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Best Movie Dance Sequences

DollEyes

By DollEyes
in Everything Else About Movies

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DollEyes

DollEyes

  Another great part of movies is dance sequences, whether they're from musicals, such as Gene Kelly's  iconic number in Singin' In the Rain or not, like John Travolta and Uma Thurman's twist to "You Never Can Tell" from Pulp Fiction or Leonardo Di Caprio's popping and locking in The Wolf Of Wall Street.  I loved all those scenes because they made me smile, whether I expected them or not.

 

Post all your choices for Favorite Dance Sequences here.

 

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Princess Sparkle
Princess Sparkle

Thanks to the fug girls, I will always hold this as my favorite Hugh Grant dance/musical moment:     And I apologize in advance, because that song will be stuck in your head for the next three

midge
midge

White Nights was a pretty bad movie, except for the dancing.    I really miss Gregory  Hines.   

Princess Sparkle
Princess Sparkle

I watched Ferris Bueller for the 10,000th time last night, and felt compelled to add the Twist and Shout scene in the thread.  Some of it was planned dancing (like the group on the stairs), but appare

Rinaldo

Rinaldo

(edited)

The Gay Divorcée: Night and Day

Swing Time: Pick Yourself Up, Never Gonna Dance

Broadway Melody of 1940: Begin the Beguine

Kiss Me, Kate: From This Moment On

My Sister Eileen: challenge dance

West Side Story: Mambo

The Music Man: Shipoopi

Bye Bye Birdie: A Lot of Livin' To Do

Sweet Charity: Rich Man's Frug

1941: jitterbug contest

Edited by Rinaldo
carlyhope

carlyhope

Can I have this dance sequence from HSM3. The choreography as well as the music are just wonderful and the rain at the end just gives it that little extra.

Basically anything from Singing in the rain. Especially the dancing in the rain and Make'em laugh.

The club dance sequence form Step Up and their rehearsal montage. And also the final dance.

Dirty Dancing. The Time of my life dance is a classic, my mom likes Hungry eyes but my personal favorite is the dance after the butchered abortion when Baby comes to his cabin and confesses her feelings. It's so hot and sensual.

After watching Kevin Bacon's introduction at Tonight show, I have to say the Footloose factory frustration dance and Let's hear it for the boy montage.

Oh, and Antonio Banderas and CZJ in The Mask of Zorro. That was just ... caliente.

Mozelle

Mozelle

(edited)

It isn't a dance sequence, per se, but I really like that moment in Center Stage where we see the dancers prepping their pointe shoes and their bodies for the class that day. In that same movie, I love the "casual" dance sequence that happens when Jody goes to a jazz dance studio downtown as a much needed break from her dance classes as ABA. 

Edited by Mozelle
iggystar

iggystar

(edited)

So many classy choices here.  My mind went immdiately to all of the dance battles in the cheesy 80's movies of my teens.  Breakin' or Flash Forward anyone?

But I must agree with a few of the better selections from that decade, Tap and the final dance scene in Dirty Dancing which, now that I think of it, might be my all-time favorite.

I also have an affinity for the dance scenes in the Step Up movies because...they remind me of the 80's.

Ok, I keep editing this post.  There is a brief dance sequence in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button where Cate Blanchett (or her dance double) does this beautiful dance for Benjamin/Pitt in a gazebo that is perhaps the most beautiful and sensual dance in movie history.

 

 

Edited by iggystar
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Monty

Monty

The "Hand Jive" in Grease is just great. It's got a lot of camera moves, everyone gets a moment, and even Sha Na Na comes off well. I'm also very fond of the subway dance battle in Beat Street, although the breakdancing is probably going to come off as rudimentary to people used to seeing what people can do now.

But I'd like to recommend a scene from A Damsel in Distress, in which George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Fred Astaire dance all over a crazy funhouse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnOcpyG7w2k

(The movie is based on a P.G. Wodehouse book!)

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Rinaldo

Rinaldo

A Damsel in Distress gets a lot of flak, mostly for coming in the middle of the Astaire-Rogers series and giving us Joan Fontaine as a poor trade for Ginger Rogers. Some of the numbers are weirdly inserted too, like the dance sequence that comes out of three people repeating a spoken line again and again, or Fred singing "A Foggy Day in London Town" in a mist in the countryside. But there are fabulous Gershwin songs, and George Burns & Gracie Allen are just delightful. I don't know of another movie in which they got to show off their dance skills like this, and that funhouse sequence is deservedly famous. It won Hermes Pan an Oscar for Best Dance Direction. (The award was given for only three years.)

BooksRule

BooksRule

(edited)

I echo the fondness for the Barishnikov/Hines dancing in 'White Nights', especially when they are dancing together in that dance studio.  Their styles were different, but they worked together beautifully.

 

I always liked the number 'The best things happen while you're dancing' from 'White Christmas'.  Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen make it look so effortless.  When they are dancing along the dock and then on the overturned boat, I sometimes have to reverse the DVD and watch it all over again!

Edited by BooksRule
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Lonesome Rhodes

Lonesome Rhodes

My goodness, what a topic!

 

My all-time, all-time is "The Continental," from The Gay Divorcee.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjv6nmF7wdk

 

One that isn't technically brilliant, but shockingly (and lovingly) evoked the great era of dance in film, was in Xanadu.  Gene Kelly's last major dance performance, a darn fine Olivia Newton-John, and a tune that would absolutely have held it's own in the big band days.  It's called "Whenever You're Away From Me."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vsfpw3qKKc

 

For pure thrill and joy, I have to give it to "Shall We Dance."   My goodness.  

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BizBuzz

BizBuzz

One that isn't technically brilliant, but shockingly (and lovingly) evoked the great era of dance in film, was in Xanadu.  Gene Kelly's last major dance performance, a darn fine Olivia Newton-John, and a tune that would absolutely have held it's own in the big band days.  It's called "Whenever You're Away From Me."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vsfpw3qKKc

 

Thanks for this @Lonesome Rhodes - Xanadu is one of those stupid movies I will always watch, but when I think of Xanadu, I never go directly to that scene, and you are right, it's a classic.  The video you posted was awesome.  I can only imagine what ONJ felt being able to dance with the master.  Wow, that was great.

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Rinaldo

Rinaldo

Those made me think of an unexpected yet transcendent dance bit, the epilogue that, after the story is over, resolves All of Me. (Brief summary: Steve Martin finds himself falling in love with the soul of the just-deceased Lily Tomlin, which keeps getting relocated (we see her only in mirror reflections of whatever/whoever she's in) until it ends up in the body of Victoria Tennant, and now they can finally dance together.) Though the dance isn't technically brilliant or anything, it's full of the joy two compatible people can find in dancing. All to the great song that gives the movie its title. And who would have thought Lily and Steve would pair so well?

 

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Jeebus Cripes

Jeebus Cripes

The jitterbug sequence in A League of Their Own

 

One of my favorite dance scenes ever.

 

The "Hand Jive" in Grease is just great. It's got a lot of camera moves, everyone gets a moment, and even Sha Na Na comes off well. 

 

Whenever Grease is on TV, it's absolutely mandatory that I watch until the dance is over. Hand Jive is the best!

 

I enjoy watching foolish dancing like the wedding reception in Hitch (the scene where Will Smith teaches him to dance is also great).

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ribboninthesky1

ribboninthesky1

(edited)
I enjoy watching foolish dancing like the wedding reception in Hitch (the scene where Will Smith teaches him to dance is also great).

 

 

Oh, thank you for the reminder.  Eva Mendes' character in the film kind of annoyed me, but her dancing at the end was the best.  It just seemed she really cut loose, and was the most hilarious. Her facial expressions alone crack me up, perhaps because I tend to do the same thing when I'm dancing like that (so I have been told). Plus, the song itself is just so danceworthy. Heavy D at his best!

Edited by ribboninthesky1
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DollEyes

DollEyes

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(edited)

More faves:

 

Another great dance sequence from Breakin' 2 was the hospital dance, with nurses who are so sexy they can not only heal the sick, they can even raise the dead:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzysbFcCYS8

 

Before that was TKO Vs. Electro Rock. Two words: "Nun chucks":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQiYuehTecU

 

Another great one from the first Breakin' were Ozone and Turbo teaching Kelly how to breakdance to Rufus' "Ain't Nobody":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXuNa_h804c

 

 

The last two numbers from the first Breakin' were great, whether it was the audition or the finale that followed:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkIYF80xSdw

 

  The ending from Take the Lead was a blast, from tango to freestyle and just about everything in between:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxQzIDsN0oo

Edited by DollEyes
xls

xls

(edited)

Thanks for this @Lonesome Rhodes - Xanadu is one of those stupid movies I will always watch, but when I think of Xanadu, I never go directly to that scene, and you are right, it's a classic.  The video you posted was awesome.  I can only imagine what ONJ felt being able to dance with the master.  Wow, that was great.

Me three! When it came out back in the day, my sister and I stayed to watch it 2-3 times, in the theater, just to watch the muses come out of the mural. Now we have you-tube

 

  

Edited by xls
DollEyes

DollEyes

  • Author
(edited)

No tribute to dance in film would be complete without the late, great Bob Fosse, so here's some of his best:

 

From Chicago, the "Cell Block Tango":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA6R1DMb-z8

 

Then there's "The Rich Man's Frug," which inspired Beyoncé's video for "Get Me Bodied," from Sweet Charity:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0--eFfzDAM

 

Next, from All That Jazz, "Air-Rotica." Four letters-"NSFW":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSHnK4dvi3w

Edited by DollEyes
Mozelle

Mozelle

(edited)

I have to mention Breakin 2's break dance version of Fred Astire's dance on the ceiling.

 

Every dance scene in Dirty Dancing.  I just love it.

 

The club scene in Dance With Me where they keep trading partners is such fantastic fun.

 

Oh, that dance sequence in Dance with Me is what started me on my salsa journey! I've been dancing Cuban style (which is what they're doing when they're trading off then dancing together in a circle) for the past 10 years. I absolutely love it!

Edited by Mozelle

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