They just don't choreograph em like they used to. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most impressively assembled dance sequences from classic Hollywood films.
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00:00 "I want you to dance tonight with the same ecstasy I've seen in you only once before."
00:04 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most impressively
00:09 assembled dance sequences from classic Hollywood films.
00:12 "I want to show Mr. Gordon how much you've just taught me."
00:15 "No, never mind."
00:15 "Oh, thank you very much, that's very sweet of you."
00:17 "Please."
00:17 "I'm very anxious for Mr. Gordon to see this because I think it's the most interesting experiment."
00:21 That time frame unfortunately doesn't extend to the 1970s,
00:25 so we won't be including incredible choreography from movies like All That Jazz.
00:30 #10 Isn't It a Lovely Day - Top Hat
00:33 "The weather is brightening, the thunder and lightning seem to be having their way.
00:39 But as far as I'm concerned, it's a lovely day."
00:43 The best choreography tells a story.
00:45 And if Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers could do anything,
00:48 they could communicate themes and story arcs with the tap of their toes.
00:52 #11 There Are Many Gorgeous Dance Sequences in Top Hat
01:03 There are many gorgeous dance sequences in Top Hat,
01:06 including the movie's namesake and the famous cheek-to-cheek scene.
01:10 But in Isn't It a Lovely Day, Astaire and Rogers deliver a compelling
01:14 representation of two people just beginning to fall in love.
01:17 The way Rogers takes a little more cajoling to ease into the choreography,
01:21 mimicking Astaire before she really comes into her own,
01:24 is a thing of genius.
01:36 #9 Bohemian Dance - Funny Face
01:43 "Gentlemen, I wonder if you'd mind if I had my own small conversation with this lady."
01:47 "They don't understand English."
01:49 "You were talking English?"
01:50 "Yes, well, it's a little hard to explain, but you see,
01:52 it's all part of emphaticalism. We don't have to communicate with words."
01:56 Audrey Hepburn immediately proves her statement to Fred Astaire when she
02:00 expresses herself through dance in the 1957 classic Funny Face.
02:04 Choreographed by Astaire and Eugene Loring,
02:07 this dance from Funny Face is one of the film's most impressive.
02:10 Hepburn, joined by two strapping young men,
02:13 artfully twists and leaps her way through a smoky bar,
02:16 all in the name of creativity.
02:18 [Music]
02:34 Here, Hepburn is operating at peak physical capacity,
02:38 each move intentional and filled with tension.
02:41 Yet there's a sensuality to the dance that offsets its inherent silliness,
02:45 together creating something a little more interesting.
02:48 The icing on the cake?
02:49 Astaire looking on, completely baffled.
02:52 [Music]
03:02 Number 8
03:03 The Red Blues - Silk Stockings
03:05 [Music]
03:17 Choreographing large ensemble numbers can be tough,
03:21 but in Silk Stockings, Eugene Loring and Hermes Pan had it down to an art.
03:25 The Red Blues is the big number in the film,
03:28 consisting of a bunch of characters lamenting about the ways in which
03:31 communism has stymied their creative lives.
03:33 [Music]
03:41 The funniest bits of choreo involve dancers freezing in place
03:44 when important leaders walk through the door,
03:46 but the highlight is the dance's final moments,
03:49 where Sid Cherice finally takes a whirl on the floor.
03:52 The camera follows her as she dances with numerous partners,
03:55 each step more beautiful than the last.
03:57 [Music]
04:09 Number 7
04:10 Broadway Melody - Singing in the Rain
04:12 This is perhaps Gene Kelly and Stanley Donnan's most famous piece of work,
04:16 and one of their best.
04:18 Every dance sequence in 1952's Singing in the Rain is a work of art,
04:22 but this fantasy scene is transcendent.
04:25 [Music]
04:33 Broadway Melody tells the story of a young yokel
04:36 who comes to New York City to make a name for himself.
04:39 Along the way, he falls in love and is left wanting by a dame gone bad.
04:43 [Music]
04:56 There are barely any words in Broadway Melody,
04:59 just the artistry and story of Donnan and Kelly's choreography.
05:03 The ensemble perfects the piece,
05:04 but the pièce de résistance is the windswept duet between Kelly and Sid Cherice.
05:09 [Music]
05:24 Number 6
05:26 The Barn Dance - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
05:28 [Music]
05:40 When there are this many moving parts,
05:42 it's tough to make anything look coherent.
05:44 But somehow, the barn dance in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers finds a way.
05:49 The result, one of the most famous dance sequences ever committed to the silver screen.
05:54 [Music]
06:02 The choreography is not only athletic as all get out,
06:05 but incredibly intricate.
06:07 It requires perfect steps and placement at all times.
06:11 If one thing goes wrong, everything could go wrong.
06:15 As the number goes on and things get more buoyant and exciting,
06:18 it's a miracle these dancers were able to commit this to film history
06:22 in the way they were.
06:23 [Music]
06:32 Number 5
06:33 Jump and Jive - Stormy Weather
06:35 It's a shame that the Nicholas Brothers aren't more famous than they are.
06:39 But even if you don't know this famous tap duo by name,
06:42 you've probably seen them perform in Jump and Jive.
06:45 [Music]
06:57 This sequence is the finale for 1943 Stormy Weather,
07:01 a Hollywood musical featuring an all-black cast.
07:04 It's not the biggest dance number in the film's runtime,
07:06 but it certainly is the most electric.
07:09 [Music]
07:25 The Nicholas Brothers have some of the tightest moves you've ever seen,
07:28 perfectly in sync with each other and effortlessly explosive.
07:32 At the end, when the brothers leap over each other down the stairs
07:35 and land in splits, it's hard to believe your eyes.
07:39 [Music]
07:54 Number 4
07:55 The Girl Hunt Ballet - The Bandwagon
07:58 What better way to tell a murder mystery than with a ballet?
08:01 Add in a noir-soaked Fred Astaire voiceover, and you've got us hooked.
08:05 "I can smell trouble a mile off. And this poor kid was in trouble. Big trouble."
08:11 The ballet follows a detective as he tries to uncover the connection
08:14 between two mysterious women and a murder that's occurred.
08:18 Citcherie stars as both femme fatales, one blonde and seemingly innocent,
08:22 the other dangerous and enticing.
08:25 "She was bad. She was dangerous. I wouldn't trust her any farther
08:29 than I could throw her. She was selling her, but I wasn't buying."
08:34 The action follows Astaire's detective through multiple glorious set pieces,
08:38 including an acrobatic dance fight with prop guns
08:41 and an unbelievably sexy duet with Cherise in a smoke-filled bar.
08:46 [Music]
08:59 Number 3
09:00 The Ballet - An American in Paris
09:02 [Music]
09:10 When Gene Kelly decides to call a number "That's Entertainment,"
09:13 you best believe he means it.
09:15 An American in Paris is a 1951 classic musical choreographed entirely by Kelly,
09:21 and includes one of his most ambitious pieces ever.
09:24 The ballet at the end of the film crosses over numerous sets,
09:27 has tons of extras, and showcases complex and unique choreography
09:31 that took the world by storm.
09:33 [Music]
09:47 At one point, the dance changes from a jaunty, colorful tap number
09:50 to a swooningly romantic ballet in the snap of a finger.
09:54 Kelly takes audacious leaps with his choreography here,
09:57 both figuratively and literally.
09:59 [Music]
10:15 Number 2
10:16 The Ballet of the Red Shoes - The Red Shoes
10:19 "Why do you want to dance?"
10:20 [Music]
10:24 "Why do you want to live?"
10:25 Sometimes, choreography and cinema come together
10:28 to create something that can only be achieved through the power of film.
10:31 Though some dance experts were critical of The Red Shoes
10:34 when it was initially released in 1948,
10:37 looking back at the film now, it's hard to fault it.
10:40 That magical quality that some critics found too unrealistic
10:44 is what makes the ballet at the center of it all one of cinema's finest.
10:47 [Music]
10:57 It was choreographed almost entirely by Robert Helpman,
11:00 who also had a role in the film.
11:02 But Leonid Massin, who played the quirky and pivotal shoemaker,
11:06 was given license to come up with his own moves.
11:08 [Music]
11:17 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:21 "Good Morning" - "Singin' in the Rain"
11:24 What a great way to start the day.
11:25 [Music]
11:38 "From This Moment On" - "Kiss Me Kate"
11:40 We love this whirlwind of a colorful masterpiece.
11:43 [Music]
11:51 "Duet" - "My Sister Eileen"
11:53 A duet from two of the best.
11:55 [Music]
12:11 "Dream Ballet" - "Carousel"
12:13 The Dream Ballet will always have that Agnes de Mille touch.
12:16 [Music]
12:31 "Pick Yourself Up" - "Swing Time"
12:33 Nothing better than a classic Fred and Ginger duet.
12:36 [Music]
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13:03 Number 1 - "Cool" - "West Side Story"
13:06 "I wanna get even!" "Get cool!"
13:08 "I wanna bust!" "Bust cool!"
13:10 "I wanna go!" "Go cool!"
13:12 When you've got Jerome Robbins on your team,
13:14 you're bound to wind up with some of the best choreography in movie history.
13:18 There are so many astounding dance moments in "West Side Story."
13:22 From the famous prologue to the exhilarating "America."
13:25 To this day, however, "Cool" feels fresher than ever.
13:29 "Cool!" "Go!"
13:31 "Crazy!" "Cool!"
13:33 "Go!" "Crazy!"
13:34 "Go!"
13:35 In this sequence, performed by the Jets,
13:37 Robbins' choreography feels like rage incarnate.
13:40 The number is impeccably blocked,
13:42 and when the Jets can no longer repress their anger,
13:45 it explodes out of them in leaps and bounds.
13:48 Robbins uses the choreography to deliver an emotional arc,
13:51 and his dancers execute it perfectly.
13:54 "Just play it cool, boy. Real cool."
13:59 Which classic choreography do you think you could pull off?
14:10 Let us know in the comments.
14:11 Do you agree with our picks?
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14:21 [music]