Fred Astaire was born on May 10, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska. He and his sister began performing at a young age and toured doing vaudeville shows. The two made it to Broadway in 1917. In 1927 they both starred in George and Ira Gershwin musical Funny Face. He attempted to get in the movie business but his screen tests didn’t attract anyone. When his sister Adele retired in 1932, his career suffered. After that he was determined to try one more time with the movie business in Hollywood. In 1933 he booked a small role in the movie Dancing Lady. This led to him getting signed to RKO Radio Pictures. There he was partnered up with Ginger Rogers in the movie Flying Down to Rio. Even though they were supporting characters, their dancing stole the show. …show more content…
When it came to his dancing he had fantastic technique and rhythm. His dance numbers were known to be elegant, smooth, unique and precise. He got his inspirations from tap, classical dance and the styles of Vernon and Irene Castle to make his own distinct style. Even though he got his inspirations from others, he contined to be an inspiration for others. Fred’s style was an inspiration for the American Smooth style of ballroom dance and set standards for which succeeding film dance musicals would be judged upon. He labeled his style as an outlaw style, an impulsive and intuitive combination of personal artistry. As Jerome Robbins stated, "Astaire's dancing looks so simple, so disarming, so easy, yet the understructure, the way he sets the steps on, over or against the music, is so surprising and inventive."( The Mythology of …show more content…
You have to think of some step that flows into the next one, and the whole dance must have an integrated pattern. If the dance is right, there shouldn't be a single superfluous movement. It should build to a climax and stop!” (Focus On: 100 Most Popular Vaudeville Performers) Astaire would choreograph dances with other people and would usually start with just a blank state.” For maybe a couple of days we wouldn't get anywhere—just stand in front of the mirror and fool around... Then suddenly I'd get an idea or one of them would get an idea... So then we'd get started... You might get practically the whole idea of the routine done that day, but then you'd work on it, edit it, scramble it and so forth. It might take sometimes as long as two, three weeks to get something going. (Focus On: 100 Most Popular Vaudeville
...’s work. Although dancing Taylor’s choreography, Grossman was allowed the freedom to experiment and this factor allowed him to develop as a performer. Grossman has admitted that he had some fear in dancing in Taylor’s Company; however he has further added that in doing so his fears were gradually diffused and he in fact reached “a sense of peace or calm”.
Vaudeville was very popular from the late 1800s to the early 1900s in North America. Vaudeville shows were made up of many random acts that were placed together in a common play bill. Some acts were, for example, plays, clowns, jugglers, comedians, etc. Once the radio was introduced, vaudeville’s started to become less popular as the radio’s popularity started to increase. The radio started out with maximum five programs but as the demand for radios increased so did the amount of programs, which went up to almost 500. Radios was the place families and friends gathered to hear the news, sporting events, music, entertainment, etc. One show millions of people listened to was The Burns and Allen Show, starring George Burns and Gracie Allen. Allen was the one who had all the punch lines and was very silly and Burns was the straight man, serious, and was the one who allowed Allen the opportunity to say her punch lines. Burns and Allen were one of the few people who succeeded in different medians and brought changes to the way entertainment was performed.
In many different scenes, dances were created to capture how each character felt in the scene that they were in. For example, when the crow was being bullied while he was tied up on the cross, Fatima created a dance to show him finding his inner courage and no longer having fear of the birds. I loved when Dorothy and Scarecrow sang walking down the yellow brick road because the dance gave the sensibility of people uniquely living the spirit of expression. The dance looked fun and vibrant like many of the jazz dances we see today. One of the styles of jazz that were engaged in the film was bebop. Bebop is characterized during the 1940s as having a fast tempo and improvisation based on the structures of a situation that inspired the movement. I noticed that bebop was displayed well when Ne-Yo danced because of its complex technique, fast tempo, and improvisation while singing at the same time. This style of jazz was suitable for the presentation of the film because it kept me as an audience engaged in every dance that was choreographed. With the tempo being very fast, it allowed for the movement to be big and easily
Cullen, Frank, Florence Hackman, and Donald McNeilly. Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Bob Fosse was born June 23, 1927, and died September 23, 1987. Born in Chicago USA. (Wikipedia, 2016, para.1) He grew up he had six siblings and had Norwegian and Irish parents. He was an American choreographer in musical theatre as well as a director, film director, screen writer, and actor. He has won the most Tonys ever for his choreography with eight Tony awards. Fosse's choreography changed how society saw dancing on film and stage with his style being nothing like anything anyone had ever seen before. His style was unique and edgy with unusual arm movements, poses, and gesture. "I thank god that I wasn't born perfect." Said Fosse. (Brainy Quote,
Not great at sports, Alvin excelled in the less common athletics of gymnastics, especially the floor exercise (36). Being an African-American male, this was hard for Ailey and he struggled fitting in with his peers. Alvin Ailey had little experience with dance or the theater and it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that his eyes were opened to the world of theatrics by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carolos and the performance of Katherine Dunham’s black dance company (DeFrantz 43). Ailey pursued 1940s dancing styles such as tap, but experimented and settled on modern dance when a school friend, Carmen de Lavallade, convinced him to join Lester Horton’s lively theatrical, Hollywood Studio in 1949 (43). As Ailey’s mentor, Horton proved to be a major role model and helped mold Alvin’s technique and
Smith, Cecile Michener, and Glenn Litton. Musical Comedy in America. New York: Theater Arts Books, 1950. 627-8. Print.
Kinetic Molpai was choreographed for an all-male dance company and contained much of Shawn’s innovative movement for men (Jacobs pillow). The piece begins with a soloist performing very staccato movements to hit a particular pose and hold there until moving on in the choreography – in Choeur Danse, poses were placed and the dancers would slowly melt out of them before continuing on to the next movement. In Kinetic Molpai, the dancers create strong, angular body lines and every move is delivered with emphasis and power. As the dance continues and eight new dancers enter the stage, each movement has a purpose and there is no room for additional flourishing - as is typically expected of female dancers and is clearly seen in Choeur Danse (Jacob’s pillow). By comparing and contrasting the two works, one can see the clear stylistic distinction between the two genders that Shawn so greatly tried to distinguish between.With this new masculine approach to dance, Shawn attracted many male followers and students. In the 1930’s, Shawn created the all-male dance troupe known as the Men Dancers. The troupe toured nationally and internationally with much success throughout the 1930’s and made a great impact
In 1929, Eleanor made her Broadway debut in Follow Thru. After being in a Broadway show, her stardom kept rising until she made it to Hollywood. In 1935 she appeared in her first movie, George White's 'Scandals of 1935'.From then on, she just got more and more successful. One of her more memorable performances was in ‘Broadway Melody in 1940’ dancing alongside Fred Astaire to “Begin the Beguine’.
“History of The Musical Stage 1920s: Keep the Sun Smilin' Through.” Musicals 101. Last modified 2003. http://www.musicals101.com/1920bway.html.
Since theatre was established as an art form, it has constantly been changing and developing as new methods of theatre styles came to light. This is also true with how musical theatre developed into how we know it today. Vaudeville and burlesque were forms of theatre in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that forged the way for the American musical to emerge. The elements that writers used from vaudeville allowed for not just musical acts to be performed during the course of the story, but eventually became a way for the story to further be told. The American musical was not always as big as it is today, and vaudeville and burlesque acts made it possible for such a type of performance style to develop. Musical writers used multiple elements, not just the song element, in their stories. This change did not just happen overnight. The evolution from vaudeville and burlesque was a gradual one, taking years to further develop the performance styles into the Broadway musical we can see today.
Slide, Anthony. The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994. Google Books. Web. 1 May 2014.
That year he met the woman who would be his future wife. She was in his first film for his film
4.Bob Fosse showed great interest in dancing when he was very young because his father was a dancer and this influenced a lot to his future career. His marriage with Joan McCracken helped a lot in his shortcomings in classical dancing like ballet. He was remembered by his eight Tony Awards. In his musical works, he got inspirations from Jack Cole’s directions and made innovations of his own. The unique stage effect and dancing skills made him the most recognized musical directors of his time.
Whether it is the fire dances of the native Hawaiians, or the Tango from Spain, dance is a part of every culture. This event is not an event I would usually attend. I am not into art of any kind except music. At first, there were two reasons I went to this performance.