I watched That’s Dancing! last night, and they finished by showing three then-current (1985) numbers – only two of which actually have, IMHO, stood the test of time:
[ul]
[li]Saturday Night Fever (Tony’s solo in the disco – and you know what? John Travolta ain’t much of a dancer)[/li][li]Fame (title song – when it’s just kids out on the street milling around, no actual choreography)[/li][li]“Beat It” (my pick for the one that holds up – too bad MJ turned out to be batshit crazy, he was an artist to be reckoned with back in the day)[/li][/ul]
So I’m chatting with amarinth about this – she started it, by warning me against Mamma Mia, which I hadn’t planned to see anyway – and started wondering, what are the numbers from the last 30 years (Saturday Night Fever having come out in 1977) that have kept their quality and will continue to do so?
My first nominee: the “Roxanne” tango from Moulin Rouge. For tap, the takin’-it-to-the-streets number in Tap.
Amarinth had a few ideas, but I’ll let her speak for herself. And what about you? What should be in That’s Dancing! II as the best of the 1978-2008 era?
I would argue anything from Moulin Rouge! be disqualified because none of the numbers in that films demonstrate the genuine artistry of dance as much as they show off the spastic hyperactivity of the editor. I’m sure those dancers were talented, and I’m confident there was a sultry tango filmed at some point, but all that was lost in the relentless cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut-cut that typified 15 seconds of any musical number.
Excluding Bollywood and short-form music videos (neither of which I’m particularly versed on, though I have some personal faves), I’d vote for:
The opening “On Broadway” sequence of All That Jazz (that’s how you edit a musical!)
Christopher Walken’s “Let’s Misbehave” from Pennies from Heaven
“Run and Tell That” from Hairspray
“Just Dropped In (to see what Condition My Condition was In)” from The Big Lebowski
Plus, though I find both films a tad overrated, the climaxes of Little Miss Sunshine and The Full Monty are enormously appealling.
The problem, of course, is that most of the cinematic musicals of the last three decades have either been turgid adaptations, completely dance-free (or professional dancer-free), or animated–narrowing the field significantly.
A list that might help – or not. I liked Hair – but that’s a personal fondness, not a defense of it as a great movie. There were a couple of really good numbers, though.
The scene from Cannery Row in which Nick Nolte and Deborah Winger each try to prove they’re the best jitterbugger, when neither of them is very good.
A scene in Dorian Blues, when Dorian’s brother sets him up with a hooker to knock the gay out of him, and they end up doing an old-style dance number instead. I just watched that this weekend and burst out laughing at the simple joy of the scene.
Was They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? in the last 30 years? If not it still deserves an honorable mention for being practically a single extended dance sequence.
Instead of Beat It, I think the zombie-dance from Thriller has had the longest cultural familiarity. It is still both parodied and paid homage to, and is instantly recognizable.
My late wife and I saw The Producers in Chicago before it opened on Broadway run, and when the Little Old Ladies started “tap dancing” with their walkers we both almost fell out of our chairs laughing.
I like the scene in Swingers where Mikey dances with the girl in the club:
It’s a good dance number, with real dancing, not a bunch of flashy aerials or anything. They start off slow, and then click as partners. One thing that I really like is that at the beginning of the number Jon Favreau does a couple of turns, and then a few basic steps, and then gradually gets more involved as they get to know each other. You know, like how you dance with a real girl you don’t know from Eve.
Time Bandits Me and My Shadow (most of them were highly trained dancers and it was difficult to do it ‘wrong’)
The Fisher King Grand Central Station Waltz
Wall-E 0-G waltz
Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast/Be Our Guest
I have mixed feelings about this one
If music videos are fair game, there’s Paper Bag by Fiona Apple and Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim. Both are pretty cool, but Paper Bag doesn’t have any Dune references…
I guess I don’t really understand the OP, since there’s all this stuff about movies and shows. But musically, “What Is Love” by Haddaway is the catchiest dance track I’ve ever heard.
