Gene Kelly Flashcards
When was Cover Girl?
1944.
When was Anchors Aweigh?
- POST WAR SOCIETY.
When was An American in Paris?
1951
What influenced Gene Kelly?
- Athletic childhood; Kelly’s Father loved sports, especially hockey. Every winter he would make an ice hockey rink in their back garden. Kelly credited hockey for his movements which were “wide open and close to the ground.”
- He also participated in gymnastics.
- His Mother; she loved the theatre, so put him into dance lessons.
- Ballet; Kelly had a very strong background in classical ballet having trained with Bernice Holmes and Alexander Kotchetovsky. He was also influenced by Agnes de Mille who pioneered the ‘Dream Ballet’ which features in An American in Paris.
Gene Kelly’s stylistic features:
- Combined ballet and jazz influences with tap
- Naturalism, dance sprung from circumstance and looked as normal as breathing
- Masculine, athletic movements to look like the average man with a far from average talent
- Use of props and set
Examples of athleticism in his choreography
In ‘The Worry Song’ from ‘Anchors Aweigh’ (1945) Kelly travels downstage then upstage performing a series of expansive ‘over the log’ jumps in unison with Jerry. These are light but deliberately effortful to show his masculinity and athletic features.
In ‘The Worry Song’ from ‘Anchors Aweigh’ (1945) Kelly performs a grand plié in first position before quickly jumping into a wide second position, with a slight bend in the knee, before doing three quick pirouettes en dedans. He repeats this twice then, in a deep, grounded plié, he travels downstage while performing Russian-inspired crouched walks by quickly sliding onto his left knee then his right, to create the effect he is gliding. This links to his athletic childhood of ice hockey, where he said many of his movements were “wide open and close to the ground.”
Examples of ballet in his choreography:
In ‘An American in Paris’ (1951) Kelly uses lots of ballet steps developed in a neoclassical and lyrical style. For example, in the second duet between Jerry and Lise in the ‘Dream Ballet’ sequence, Caron performs a large and expansive grand rond de jambe into a penché while holding onto the statues in the fountain. This shows a clear background in classical ballet, where Kelly trained with figures such as Holmes and Kotchetovsky.
In ‘Put me to the test’ from ‘Cover Girl’ (1944) before a white spotlight highlights Danny and Rusty, they perform a double pirouette en dedans in unison, with the leg parallel and arms in jazz first. They jump out into a wide second position and throw their arms forwards, then embrace each other and end in a stillness in a typical “lovers pose.” This shows a hybrid of ballet with other styles such as jazz and tap.
Examples of naturalism in his choreography:
In ‘I got rhythm’ from ‘An American in Paris’ (1951) the choreography is predominantly gestural with brief tap interludes to convey how the dance is sprung from circumstance. For example, Kelly points towards a young boy stood by his left, and the boy sings “I got” to which Kelly replies “my gal- who could ask for anything more?” As he sings, Kelly loops his left arm around the young boys head and in a joking and friendly manner, ruffles his hair with his right hand.
In ‘Alter Ego’ from ‘Cover Girl’ (1944) Kelly uses naturalism to show how Danny and his alter ego are competing with each other by testing their strengths, so he runs up the stairs onto a balcony and jumps off to slide down the pole. This conveys how the dance is sprung from circumstance.
Examples of use of set/ props in his choreography:
In the first duet between Jerry and Lise in the ‘Dream Ballet’ sequence from ‘An American in Paris’ (1951). Caron posés into an arabesque while holding onto Kelly’s hands, before he gently lowers her to the ground where she rolls to sit up and Kelly hands her the red rose. This rose is used to symbolise Caron’s character, Lise, and the love Jerry feels for her.
In ‘Alter Ego’ from ‘Cover Girl’ (1944) Kelly uses the set to show how Danny and his alter ego are competing with each other by testing their strengths, so he runs up the stairs onto a balcony and jumps off to slide down the pole. This conveys how the set is used to differentiate the characters from eachother and provide large movements by using varying levels.
What was his impact on the development of jazz dance?
- Created a more energetic, athletic style with grounded, weighted tap
- Made it acceptable for American men to be graceful
- Long dance sequences to integrate elements of plot and character
- Pushed the boundaries of dance on film mixing live artists with animation and special effects
