Gene Kelly dancing with the Nicholas Brothers in The Pirate:
One thing I noticed while watching this was the complete difference in the build of Gene Kelly versus the Nicholas Brothers. Well that, and the fact that there are many dance moves in this number that they did much better than Gene Kelly (which makes it sad that the Nicholas Brothers were not more famous).
I went to AFI Silver today to see the Gene Kelly/Judy Garland musical The Pirate (directed by Vincent Minnelli and music by Cole Porter). And about 2/3 of the way through, there is this crazy dance scene of Gene Kelly as a pirate in shorts (which I think is mostly to show off his giant dancer thighs):
This naturally made me think of other weird dance scenes from other Gene Kelly movies. Like Singin In the Rain:
On the Town:
But the crazy weird dance sequence is not limited to only Gene Kelly movies. There is also one in Kiss Me Kate: (the weird part is when Bob Fosse and his partner start dancing, after the weird scream).
White Christmas:
And let's not forget Oklahoma! :
The main purpose of these dance sequences is to show off different styles of dance (mostly modern dance) but the way the scene are added to the movie always seemed kind of awkward to me. In a lot of the movies, one or more of the main characters is replaced by another (more talented) dancer. This happened specifically in Gene Kelly movies since most often his leading ladies were mainly singers (all though Vera Ivy in On the Town was a dancer so I can't explain that one). Out of all the clips from above, the one from White Christmas is the least awkwardly introduced because it a dance number for the show. So be on the lookout for awkward dance sequences, they are in tons of musicals.
I picked up an exciting surprise package from UPS today. A couple of weeks ago, I filled out a feedback survey for a new RNA isolation kit at work. My boss had signed our lab up to be beta testers for the company for future kits, so I mostly wanted to get familar with feedback system. The company was running a promotion that you could win an iPad if you fill out the feedback survey. I have to assume that very few people filled out the survey, because I won an iPad (and I never win anything). I picked it up today and just started playing around on it. So if anyone has any suggestions for fun apps, let me know!
