Synopsis
A documentary film about dancing on the screen, from it's orgins after the invention of the movie camera, over the movie musical from the late 20s, 30s, 40s 50s and 60s up to the break dance and the music videos from the 80s.
That's Dancing!
1985 Directed by Jack Haley Jr.
Cast
Mikhail Baryshnikov Ray Bolger Sammy Davis Jr. Gene Kelly Liza Minnelli Tommy Abbott Fred Astaire Robert Banas Jennifer Beals David Bean Francesca Bellini Busby Berkeley Erik Bruhn James Cagney Cyd Charisse Carole D'Andrea Dan Dailey George Chakiris Arlene Dahl Leroy Daniels Gloria DeHaven Isadora Duncan Buddy Ebsen Taina Elg Harvey Evans Eliot Feld Bob Fosse Loïe Fuller Judy Garland Show All…
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Only reviewing this to say @bellair you should really watch it :)
Also just a fun watch for anyone into documentaries or the history of film, dance or theater. It’s got some pretty amazing stuff even if you’re not that interested in dance 👀👀👀 -
Easily entertainable but nowhere near the level of That's Entertainment. Having Gene Kelly explain what break dancing was gave me life.
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This was fantastic....for like the first 40 mins. After the Nicholas Brothers, there really isn't any reason to stick around.
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Apparently more of a cousin to the That's Entertainment! series than an official entry, this offering gives a commendable overview of the history of dance on screen, including an interesting foray into ballet, a dance form not often celebrated in popular dance documentaries, presented by Mikhail Baryshnikov. This documentary mostly avoids the worse sins of the three formal TE! entries, which feature a host of performances with racial and sexist tropes presented without critical comment or context, but rather as a glorious part of movie musical history. Here, there are a couple of minor issues in this regard: it's really not necessary to comment on a female dancer's "shapely figure" - it's enough to note, say, that a performer danced…
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Another MGM highlight reel spanning from Busby Berkley films to Michael Jackson.
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When your brain just can't form coherent ideas anymore and all you can manage is to lie in bed and vacantly stare, this is the perfect treat. It's always amazing to see what the human body can do. In the vein of That's Entertainment, this isn't a good documentary per se, but the clips are all fun.
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i could listen to mikhail baryshnikov explain the history of ballet on a loop and i would love it
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Didn’t appreciate the line about early film dancers spending more time eating than rehearsing. But worth it all to hear Ben Mankiewicz ask the TCM audience, “Did you actually watch all of this?”
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Fun documentary that takes a look at dancing in the motion pictures. The documentary looks at some early burlesque films but the main focus is on pictures from the 1930s through the 1960s.
When THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT made a lot of money it made since to gather up old scenes, throw them together and then release them. THAT'S DANCING isn't in the same league as any of those three films but if you're a fan of classical musicals then there's enough here to make it worth watching.
As I've always said about these compilation movies, seeing the films uncut and in their original form is the best way to view them but these compilations at least work if you want to…
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Please Mikhail Baryshnikov let me sit in your lap as you explain to me the history of ballet
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"The chorus girls seemed to have spent more time at the dinner table than in the rehearsal hall." WHAT THE FUCK IS IT WITH THESE MOVIES MENTIONING THE DANCERS' WEIGHTS IN EARLY FILMS?
Sammy Davis Jr. giving a lesson in style is everything.
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I have seen a few of the That’s Entertainment movies and this is by far my favorite. It’s great to see the old pre-movie clips of dancing on film. I learned a lot of the changing styles of dance through the years and of course it’s always a joy to see the extravagant dance numbers from the golden age!
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Fun documentary that takes a look at dancing in the motion pictures. The documentary looks at some early burlesque films but the main focus is on pictures from the 1930s through the 1960s.
When THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT made a lot of money it made since to gather up old scenes, throw them together and then release them. THAT'S DANCING isn't in the same league as any of those three films but if you're a fan of classical musicals then there's enough here to make it worth watching.
As I've always said about these compilation movies, seeing the films uncut and in their original form is the best way to view them but these compilations at least work if you want to…
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Young Baryshnikov could get it and if the first dance at my wedding isn’t like Fred Astaire and Vera Allen’s pas de deux from Three Little Words (1950) —I DON’T WANT IT
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Excellent history of screen dancing hosted by the legend himself, Gene Kelly. Lots of great clips and information. Not directly part of the “That’s Entertainment” franchise, but the same creative team.
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od wężowego tańca Annabelle Moore "Butterfly Dance" do choreografii Michaela Jackson w teledysku "Beat It", krótka historia, gwiazdy i osiągnięcia w tańcu i ruchu scenicznym na srebrnym ekranie, --1st-- pierwszy raz całe wykonanie "If I Only Had a Brain" z filmu "The Wizard of Oz" (1939)
a compilation film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that looked back at the history of dancing in film;
This film is dedicated to all dancers .... especially those who devoted their lives to the development of their art long before there was a motion picture camera.
Unlike the That's Entertainment! series, this film not only focuses specifically on MGM films, but also included films from United Artists and the Associated Artists Productions library.
It also included…
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Only reviewing this to say @bellair you should really watch it :)
Also just a fun watch for anyone into documentaries or the history of film, dance or theater. It’s got some pretty amazing stuff even if you’re not that interested in dance 👀👀👀 -
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I was expecting this just to be an entertaining clip show, but it was also very interesting and informative. The presenters give context on the history of dance, specifically dance on film, and I felt this approach helped me think about aspects of it I hadn't considered before.
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