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The Movies And Ballroom Dancing

Think dancing and you think Hollywood. Whatever kind of dancing you can think of – whether it is the gliding slow dances or the fast tap dances or the modern break dancing, the silver screen has it all. Not only that, it has immortalized both the dance and the dancers in certain movies.

 

Sometimes, the dance is just a part of the movie. Sometimes, it is the whole movie. Look at all the old Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movies. It was the dance and the song that was the movie. The story line was present just to string the dance and song sequences together. What you remember are the flawless movements and the steps that never put a wrong foot anywhere. Ginger Rogers of course should probably have been even more feted considering she did all the steps in the highest of heels and backwards at that!

In the great epic movies like Gone With The Wind, even with such a powerful story you remember the great ballroom dance scene when Rhett makes a bid to dance with Scarlett. Then of course, we have movies like the Richard Gere-Jennifer Lopez starrer Shall We Dance where a simple guy learns to dance and prepares for the dancing competition.

There is also that wonderful movie Dance With Me, the story of Rafael, a young Cuban boy who comes to America and becomes a great dancer. The reason the ballroom dancers here look so authentic is because they used actual ballroom competition dancers in the movie. Another hit which received a standing ovation at the Cannes Festival was Strictly Wonderful where a professional dancer and an amateur pair up to enter a competition and all the comedy that follows.

So many movies over the years have had dancing sequences. Look at the old movies like West Side Story and the Little Colonel with Bojangles and Shirley Temple. And who can forget Dorothy dancing her way through The Wizard of Oz? Or the dances in The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins or My Fair Lady? Later, the dances grew more erotic like Flashdance and Dirty Dancing. Why today, you even have all the animated characters doing a great jig! From The Jungle Book to the Shrek series, dance has become part and parcel of most animated movies.

It's always been great to watch ballroom dancing. The great thing about the movies is that they have preserved the different dances or the different ways of doing certain dancing on celluloid so people can watch and enjoy them for years to come.

 

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Definition Of Ballroom Dancing Headlines

Get away this Valentine's Day - Green Bay Press Gazette


Get away this Valentine's Day
Green Bay Press Gazette
Two buildings define the unincorporated community of St. John in Calumet County. One is a Catholic church. The other is the 1928 Crystal Ballroom, where couples waltz, rumba, tango and more on Friday nights. College students to senior citizens wear ...

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Weekender: Spot the Owl, Ballroom Dance and Getting Squirrely - FairfaxNews.com


Weekender: Spot the Owl, Ballroom Dance and Getting Squirrely
FairfaxNews.com
Register online or call 703-222-4664. For information call 703-941-1065. Ballroom Social Dance: Dancing, food and fun! Led by an instructor (with a pre-dance mini lesson available, $5/person). Complimentary refreshments and cash bar available.

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May I have this dance? - Washington Blade


Washington Blade

May I have this dance?
Washington Blade
“The ovations the crowds were giving us and the other dancers were amazing and it was definitely a life-defining moment.” At the Gay Games, dancesport is contested in three different dance disciplines, country, Latin and ballroom.

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Commentary: Buddy Holly: The music lives - Victoria Times Colonist


Commentary: Buddy Holly: The music lives
Victoria Times Colonist
3, 1959, 53 years ago — were Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the “Big Bopper,” JP Richardson, who died in a plane crash after their performance at the Winter Dance Party show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Back then, the “cool rockin' ...

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Entertainment Calendar – Issue of Feb. 9, 2012 - Pomerado Newspaper Group


Entertainment Calendar – Issue of Feb. 9, 2012
Pomerado Newspaper Group
Dance to ballroom dancing with DJ Rudy Vidal's Funtastic Sounds 7- 10:30 pm Fridays and Mike Krause's live dance band Saturdays at The Growing Place Montessori School, 13242 Pomerado Road, Poway. Entrance fee is $10/person.

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