Best Movie Dance Sequences

[Shannon L.]

I enjoy a lot of them that have already been listed.  One that makes me smile every time is Hugh Grant in Love Actually:

 

[Luckylyn]

The Soul Train scene in I'm Gonna Get You Sucka is hysterical.

[ribboninthesky1]

I enjoy a lot of them that have already been listed.  One that makes me smile every time is Hugh Grant in Love Actually:

 

Dancing Prime Minister

 

Ah, good one.  This one barely passes, but the girls dancing in joy while he sings "Good King Wenceslas" makes me smile every time:

[roamyn]

Gene Kelly tap dancing on rollerskates.

And Gregory Hines dramatic solo in 'The Cotton Club',.

Rank as two of my favorites.

[VCRTracking]

This great supercut video 

 

 

helped remind me of this:

 

Edited July 10, 2014 by VCRTracking

[DollEyes]

Two more great dance sequences epitomize the joy of dance:

 

First, "Work Your Body" from Breakin', features a break dancer on crutches. The smile on his face says it all:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itIB3d3oao0

 

Next, from The Blues Brothers, "Shake A Tail Feather," starring The Blues Brothers and Ray Charles, who were great, but it's the dancers who stole the show, especially the kids near the end:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDFDLCd5IOg

Edited July 10, 2014 by DollEyes

[Princess Sparkle]

I enjoy a lot of them that have already been listed.  One that makes me smile every time is Hugh Grant in Love Actually:

 

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 days.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Princess Sparkle

[DollEyes]

  Ballet is another important part of dance in film. Here are two examples:

 

The Red Shoes is inspired by the Hans Christian Anderson story about a ballerina played by Moira Shearer who gets a pair of special ballet shoes. However, the shoes are cursed and anyone who wears them can't stop dancing. Here's the main ballet:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn-v792-fkc

 

Another great ballet is from Black Swan, with Natalie Portman's Oscar-winning performance as a troubled ballerina obsessed with winning the lead in a production of Swan Lake. This ballet shows how much her character blurred the lines between fantasy and reality:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wprhePnbAc

Edited July 11, 2014 by DollEyes

[Jeebus Cripes]

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 days.

 

I am obsessed with everything about this. I must have watched it on YouTube at least a hundred times after I saw the film. 

[chitowngirl]

The Nicholas Brothers:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBb9hTyLjfM

[DollEyes]

  From Planet Terror, Cherry's "Dance of Death": (warning: graphic violence/language):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v756aJDxMZU

 

  Loved the Nicholas Brothers' clip. Fred Astaire even called it "The best dance ever put on film" and if anyone should know great dancing, it's him.

Edited July 19, 2014 by DollEyes

[Sharpie66]

Thanks for mentioning the Ray Charles number in The Blues Brothers! BTW, the group Hanson did a great tribute to that scene in their video for "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'":

I love Fred Astaire's firecrackers dance in Holiday Inn!

[vibeology]

Cyd Charisse in Silk Stockings. For me, there is nothing better. I wish I was half this graceful getting ready for a night on the town. The moment when she goes behind the mirror to change her stockings and then just her leg pops out is so sexy and beautiful. There will never be another dancer like Cyd.

 

[Pemyquid]

Well, I like this one because it's so random in a non dance movie, with some iconic moments

And I've always enjoyed the credits from the first Bring It On movie. Hey Micky you're so fine....! Etc

Edited August 9, 2014 by Pemyquid

[Bort]

@Pemyquid I'm reposting your YouTube links so they're embedded properly. That "watch" thing in the middle of the link is what screws it up.

[Princess Sparkle]

Thanks to a recent Cosmo article that alerted me to the fact that both Grease AND Dirty Dancing are available to stream on Netflix, I have to add in my favorites from each movie (which I believe have been mentioned in the thread, but haven't had the accompanying video):

 

From Dirty Dancing: Time of My Life (though, Hungry Eyes is a close second).  I just get so excited when they finally pull off the lift:

 

 

And from Grease, the dance-off:

[Shannon L.]

We just watched In and Out and I had to add these two:

 

 

and the closing credits, which isn't posted on You Tube.  But, seeing all of them enjoying themselves at the wedding reception and then Bob Newhart, after trying very hard to stand still, giving up and joining it, was so much fun. 

[midge]

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

 

[Shannon L.]

In honor of Robin Williams, I submit this as a great moment in dance:

 

[Jeebus Cripes]

^^^ God, that just destroyed me. Never thought I'd be so sad watching a clip from my favorite comedy. Yet I still managed a laugh through my tears.

[DollEyes]

There are two more great Robin Williams dance numbers in Mrs. Doubtfire. One is to "Dude Looks Like A Lady" with Williams in full drag and the other was soon after the beginning of the film, with Williams' character throwing a birthday party for one of his kids while table dancing to House of Pain's "Jump Around" :

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwmLo82iRhA

Edited August 12, 2014 by DollEyes

[Jipijapa]

For my money, the best ever movie dance sequence is from Devdas (1992):

 

 

Take that, Hollywood.  (BTW, Madhuri Dixit was four months pregnant here.)

[DollEyes]

There were three great dance moments in 

Guardians Of the Galaxy. The first, was Peter Quill, aka "Star Lord"'s dancing to Redbone's "Come & Get Your Love" at the beginning, Star Lord's challenging the villain to a dance-off and and L'il Groot dancing to the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back."

 

[NumberCruncher]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the "Canned Heat" dance sequence in Napoleon Dynamite.  It still makes me LOL every time I see it.

 

Other favorites:

• "Hungry Eyes" in Dirty Dancing (it's my favorite for Patrick Swayze's back muscles alone)
• The barn-raising dance in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (an example of perfect choreography, IMO)
• "You Make My Dreams Come True" in 500 Days of Summer
• Anything Gene Kelly does
• Anything Fred Astaire does

 

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

 

 

I'm so glad there are fellow White Nights dance lovers.  That sequence between Baryshnikov and Hines was divine.  I don't even care if it's an unpopular opinion--I love that movie so much.

[Sharpie66]

I saw White Nights in the theater when it was released, and loved it sooo much, even with the sheer cheesiness of the plot. Not only was the dancing amazing, but I really liked Helen Mirren as Barishnikov's former girlfriend, as well as the bearded guy who played the US contact who got them to the embassy. Oh, and when Barishnikov is trying to bust out of the performance space and stumbles onto the ballet class full of little girls who have absolutely no idea who he is was really well done.

[harrie]

If Napoleon Dynamite is eligible, how about the Anteater Ritual from Can't Buy Me Love? 

[DollEyes]

  Bumping it up with two more great dance sequences. The first, from A Knight's Tale, featured the late, great Heath Ledger and Shannon Sossymon dancing to David Bowie's "Golden Years," which shouldn't have worked, but it did:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6KGgaI-WuI

 

  The other, from Slap Shot, the classic hockey film starring the late, great Paul Newman, the scene when one of the players' wives gets a sexy makeover and her husband is so blown away that he does a striptease in the middle of the rink during the Championship. That scene is not only hilarious and sexy like the rest of the film, it shows that co-star Michael Ontkean has a very nice ass:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oyxLFD2IIw

Edited October 24, 2014 by DollEyes

[BizBuzz]

I am hoping this counts.  After having watched this great movie again this past week, this scene is just awesome:

 

 

Dancing bread and plates.  ::giggle::

[SallyAlbright]

Two that never fail to make me smile are the sequence from 500 Days of Summer and the 'Thiller' dance in 13 Going on 30. It's just so cute. 

[DollEyes]

  Bumping it up to include the Charleston contest from It's A Wonderful Life, which managed to be romantic, funny and sexy:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTctqB-co4k

[OakGoblinFly]

I really liked the "dance" sequence in 500 Days of Summer; something about watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt bouncing around to Hall and Oates' You Make My Dreams just makes me giggle and smile; I especially like the part where Tom seems himself as Hans Solo and then a freaking marching band joins the flash mob dancing.

 

 

Two that never fail to make me smile are the sequence from 500 Days of Summer and the 'Thiller' dance in 13 Going on 30. It's just so cute. 

 

Me too -

 

 

I think Jennifer Garner made this scene so much fun - 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhbYxXg7p-A

[Treebeard]

Audrey Hepburn has a beatnik dance outbreak, and Astaire's facial expressions: 

 

[canter]

Billy Elliot's angry dance, and his thrilling stag leap at the end. Gets me every time.

[Shades of Red]

Thanks for mentioning Dance with Me.  I specifically bought the DVD for those bar dance scenes.  I'll put the DVD in once and a while just for those.

 

Have to say just about any dance from All That Jazz ranks up there with me, but my favourite has to be the dance that Kate partners with Joe's daughter and performs for him.

[Luckylyn]

I love that All That Jazz scene as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL22e30bFic

 

The Take Off With Us sequence is pretty daring.  Don't watch the second half at work.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Luckylyn

[cincivic]

One of my all time favorites is the barn raising scene in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Completely agree with the poster who said it was perfect choreography. It was. An absolutely stunning scene. All the dances in West Side Story are amazing.

[hendersonrocks]

Two sentimental favorites: Shag's closing dance scene (it brings back memories of high school and boys and summer fun) and Little Miss Sunshine's closing dance scene (because it was so unexpected, it still puts a smile on my face when I remember how hard I laughed the first time).

 

 

Edited January 6, 2015 by hendersonrocks

[methodwriter85]

This was awesome. Made the movie for me.

 

[media]

[media]

[Schweedie]

I love that dance in Shag. They're so freaking cute.

 

How about Dominic West's big dance scene in Pride? Not gonna lie, there were happy tears in my eyes.

 

 

(Apparently that bit actually happened, although West's dancing was better than the real Jonathan Blake's, heh.)

Edited January 6, 2015 by Schweedie

[JBC344]

OMG Shag.  Talk about great 90's memories.  I used to practice those dances in my room while the movie played.  Too bad they don't make fun "teen" movies like that anymore, just a fun "slice of life" summer movie.

[DollEyes]

Bumping it up with two great dance scenes from Saturday Night Fever. The first is the group dance to the Bee Gees' "Night Fever" and the second is the dance contest scene (dubbed in Spanish) which starts with the Black couple but ends with (IMO) the real winners, the Puerto Rican couple. They were/are so mesmerizing that the first time I saw them that I wanted a red dress like hers so I could dance like her:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra1aQ0htzGg

Edited February 2, 2015 by DollEyes

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I know it's entirely silly.  I realize there is no particular "art" involved.  Yet, a dance sequence which gives me outsized joy was the end titles/credits for There's Something About Mary when they showed the crew on various locations dancing to "Build Me Up, Buttercup."   

 

They all seemed to be having a helluva time.  I also think they appreciated even this little bit of screen time.  For whatever reason, I thoroughly enjoyed the lack of choreography.  Seeing the aging guys trying to act like Rockettes was fun.

 

I've always loved that song, too.  Classic pop tune and sentiment.  

[DrSparkles]

Maybe bc I just watched it this weekend, but the dance from "Silver Linings Playbook", wow what a movie & I freaking loved the dance!!! JOYOUS.

[Spartan Girl]

How about Duckie dancing to "Try A Little Tenderness" in Pretty in Pink?  One of the best dance scenes in an 80s teen movie ever!

 

It would be hilarious if Jon Cryer went on Lip Synch Battle to do a repeat of that performance.

[Luckylyn]

Perks of Being a Wallflower - Living room routine

[methodwriter85]

[caracas1914]

For expressing the sheer joy of dance as performance and self expression:

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QMMHut0t-HU

[OakGoblinFly]

I adore everything about Billy Elliot, especially the two scenes below because Jamie Bell conveys so much through his movement.

 

 

[proserpina65]

Has no one mentioned Strictly Ballroom yet? Love that movie.

 

That's the only Baz Luhrman film I like, and I adore the dancing scenes, particularly the rhumba Scott and Fran dance to Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.

[proserpina65]

How about Dominic West's big dance scene in Pride? Not gonna lie, there were happy tears in my eyes.

 

That scene made me look at him in a whole new way.  Who knew he could move like that?