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.

 

'Jungle Book' performed at Cal U

Student from the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy president Disneys Jungle Book Kids Saturday at Steel Hall on the campus of California University of Pennsylvania.

DQE Jungle Book Reaches the 'Land of Smiles'

DQE, the animation, gaming, live action entertainment production and distribution company, is pleased to announce the signing of an exclusive broadcast agreement with Thailand based Thai Public Broadcasting Service for the animated 52X11' 3D TV series titled "The Jungle Book".

Book Grocer: 28 July-3 August

The week ahead in literary London Wednesday: Poetry in Translation presents the work of centenarian Hans Keilson, François Cheng, Günter Eich, Heinz Czechowski and Durs Grünbein at the Poetry Cafe (7.30pm, £5 / £3). Despite what we said last week, tonight's the night Aisle16, the "ex-poetry boyband", bring the summer festival vibe back to East London at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club . Also ...

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL

Celebrating Mother's Day that falls on Aug 12, the Amari hotel chain is offering two-night packages: one, available Aug 1-15 at the Amari Boulevard in Bangkok, and the other Aug 1-31 at the Amari Coral Beach in Phuket.

The Motley Fool: What about goodwill?

Q: Can you explain what "goodwill" is? - S.C., Greenwood, S.C. A: You'll typically find "goodwill" on a company's balance sheet if it has acquired another company and paid more than the acquiree's appraised net worth (approximately its book value).