. Too bad I think Swing time is such a cheesy movie. Well, maybe this scene is cheesy too. But damnit, the dancing in this scene isn't just there for the sake of dancing, it's symbolic and emotional and it just gets me here.
I also remember trying (and failing) to explain the difference of Astaire and Gene Kelly as dancers to my friends once. I think I for simplicity's sake narrowed it down to sex: Kelly uses his body to convey sensuality while Astaire's got a sort of sexless elegance. You wouldn't find Astaire playing a role like Serafin in The pirate, while Kelly wouldn't have been suited for the glamorous well-dressed bachelors Astaire used to play. And then there's the exceptions...
And then the two meet. Haha, I used to sing this with my sister Tiny. To this day get this urge to include the words "Olive oil!" into my daily conversation.
The tragic thing is of course that the Nicholas Brothers might have been just as big if it hadn't been for the fact that Hollywood had such racism issues.
This has officially become a pimping post for the Astaire and Kelly. Why not also enjoy:
Astaire - I left my hat in Haiti
Kelly and Frank Sinatra - I begged her
Astaire and Cyd Charisse - the hot jazz part of the Girl Hunt Ballet
Kelly and Cyd Charisse - the seduction part of the Broadway Ballet
Then blue clarinets croon
When it's my turn I turn into a loon
When the drum takes the melody
When the drum carries the tune
Wow, you have no idea how vivid memories this clip of Fred Astaire conjures up in my mind. Easter vacation, I've got to be around seven or eight years old, we've spent the day in the swimming pools at Raufoss, and I'm that delicious kind of exhausted where all you can do is sit snuggled up in the corner of the sofa watching movies, and Easter parade is on. I remember the car ride to Raufoss, where they were discussing Astaire on the radio, and mentioning that he was such a perfectionist dancing he would demand retake after retake, until there was blood in his shoes.
All that. I haven't thought about that in years. (And it's not an important piece of memory, it's not interesting to anyone but me, but that was the first time I ever saw Fred Astaire dancing).
There's a lot of pieces of the old musicals to be found on YouTube, yay. This is still my favourite scene from a movie musical ever:
[Error: unknown template video]
IT'S SO SAD. Too bad I think Swing time is such a cheesy movie. Well, maybe this scene is cheesy too. But damnit, the dancing in this scene isn't just there for the sake of dancing, it's symbolic and emotional and it just gets me here.
I also remember trying (and failing) to explain the difference of Astaire and Gene Kelly as dancers to my friends once. I think I for simplicity's sake narrowed it down to sex: Kelly uses his body to convey sensuality while Astaire's got a sort of sexless elegance. You wouldn't find Astaire playing a role like Serafin in The pirate, while Kelly wouldn't have been suited for the glamorous well-dressed bachelors Astaire used to play. And then there's the exceptions...
And then the two meet. Haha, I used to sing this with my sister Tiny. To this day get this urge to include the words "Olive oil!" into my daily conversation.
The tragic thing is of course that the Nicholas Brothers might have been just as big if it hadn't been for the fact that Hollywood had such racism issues.
This has officially become a pimping post for the Astaire and Kelly. Why not also enjoy:
Astaire - I left my hat in Haiti
Kelly and Frank Sinatra - I begged her
Astaire and Cyd Charisse - the hot jazz part of the Girl Hunt Ballet
Kelly and Cyd Charisse - the seduction part of the Broadway Ballet
