# Footlose - 30 years and Kevin Bacon can still dance. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321 "2014-03-22T23:26:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321/1 "2014-03-22T23:26:56Z")
Kevin Bacon doesn’t look much different from 30 years ago. Still moves and dances really well. I enjoyed seeing him reenact some of his classic moves on the Tonight Show. > **[SEE IT: Kevin Bacon reenacts 'Footloose' dance 30 years later in 'Tonight...](https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/kevin-bacon-reenacts-footloose-dance-30-years-article-1.1730294)** > > It might be 30 years since 'Footloose' hit theaters, but Kevin Bacon has still got it. The 55-year-old star of 'The Following' appeared on the 'Tonight Show' on Friday night and he showed off some of his old moves from the 1984 classic. Question, was that a body double doing the gymnastics? I can’t imagine Kevin doing that with the minimal rehearsal time he had for a Tonight show sketch. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321/2 "2014-03-22T23:38:53Z")
Oh, I see now. They included some original footage from the movie. That gymnastic scene is from the original. For a Tonight Show sketch they were pretty clever in recreating Kevin’s key dance elements. heres a clip of the original warehouse dance [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nc8crnqKEns/hqdefault.jpg "Footloose - Dancing Warehouse Scene (1984)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc8crnqKEns) the final dance [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NqGslEZ5I6c/maxresdefault.jpg "Footloose - Final Dance 1984 HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqGslEZ5I6c) ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321/3 "2014-03-23T00:56:02Z")
No, they had a gymnast doing the gymnastics on the Tonight Show, they didn’t use elements from the original. They even introduced the gymnast during the show. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321/4 "2014-03-23T01:22:33Z")
USCDiver thank you for the clarification. I didn’t see the show. I just saw the clip the news posted. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321/5 "2014-03-23T01:42:29Z")
buzzfeed compares the shots side by side > **[Kevin Bacon Did An Incredible Shot-By-Shot Recreation Of His Iconic...](https://www.buzzfeed.com/jaimieetkin/kevin-bacon-footloose-jimmy-fallon-tonight-show)** > > Burgundy tux and all. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321/6 "2014-03-23T05:09:14Z")
I’ll watch it presently, but was it as good as Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s live rendition of _Make 'Em Laugh_? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footlose-30-years-and-kevin-bacon-can-still-dance/684321/7 "2014-03-23T16:29:27Z")
Here’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s live version of the song on _Saturday Night Live_: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAoW_1hivaA) Here’s Donald O’Connor’s version from the movie: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TUFoypOE2w8/hqdefault.jpg ""Make 'Em Laugh" - Donald O'Connor (from 1952's SI") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUFoypOE2w8) O’Connor’s version is much more complex but doubtless with many takes and many pauses between shots, but Gordon-Levitt’s was done with one take and no pauses.