The Movies And Ballroom Dancing

Think dancing and you think Hollywood. Whatever kind of dancing you can think of, whether it is the gliding slow dances or the fast tap dances or the modern break dancing, the silver screen has it all. Not only that, it has immortalized both the dance and the dancers in certain movies.

Sometimes, the dance is just a part of the movie. Sometimes, it is the whole movie. Look at all the old Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movies. It was the dance and the song that was the movie. The story line was present just to string the dance and song sequences together. What you remember are the flawless movements and the steps that never put a wrong foot anywhere. Ginger Rogers should probably have been even more feted considering she did all the steps in the highest of heels and backwards at that!

In the great epic movies like Gone With The Wind, even with such a powerful story you remember the great ballroom dance scene when Rhett makes a bid to dance with Scarlett. Then of course, we have movies like the Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez starrer Shall We Dance, or the original Japanese version by the same name, where a simple guy learns to dance and prepares for the dancing competition.

There is also the wonderful movie Dance With Me, the story of Rafael, a young Cuban boy who comes to America and becomes a great dancer. The reason the ballroom dancers here look so authentic is because they used actual ballroom competition dancers in the movie. Another hit which received a standing ovation at the Cannes Festival was Strictly Ballroom where a professional dancer and an amateur pair up to enter a competition and all the comedy that follows.

So many movies over the years have had dancing sequences. Look at the old movies like West Side Story and The Little Colonel with Bojangles and Shirley Temple. And who can forget Dorothy dancing her way through The Wizard of Oz? Or the dances in The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins or My Fair Lady? Although the dance sequences in these movies did not always include ballroom dancing, the choreography certainly incorporated aspects of ballroom dance steps. And later, the dances grew more erotic like in Flashdance and Dirty Dancing. Today, you even have animated characters doing a great jig! From The Jungle Book to the Shrek series, dance has become part and parcel of most animated movies.

It's always great to watch ballroom dancing. The great thing about the movies is that they have preserved the different dances or the different ways of doing certain dancing on celluloid so people can watch and enjoy them for years to come.

 

Bollywood Dance Classes in New York

Bollywood-inspired dance classes in New York teach choreography and offer cardio workouts with a dash of culture.

Family Dance

For families and children of all ages. Live traditional American music by the Crab Tippers. A caller will teach the steps to circle, square and contra dances. Dances are chose for ages 4 and up.

Freestyle dancer tWitch steps up into movies

Freestyle dancer Stephen "tWitch" Boss may not have won the TV contest "So You Think You Can Dance", but he took the prize in the charisma stakes which is now paying off with a flourishing career in dance and movies.

Lunchtime concert series steps off

Dancers from the Damhsa Irish Dance Studio perform modern and traditional Irish dances Thursday as part of a free lunchtime concert series in downtown Providence that celebrates young artists. The Rising Stars of FirstWorks series is sponsored by Washington Trust.

Steps off Broadway the present Cats in Bellingham

Steps off Broadway Productions, Inc., announces the upcoming staged performances of Andrew Lloyd Webbers Broadway hit musical spectacular Cats. RESERVE TICKETS HERE