Featured dancer: Bob Fosse

My favorite jazz choreographer -- Bob Fosse was a one-of-a-kind dancer, musical theater choreographer/director and film director.

Years ago I saw an interview of Bob in which he explained how he developed his style of dancing -- the inward knees and toes and rounded shoulders. He claimed he was just exaggerating his own, physical flaws so that the audience wouldn't notice they were flaws. ;-) He didn't explain where the "stylized, cynical sexuality" elements came from. Perhaps the inspiration came from the burlesque clubs that he worked in (as a vaudeville-type performer) at age 13 as featured in his biopic, 'All That Jazz'.

Here's some early Fosse choreography and dancing from 1951 from the Colgate Comedy Hour (yeah, that's Jerry Lewis hosting!). Although it's kinda kitschy, there are already some hints of the future Fosse style here with the exotic "Indian" moves and body isolations. Dancing with Fosse is his first wife, Mary Ann Niles:

From the 1955 film 'My Sister Eileen', here's Fosse and Tommy Rall performing a piece choreographed by Fosse. The characters are meant to be showing off their skills to each other, but mostly they're just showing us how they can defy gravity!

From around the same time (1956?), here's Bob and the incomparable Carol Haney on The Ed Sullivan Show performing 'I Love a Piano' from 'The Pajama Game'. This dance really starts to show the trademark Fosse style:

Finally, one of my all-time faves -- 'A Ssssnake in the Grassss' from 'The Little Prince'. I love the bit where he sprinkles some sand on the sand for a soft-shoe. ;-) Pure Fosse!

Muppet dance performances!

Kermit performs Happy Feet!:

"Jazz" from some Tube Muppets!:

Muppet Pigs perform Russian dance!:

Muppet Square Dance!:

Saturday night at the hop - Zydeco!

Now here's a social dance I'm sad to say I've never tried -- which is a crying shame after watching these folks and seeing how much fun it obviously is!

Here's some Zydeco dancing (from Louisiana) for ya -- here's an awesome brother and sister team! Nothing like dancing in your stocking feet in the kitchen. :-)

And, some clips from the Louisiana Zydeco Live television show:

And another couple of dancers from the Louisiana Zydeco Live television show:

For more, see ZydecoOnline.com!

Friday night at the movies - "The Cell Block Tango"

From the movie Chicago, 'The Cell Block Tango' choreographed by Rob Marshall. Go Catherine!

Meanwhile, over in another cell block...

Dance in art - Degas' 'The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer'

The model for Degas' 'The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer' ('La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans'), modeled in 1880, was Marie Van Goethem, a student at the École de Danse in Paris and dancer at the Opéra. The sculpture received mixed reviews at the time it was first displayed (it was cast in 1922) as some reviewers thought it appallingly ugly. I think she's wonderfully life-like (especially since she's life-size!).

Degas seems to have captured her during a moment of contemplation perhaps while being shown a new step or simply while "standing at the side of the classroom, perhaps admiring older, more advanced dancers in an exercise" as Evan @ DancingPerfectlyFree suggested.

Lovely:

Zulu Indlamu

From South Africa, the Zulu people have a traditional war dance known as the Indlamu:

[I]t is regarded as a touchstone of Zulu identity. Full regimental attire, precise timing and uncompromised posture are required. It is danced by men of any age wearing skin (amabeshu), headrings, ceremonial belts, ankle rattles, shields and weapons like knobkeries and spears.

The dancers show off their strength and skill with their weapons via mock stabs and energetic lifts of one foot over the head, bringing it down hard on the downbeat as a display.

Here is a video of an Indlamu performance from Zululand (slightly NSFW, some topless women occasionally in the scene). The warriors' kicks begin around 5:40:

Another performance from South Africa. I love the attitude of one of the dancers around 1:38 after he finishes a series of high kicks -- as if to say, "Oh yeah? You think you can take me?" ;-) Great stuff!

Dance craze - "Shake a Tail Feather"

Here's a gaggle of dance crazes featured in a scene from 'The Blues Brothers' with Ray Charles singing 'Shake a Tail Feather'! The lyrics describe the crazes performed by Jake and Elwood and the "pedestrians" out on Maxwell Street:

...Do The Twist
Do The Fly
Do The Swim
And do The Bird
Well do The Duck
Aaah, and do The Monkey
Hey hey, Watusi
And, ah, what about The Frug
Do The Mashed Potato
What about The Boogaloo
Oh, The Boney Maroney
Come on let's do The Twist....

If you wanna brush up on your Watusi or your Pony, check out these instructions at SixtiesCity.com.

Friday night at the movies - "The Carioca"

Honey: "What's this business with the forehead?"
Fred: "Mental telepathy."
Honey: "I can tell what they're thinking about from here."

Here's Fred and Ginger from their first movie together, "Flying Down to Rio". In the first scene here, they're supposedly trying out a Brazilian dance, the 'Carioca'. The dance, though, was simply created for the movie -- a Carioca is, in fact, a resident of Rio de Janeiro.:

The singer of "The Carioca" is Etta Moten of Porgy and Bess fame.

And, speaking of Gershwin, here's Fred and Ginger from "Shall We Dance" tap-dancing on roller skates -- as one does!:

Featured dancer: Ann Miller - Fastest tap in the West!

Tap-dancer Ann Miller was a Hollywood musical staple in the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Texas, she was discovered by Lucille Ball at age 13. Her agent claimed Miller could produce 500 taps per minute. That may have been a slight exaggeration, but whatever the true figure, the girl could sure tap FAST!

(She also invented pantyhose! Who knew?!)

Here she is performing "Too darn Hot" in "Kiss me Kate" - 1953:

"Shakin' the Blues Away" from "Easter Parade" - 1948 (now THIS is FAST!):

And from "Deep in My Heart" - 1954 -- a tap-Charleston!:

More on Ann Miller @ Turner Classic Movies.

Tango Finlandia!

Finnish Tango demo:

Finnish Tango in TURKU:

Finnish Tango(?) in rainstorm:

"The Tango and the Finnish Soul"

Tangomarkkinat (Annual Tango Festival)

Saturday night at the hop - The Lindy Hop

Hellzapoppin'! Here are the utterly amazing Whitey's Lindy Hoppers from 1941 (dancing starts around 2:40)!:

And here are some contemporary cats recreatin' that frenetic Hellzapoppin' mood (from the Basie Centennial, New York City, 2004). Check out several of the couples dancing slo-mo toward the end of the second video (around 5:50)!:

More about the Lindy Hop here.

McCain Vs. Obama Dance-Off

Dance in art - Bruegel's 'The Peasant Dance'

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Renaissance painter from the Netherlands who is known for his paintings of peasants and landscapes. In 'The Peasant Dance', painted in 1568, we see a jolly group of ordinary folk enjoying a real 'knees-up' (as the Brits would say)! The beer's a-flowin', there's a piper playing some (no doubt) lively tunes, and we can see three couples kicking their heels up to the music.

Now that's what I call a party!

Balinese Legong

There are many, amazing types of Balinese dance. Most are religious in nature and are related to the practice of Hinduism on Bali. Some dances are considered sacred, while others are more 'secular'.

The Legong is a 'secular' dance performed for entertainment purposes. It tells a story and is traditionally danced by two pre-pubescent (pure) girls. Nowadays, with all the tourism to Bali, many of the traditional dances are performed by adults.

Here is an example of a young girl -- a fantastic dancer! -- performing a Legong at a royal palace:

Here is a full Legong (in three parts) called Legod Bawa performed by two superb dancers. This dance tells the story of "the struggle between the gods Vishnu and Brahma in their struggle to find Shiva's 'Lingga'":

Dance craze - The Hokey Pokey!

You put your left leg in
You put your left leg out
You put your left leg in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about...!

Ok. I admit it. I've done my fair share of Hokey Pokies -- mostly at weddings when in an advanced state of inebriation (makes for more of a challenge that way!). It usually comes right after the Birdie Dance and right before the Bunny Hop -- although sometimes it can be hard to tell them apart because EVERYone's so inebriated! ;-)

Apparently there's some dispute over who started the Hokey Pokey craze (or Hokey Cokey if you're British -- or Hokey Tokey if you're a Kiwi!) -- probably because no one wants to take the blame for this particular craze.

Still, when all is said and done, I do have a special fondness in my heart for the Hokey Pokey -- it was probably one of the first "real" dances I learned. So, I was glad to find that when I googled "Hokey Pokey" that there are 2,750 Hokey Pokey videos out there! This dance craze is still alive and well!

Here's a fairly standard Hokey Pokey -- with a slight twist:

And here's a FUNKy Hokey Pokey!:

The Hokey Pokey on roller skates!:

The Hokey Pokey craze reaches China:

And, the cutest Hokey Pokey you've ever seen!:

From ICHC:

(see more crazy cat pics)

Featured dancer: Vladimir Vasiliev - 'God of the Dance'

Russian premier danseur, Vladimir Vasiliev, performed with the Bolshoi Ballet starting in 1958. He later choreographed for the Bolshoi and eventually became its director (until he was dismissed by Vladimir Putin in 2000).

He has been described as 'God of the dance' -- and he really set the standard for all danseurs who were to follow him.

Here are some excerpts of Vasiliev performing Don Quixote in 1960. The ballerina is Ekaterina Maximova (who is also Vasiliev's wife):

Here they are again in Don Quixote from 1972:

DON QUIXOTE - GRAND PD2 (Maximova-Vasiliev, 1972) @ Yahoo! Video

Whoever said white men can't jump?! ;-)

Vasiliev is most well known for his role of 'Spartacus'. Two scenes from that ballet can be viewed here and here [embed not available]. What a stunning performance!

Everybody Dance Now!

From 1991, the video for C+C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" for which Jamale Graves won MTV's Best Choreography in a Video (followed by "Things That Make You Go Hmmm...").

• C+C Music Factory
• New Music

Back in the day, Jamale described hip-hop as:

The dance of young people. It's the dance of the street combined with some real serious roots of ethnic dance, combined with the movement of Katherine Dunham -- with a funky thing -- with the kids going on and what they feel -- along with rap music. Hip-hop!

Hip-hop includes many styles, of course, from breaking to popping, locking and krumping and house dance. What Jamale described above and used in his choreography for "Gonna Make You Sweat" is probably more hip-hop new style than anything else since almost all of the dancing is upright.

Here's how hip-hop new style is lookin' in this century -- some free styling @ Juste Debout 2005:

While I've got the 90s on my mind -- here's the video for MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This". Spandex and parachute pants -- what would the 90s have been without 'em?! Break it down!: