Gene Kelly influences Flashcards
Kellys influences?
- Fred Astaire
- Bill Bojangles (Bill Robinson)
- Robert Alton
- Stanley Donen
- Busby Berkeley
Fred Astaire: who he was?
- an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer and presenter
- widely regarded as the “greatest popular-music dancer of all time”
Fred Astaire: style of choreography
- drew from a variety of influences, including tap, classical dance, and the elevated style of Vernon and Irene Castle
- uniquely recognisable dance style that greatly influenced the American Smooth style of ballroom dance and set standards against which subsequent film dance musicals would be judged
- execution of a dance routine was prized for its elegance, grace, originality and precision
Fred Astaire: What did Jerome Robbins say about Astaire?
“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”
Fred Astaire: works
- top hat
- Ziegfeld follies
- easter parade
- daddy longlegs
- funny face
Bill Bojangles: Who was he?
- born May 25, 1878 - died Nov 25, 1949
- An American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid black entertainer in the USA during the first half of the 20th century
Bill Bojangles: his career?
- Began in the age of the minstrel shows
- later moved to vaudeville, Broadway theatre, the recording industry, Hollywood films, radio and television
Bill Bojangles: How did he contribute to tap dance?
- he brought it on its toes, dancing upright and swinging
- adding a hitherto-unknown lightness and presence
- infrequently dropped his heels marked a significant change in popular tap technique
Bill Bojangles: What was his signature routine?
- was the stair dance
- he would tap up and down a set of stairs in a rhythmically complex sequence of steps
Bill Bojangles: how did he use his popularity to overcome racial barriers?
- was one of the first minstrel and vaudeville performers to appear as black without the use of blackface makeup
- as well as one of the earliest Black performers to perform solo, overcoming vaudeville’s two-colour rule
Robert Alton: who was he?
- 2nd January 1902 - 12 June 1957
- an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s
Robert Alton: what was he known for?
discoverer of Kelly, for his collaborations with Astaire and from choreographic sequences he designed for Hollywood musicals
Robert Alton: how he transformed Broadway choreography
- is credited with transforming Broadway choreography by breaking up the chorus into featured soloist and small groups, and his musical staging was celebrated for its elegance and attention to detail
- alton synthesised dance material already popular at the time
Busby Berkeley: who was he
- An American film director and musical choreographer
- 1920s, Berkeley was a dance director for nearly 2 dozen Broadway musicals. As a choreographer, Berkeley was less concerned with the dancing skills of his chorus girls as he was with their ability to form themselves into attractive geometric patterns. His musical numbers were among the larger and better-regimented on Broadway.
Busby Berkeley: what did he develop
Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often-involved complex geometric patterns. Berkeley’s works used large numbers of showgirls and probs as fantasy elements in kaleidoscope on-screen performance
Busby Berekly: techniques
“parade of faces”, moving his dancers all over the stage.
Stanley Donen: who was he
- An American film director and choreographer
- began his career as a dancer in chorus line
Stanley Donen: Link to Kelly
- Him and Kelly directed films “On The Town”, SITR, and “Its Always Fair Weather”. Their relationship deteriorated during their final collaboration
- Kelly asked him to assist him with choreography for “Cover Girl” (Colombia Pictures). Came up with the idea of the ‘Alter Ego’ dance.
Stanley Donen: comparison to kelly
- Donen is highly respected by film historians, but his career is often compared to Kellys, and there is a debate over who deserves more credit for their collaborations.
