50 Years After, THE RED SHOES Dance On and On - motion picture - Abstract

Dance Magazine, Dec, 1998 by Doris Perlman

LERMONTOV (to Victoria Page, at Lady Neston's party): Why do you want to dance?

VICTORIA: Why do you want to live?

LERMONTOV: Why--I don't know exactly why, but--I must.

VICTORIA: That's my answer too.

Okay--it's only a movie, folks!

RELATED ARTICLE: Movies That Drove Us to Dance

Dance has long been well represented in the movies, with 112 titles appearing when the word dance is typed into the search box of the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com). In addition to The Red Shoes, these films really made people wanna dance!

The Gay Divorcee (1934), directed by Mark Sandrich, typified the wonderful escapism from the cares of the Great Depression that all of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers 1930s films provided. A delightfully frothy plot--aided by some marvelous character actors--was combined with such entrancing dance numbers as "The Continental," pictured here, with Fred and Ginger in clover.

An American in Paris (1951), directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly, and choreographed by Kelly and Carol Haney, had the priceless advantage of music by the great Gershwin and the winsome gamine presence of the very young Leslie Caron. Less well known is the fact that the screenplay was by none other than Alan Jay Lerner. Almost all of the dancers in the film had worked with major ballet companies, a change from the usual Hollywood practice. It won the Oscar for best picture.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), directed by Stanley Donen and choreographed by Michael Kidd, emphasized dance as a super-macho activity. Four of those brothers were important American dancers, including Matt Mattox, Tommy Rall, Marc Platt, and a teenaged Jacques d'Ambroise, on loan from New York City Ballet.

The Turning Point (1977), directed by the former choreographer Herbert Ross, introduced charismatic Mikhail Baryshnikov to the moviegoing public. Other "name" dancers in featured roles were Antoinette Sibley, Starr Danias, Daniel Levans, Scott Douglas, and James Mitchell. The great Alexandra Danilova, thinly disguised as "Madame Dahkarova," more or less played herself. Costar Leslie Browne.

Tap (1989), written and directed by Nick Castle, gave us Gregory Hines as Max Washington, who, just released from prison, has to decide which of his professions--burglar or tap dancer--to resume. Hines with his dynamic costar, Sammy Davis Jr. This film, which also featured Savion Glover, exemplified the rebirth of tap dancing in a more contemporary style.

Doris Perlman is Web site editor of Dance Magazine.