Watch me dance the night away
Le Cinéma Club curates dance films in March
Ryan Gosling’s “Kenergetic” performance at the Dolby Theatre Sunday night gave me all the feels; a blind man could see Barbie reconsidering her choices from the front row at the Oscars. Yet Gosling does have competition in a category I’ll call “men dancing while dressed in pink.” Recall Hugh Grant in Paddington 2:
In a black-and-white sequence from 1936’s “Swing Time,” which I could watch on a continuous loop till kingdom come, Fred & Ginger mesmerized us and immortalized themselves right here:
Of course I have a special place in my heart for Jennifer Beals at baseline and this audition scene from “Flashdance” has a lot to do with it:
This defiant father-son stand-off from “Billy Elliot” still makes me misty-eyed:
And what can I say about Tony’s solo in “Saturday Night Fever”? John Travolta’s dance moves made him an icon. But Bobby C’s plea to Fr. Frank for help with his pregnant girlfriend became the stuff of quotable movie moments.
Finally, if you’ve never seen 1943’s “Stormy Weather,” you don’t know what you’re missing. Many consider this scene of the legendary tap dancing Nicholas Brothers (Fayard & Harold) to be the best dance scene on film. Truly, I cannot imagine another duo ever outdoing these two:
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Specializing in shorts, this month Le Cinéma Club features dance films. Start now with the totally mesmerizing 12-minute-long “Social Skills,” which the site describes as:
Mixing the experimental artist Henry Hills’ rhythmic style of filmmaking with Venezuelan choreographer David Zambrano’s lively flair for improvisation, Social Skills is a shape-shifting delight. Made on the occasion of Zambrano’s sixtieth birthday, this electric short follows sixty dancers over the course of two weeks at the Tictac Art Centre in Brussels, where they practice a series of improvisational set-ups.
Watching “Social Skills” reminded me of so many other dance flicks I absolutely adore. I can’t wait to see how choreographers and filmmakers work together this year to create more memorable moves in motion pictures. Until then, a quick poll, since last week’s crowd correctly chose Emma Stone to win a Best Actress Oscar.