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!