Gracie Allen (1895-1964)

George Burns (1896-1996), Gracie Allen & Fred Astaire (1899-1987) in A Damsel In Distress (1937): Stiff Upper Lip







What fun!

Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers is such a lady!

Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers play the famous pre-World War I dancing couple Vernon & Irene Castle. Apparently, Mrs. Castle was on the set to help make the dancing as accurate as possible!





This clip shows how Vern & Irene Castle played to sell out crowds and influenced the USA, North America, and Europe!




This clip is from Barkleys of Broadway

Quotes on Dance!

Dancers on Dance

I'd rather dance than eat.

A tap dancer is really
a frustrated drummer.

What we are is God's gift to us.
What we become is our gift to God.

Eleanor Powell
(1912-1982)
The Queen of Tap Dance



~~~~~~~~~~

What success I achieved in the theater is

due to the fact that I have always worked
just as hard when there were ten people in
the house as when there were thousands.
Just as hard in Springfield, Illinois as on Broadway.

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
(1878-1949)
American Dancer/Actor


~~~~~~~~~~



Dancing is a sweat job.


I have no desire to prove anything by dancing.
I have never used it as an outlet or a means of expressing myself.
I just dance. I just put my feet in the air and move them around.


The hardest job kids face today is learning
good manners without seeing any.


I'm just a hoofer with
a spare set of tails.

Fred Astaire
(1892-1987)
American Dancer/Actor


~~~~~~~~~~


My mother told me I was
dancing before I was born.
She could feel my toes tapping
wildly inside her for months.

Ginger Rogers (1911-1995)

American Dancer/Actress


~~~~~~~~~~


Remember, Ginger Rogers did everyting
that Fred Astaire did, except she
did it backwards and in high heels.

~ attributed to Faith Whittlesey

former US ambassador to Switzerland


~~~~~~~~~~

Fred [Astaire] was a perfectionist. At
rehearsal when you thought you'd got
it perfect he would say, "Go on, Annie,
just one more time!" What I wouldn't
give to do it just one more time.

Ann Miller (1923-2004)
American Dancer/Actress


~~~~~~~~~~


I never wanted to be a dancer.

It's true!
I wanted to be a
shortstop for the Pittsburg Pirates.

Gene Kelly (1912-1996)
American Dancer/Actor


~~~~~~~~~~


I do not try to dance better than anyone else.
I only try to dance better than myself.

Mihkail Baryshnikov (1948-?)



~~~~~~~~~~



Master technique and then forget about it and be natural.

Anna Pavlova (1881-1931)
Classical Ballerina


~~~~~~~~~~


Toe dancing is a dandy attention getter,
second only to screaming.

Agnes de Mille (1905–1993)
choreographer/dancer


~~~~~~~~~~


The body says what words cannot.

Martha Graham (1894-1994)
US dancer, choreographer


~~~~~~~~~~

There are likewise three kinds of dancers:
first, those who consider dancing as a sort
of gymanstic drill, made up of impersonal
and graceful arabesques;
second, those who, by concentraing their
minds, lead the body into the rhythm of
a desired emotion, expressing a remembered
feeling or experience.

And finally, there are those who convert
the body into a luminous fluidity, surrendering
it to the inspiration of the soul.

Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), Dancer


~~~~~~~~~~


Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery.

Martha Graham (1894-1994)
US dancer, choreographer


~~~~~~~~~~


The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word.

Mata Hari (1876-1917)

dancer, World War I spy/double agent/espionage


~~~~~~~~~~

Eleanor Powell: Queen of Dance!

Eleanor Powell is the best dancer ever—even her contemporaries agreed!


Watch her classic West Point Cadet Routine! Brilliant! Absolutely Brilliant!







She's brilliant performing Fascinatin' Rhythm by George and Ira Gershwin!






Eleanor Powell and Buddy Rich team up for one outstanding performance in the movie Ship Ahoy






Eleanor Powell & Fred Astair perform brilliantly to Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine (1940)