Some more dancin'...Fred Astair

[caryc]

Here's Fred Astair's dancing put to a Michael Jackson song. The man sure could handle a cane. :mrgreen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeQ39Ad9vFA

 

[contender]

I watched that one too, after the one on Rita Hayworth.

My Dad was a professional dancer before WWII. He even owned & ran a dance school. He once won a big dance contest where second place was Fred. And, all 3 of the top winners took the prize money, combined it & pitched a party for all the dancers.
Dad never got the show biz breaks that Fred got, but he was just as good. One of the things he always taught me was to NOT watch your feet, or look like you were watching your feet. You should KNOW where your feet were. If you watch the video of Rita in the other post,,, she almost never see her look down. Yet, watch Fred,,, he does it a lot! In this video, he's working with a prop, the cane, and has to look at it for the routine. But there are plenty of times he shouldn't be looking down either. Dad always said Fred was a good dancer, but he was hard to work with.
Dad also said one of the things that helped Fred succeed in Hollywierd was his ability to tap,,, while my Dad admitted he was very weak in Tap. I became a clogger,,, and Dad always admired my abilities there. He said I got the tap feet he needed!
But do a ballroom waltz, or any Spanish dance & my Dad could mop the floor with ya!

PS; That's my Dad in my avatar pic. Professional shots taken in Cleveland Oh in the 1930's.

 

[Fox Mike]

PS; That's my Dad in my avatar pic. Professional shots taken in Cleveland Oh in the 1930's.

All I see is a black square saying that "the image you requested does not exist'.

 

[caryc]

I watched that one too, after the one on Rita Hayworth.

My Dad was a professional dancer before WWII. He even owned & ran a dance school. He once won a big dance contest where second place was Fred. And, all 3 of the top winners took the prize money, combined it & pitched a party for all the dancers.
Dad never got the show biz breaks that Fred got, but he was just as good. One of the things he always taught me was to NOT watch your feet, or look like you were watching your feet. You should KNOW where your feet were. If you watch the video of Rita in the other post,,, she almost never see her look down. Yet, watch Fred,,, he does it a lot! In this video, he's working with a prop, the cane, and has to look at it for the routine. But there are plenty of times he shouldn't be looking down either. Dad always said Fred was a good dancer, but he was hard to work with.
Dad also said one of the things that helped Fred succeed in Hollywierd was his ability to tap,,, while my Dad admitted he was very weak in Tap. I became a clogger,,, and Dad always admired my abilities there. He said I got the tap feet he needed!
But do a ballroom waltz, or any Spanish dance & my Dad could mop the floor with ya!

PS; That's my Dad in my avatar pic. Professional shots taken in Cleveland Oh in the 1930's.

Contender, I'm sure your Dad was as good as you said he was. There are plenty of talented people in the world that never made it big in the movie business. I guess you just have to know the right people or have the right person notice you.

But on the other hand when I watch Fred Astair dance, I really don't care if he looks down. In fact I never noticed it at all. I'll bet no one else who watched that video noticed it either. Someone trained as a dancer might notice it but no one else really cares. I don't think anyone else here would say he was a bad dancer.

 

[CGDustDevil]

I watched that one too, after the one on Rita Hayworth.

My Dad was a professional dancer before WWII. He even owned & ran a dance school. He once won a big dance contest where second place was Fred. And, all 3 of the top winners took the prize money, combined it & pitched a party for all the dancers.
Dad never got the show biz breaks that Fred got, but he was just as good. One of the things he always taught me was to NOT watch your feet, or look like you were watching your feet. You should KNOW where your feet were. If you watch the video of Rita in the other post,,, she almost never see her look down. Yet, watch Fred,,, he does it a lot! In this video, he's working with a prop, the cane, and has to look at it for the routine. But there are plenty of times he shouldn't be looking down either. Dad always said Fred was a good dancer, but he was hard to work with.
Dad also said one of the things that helped Fred succeed in Hollywierd was his ability to tap,,, while my Dad admitted he was very weak in Tap. I became a clogger,,, and Dad always admired my abilities there. He said I got the tap feet he needed!
But do a ballroom waltz, or any Spanish dance & my Dad could mop the floor with ya!

PS; That's my Dad in my avatar pic. Professional shots taken in Cleveland Oh in the 1930's.

The film versions (shot for movies) of dance routines all involve some looking down in order to hit marks for cameras/lighting etc to be effective. Missing a mark would absolutely spoil a take. Fred had a notorious preoccupation with perfection, and would work for weeks setting up and practicing a 3 minute routine! Ginger Rogers would rehearse with Fred until her feet bled. Ann Miller said that Fred told her that tap dancing was next to ditch digging inasmuch as the amount of work involved!!

I'd be curious as to your father's reaction to the Nicholas Brothers, or if he ever mentioned them? The rumor mill suggested that Fred would get a little jealous when they worked together, and the brother whom he worked with didn't 'require' the hours of rehearsal! But Fred couldn't argue with the end result! The Nicholas Brothers were considered by many to be the absolute best ever.

Outside of the working world, he was said to be a most humble and gentle man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNKRm6H-qOU

 

[contender]

Actually, my Dad did mention the Nicholas Brothers AND how good they were.
He never said anything bad about Fred,,, just that looking down was not the best presentation.
And, I do understand the part about hitting the "marks" on the floor etc. Still you can see how others didn't do it nearly as much as some.

Dad was always very complimentary about a lot of good performers,,, but in teaching me things, he'd often use their "mistakes" to correct me.

Funny side story.
In High School, I'd recently won a clogging competition,,, and was asked to perform at my school in the sophomore talent show. I agreed, as long as I could bring my dance partner. (Not my regular dance partner,, it was actually my girlfriend at the time & my clogging team partner.) They agreed, and we worked it out with my g/f's school to let her out for the day.
Well, there is a picture of us, clogging,,, on stage, and lo & behold,,, I'm watching HER footwork,,, and that's the picture that made it into my Annual. Dad ragged me a LOT about that one. Every time I look at that picture,,, I'm reminded of my Dad.
I truly wish we could dance together again,, just once more. However,,, when my Dad got on a floor, with my mom,,, it was poetry to watch,, and I often stepped back.

 

[mike campbell]

I've heard it said Ginger Rogers could do everything Fred could....backwards....in high heels.

 

[SAJohn]

One thing I have notice is that many of the great tap dancers were also great singers. I wonder if Contender and his Dad are/were also great singers.

One notable example was Sammy Davis, Jr. who was also great a gun twirling.

 

[contender]

I can't sing a lick,,, and don't recall my Dad ever trying it.

Sammy was a heck of a dancer AND a gun handler! Bob Munden & I were talking once & he showed me a pair of guns that Sammy had owned. SWEET guns!
I enjoyed watching Sammy as he was a true "hooffer!" The movie he did with Gregory Hines called "Tap" had a lot of classic older dancers in it & was a fun one to watch.