A History of Dance in the Movies with Brian Rose

Dancing in the Dark

The movies and dancing are a partnership born in heaven. From its very beginnings, the new medium of motion pictures turned toward dance as one of the best ways to showcase its unique ability to make movement come alive. And through the decades, it’s been dancing on the big screen that has provided some of the most ecstatic moments in film history—whether it’s Fred Astaire gliding on the ceiling in Royal Wedding, the Nicholas Brothers leaping down a staircase in Stormy Weather, Moira Shearer pirouetting through the dreamscape of The Red Shoes, or John Travolta burning up the dance floor in Saturday Night Fever. Illustrated with more than 75 video clips, this talk will survey 130 years of thrilling movie dance performances and demonstrate the extraordinary ways cinema brought dance to life.

In the series:
Oct 31: The Films of Alfred Hitchcock
Nov. 12: A History of Dance in the Movies