Yesterday’s post on stage musicals vs. movie musicals led somehow to me watching video after video on YouTube with great pleasure, and one of the greatest of those pleasures was to learn that Patricia Morison is still alive and kicking … Continue reading →
I saw this ad on TV the other day and it caught my attention for obvious reasons—the dancing. I think I may have seen a shorter version, but whatever I saw I rather liked it. I didn’t understand what they … Continue reading →
And it’s the overuse of the word “whine.” I’ve noticed that whine is employed a great deal in political discourse, both on this blog and elsewhere. It’s ordinarily used to describe—and trivialize—a complaint by people with whom you don’t agree. … Continue reading →
My first reaction is: for a ton of reasons. And even before reading this article on the subject, I thought of three reasons in particular. The first is greater lung capacity. The second is stride length, although that’s not a … Continue reading →
Yes, they do. But not nearly as dizzy as you and I would. They’ve got a system, although it takes a lot of practice: The short answer is training, but to really grasp why figure skaters can twirl without getting … Continue reading →
If you’ve followed ballet as long as I have, you can’t help but notice vast changes in technique (I’ve written about some of them here and elsewhere). In general, the number and scope of physical feats has increased tremendously, perhaps … Continue reading →
Here are two male ballet dancers performing the same variation from Don Quixote. Which do you prefer? I know which one I’d choose. Barani—whom I’ve never seen dance in person, nor even heard of–is very impressive, very athletic, one of … Continue reading →
A group called UDI (a bunch of guys from Siberia, by the way) was recently on Britain’s Got Talent. They do a gimmicky thing, and you can probably figure out how they do it. But the effects are wonderful and … Continue reading →
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers generated more human happiness than many do-gooders. In the comments to the YouTube videos of their dance routines, you can find many people (some of them, I assume, young people) lamenting the death of this … Continue reading →
Who was Astaire’s best partner? Fred Astaire himself was unique, and as a solo performer in his genre he was unsurpassed. Period. It wasn’t just that he could choreograph routine after routine and bring freshness to each one. It wasn’t … Continue reading →
Here’s a video featuring dancer Jean Veloz. I believe it was filmed back in the 1940s (with incredibly corny narration): Here’s Jean at 90: Jean Veloz is apparently still going strong now, at around 92. It’s hard to see any … Continue reading →
I’ve never been a big Donald O’Connor fan, but it’s about time I remedied that failing. This video (from the 1953 movie “Call Me Madam”) goes a long way towards converting me. It features Donald, supposedly drunk, making impossible moves … Continue reading →