Trip's TOP 10 ALL TIME BEST
THEATRICAL DANCES
As with my Top 10 List of All-Time Best Films, and Top 10 List of All-Time Best Songs, this process is completely subjective, and is not offered as the definitive authority, but solely to showcase the talent of various artists and to prompt positive discussion.
 
Best Dance in a theatrically released film!
What's so great about this video?
1.

THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS - From the 1943 film, "Stormy Weather," the legendary (even then) Nicholas Brothers are featured as a flash act dancing to "Jumpin Jive" with the Cab Calloway and his orchestra.

Everything about this video is great! The pulsating-finger-popping-foot-thumbing music by Cab Calloway is great. The tap dancing by the Nicholas Brothers was acclaimed by Fred Astaire as the greatest filmed tap dance sequence ever! Plus, this entire tap dance was filmed in only one take!!!
2.

FRED ASTAIRE - From the 1946 film, "Blue Skies," here's Fred Astaire at his legendary stylish form with top hat, tie, and tails.

Fred Astaire's dancing was always classy, sophisticated, and elegant while also highly athletic, rhythmic, and so very exciting. Astaire knew how to command his lean and lanky body to create beautiful artistic lines, and like the rapid fire of a machine gun, Astaire synchronized the beats of his tap dancing to punctuate the rhythm of every song strategically in step with the beat, or sytlistically before or after the beat. Simply put, Astaire was a genius!
3.

DORIS DAY - performs "Shaking the Blues Away" from the 1955 film "Love Me or Leave Me."


 

DORIS DAY AND GENE NELSON - From the 1951 film, "Lullaby of Broadway," this is a light-hearted dance routine to George Gershwin's "Somebody Loves Me," with lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and B.G. De Sylva.

Doris Day was so very underrated. Although primarily known as a singer and actress, Day's original desire was to be a dancer, but a car accident on October 13, 1937, injured her right leg and curtailed her prospects as a professional dancer. Nevertheless, as she clearly demonstrated in these videos, Day never lost her step, and she could hold her own.

"Love Me or Leave Me" is a 1955 biographical romantic musical drama film which tells the life story of Ruth Etting, a singer who rose from dancer to movie star. It stars Doris Day as Etting, James Cagney as gangster Martin "Moe the Gimp" Snyder, her first husband and manager, and Cameron Mitchell as pianist/arranger Myrl Alderman, her second husband. It was written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart and directed by Charles Vidor. Source: Wikipedia
4.

HAROLD NICHOLAS - Harold Nicholas from the 1944 film, "Carolina Blues"

HAROLD NICHOLAS BROTHERS - Harold Nicholas from the 1944 film, "The Reckless Age"

The overwhelming majority of tap dancers pale in comparison to Harold Nicholas. Although normally paired with his equally talented brother, in these clips Harold Nicholas is the featured dancer. Pay particular attention to the speed of his tap dancing, the frequency and flexibility of his fully-outstretched splits, the velocity of his spins, and his gymnastic no-one-will-dare-do-this-but-me-derring-do; such as a back-flip (without a net) from the top of a ladder directly into a full split!
5.

GENE KELLY - Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dance to the music of George and Ira Gershwin in this ballet sequence from "An American In Paris," winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture for 1951.

GENE KELLY - Gene Kelly's outstanding solo dance in the legendary 1952 musical "Singin' in the Rain."

Here, for 17-minutes, the music functions like a heartbeat in full exercise mode, it builds (crescendo) and then relaxes (decrescendo), and builds again into a climatic Boléro.

Singin' in the Rain - Donald O'Connor won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green won the Writers Guild of America Award for their screenplay, while Jean Hagen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. But it has since been accorded legendary status by contemporary critics, and is frequently regarded as the best movie musical ever made, and the best film ever made in the "Freed Unit" at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It topped the AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals list and is ranked as the fifth-greatest American motion picture of all time in its updated list of the greatest American films in 2007. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry. In Sight & Sound magazine's 2017 list of the 50 greatest films of all time, Singin' in the Rain placed 20th. Source: Wikipedia
6.

ELVIS PRESLEY - "Jailhouse Rock," from the 1957 movie of the same name.

This is the absolute best rock and roll music video of all-time. Nothing comes close.
7.

PICNIC - William Holden and Kim Novak dancing ever so romantically in the 1955 film, "Picnic." The music in this famous dance scene between Holden and Novak is composed by George Duning and Steve Allen, and Columbia's musical director Morris Stoloff blended "Theme From Picnic" with the 1930s standard "Moonglow."

 

Just watching Kim Novak stepping down the staircase, clapping her hands and twisting her narrow waist and curvy hips in a very sultry come-hither but classy prance as prelude to dancing with William Holden is worth considerably more than the price of admission. Plus, there's that jazzy, melodic music, and the intense passion generated between Holden and Novak and well . . .
8.

Dirty Dancing - Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey - From the 1987 romantic drama and dance film, "Dirty Dancing."

Oh, for sure, there are many engaging films that celebrate the art of and training required to dance, such as:

Dance With Me (1998) starring Vanessa L. Williams and Chayanne

Tango (1998) starring Miguel Ángel Solá and Mía Maestro

Shall We Dance? (1996, Japanese original) starring Koji Yakusho and Tamiyo Kusakari, and the American remake Shall We Dance? (2004) starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez

However, in addition to the above films, all contestants appearing on the ABC network television program "Dancing with the Stars!" should, no, they must watch "Dirty Dancing" as a "training film" to become aware of what it means to . . . dance, because this film rocks!
9.

FRED ASTAIRE AND ELEANOR POWELL - Eleanor Powell is frequently recognized as the best female tap dancer ever, and Fred Astaire is no slouch. Here, from "The Broadway Melody of 1940" are two of the best dancers ever showing why they are two of the best dancers ever!!!

Fred Astaire & Eleanor Powell - Jukebox Dance from "The Broadway Melody of 1940"

By the way, for those of you who believe getting older is terrible and that your body goes to pot, Fred Astaire was born on May 10, 1899. So, when "The Broadway Melody of 1940" was released Astaire was 41! When he filmed Easter Parade with 26-year-old Judy Garland in 1948 Astaire was 49. When he filmed Silk Stockings with 35-year-old Cyd Charisse in a 1957 Astaire was 58. Below is 54-year-old Astaire with Charisse in "The Girl Hunt Ballad" from the 1953 film, "Band Wagon.
10.

BOB HOPE AND JAMES CAGNEY - From the classic 1955 film, "The Seven Little Foys," these guys are classic "hoofers," and they are clearly having fun, which makes it fun for us to watch!

Why? Because this is just fun!

ADDITIONAL TOP 10 LISTS

  TOP 10
R&B VOCAL GROUPS		 TOP 10
BEST ALBUMS		 TOP 10
GROUPS		 TOP 10
VOCALISTS		 TOP 10 FEMALE
VOCALISTS		 TOP 10 MALE
VOCALISTS / SINGERS		 TOP 10
ARTIST-COMPOSERS
1.
 The Temptations What's Goin' On - Marvin Gaye The Temptations Frank Sinatra Shirley Bassey Frank Sinatra Bacharach & Hal David
2.
 The Dells Only The Lonely - Frank Sinatra The Beatles Shirley Bassey Ella Fitzgerald Smokey Robinson Sammy Kahn
3.
 The Chi-Lites Lady In Satin - Billie Holiday The Supremes Smokey Robinson Doris Day Marvin Gaye Tom Bell & Linda Creed
4.
 The Delfonics Freedom Means - The Dells Four Tops Ella Fitzgerald Judy Garland Johnny Cash Holland-Dozier-Holland
5.
 The Stylistics Carrearas, Domingo, Pavarotti with Mehta in Concert Frankie Valie and the Four Seasons Doris Day Sarah Vaughn Luciano Pavarotti Smokey Robinson
6.
 Four Tops I, Capricorn - Shirley Bassey Ohio Players Judy Garland Gladys Knight Phil Perry McCartney and Lennon
7.
 The Dramatics Tapestry - Carole King Swing Out Sister Marvin Gaye Eydie Gorme Sammy Davis, Jr. Carole King
8.
 The Moments/Ray Goodman & Brown "Live" - Donny Hathaway Rolling Stones Johnny Cash Billie Holiday Barry White Barry White
9.
 Ohio Players You'll Never Walk Alone - Roy Hamilton The Highwaymen Luciano Pavarotti Sally Yeh Bobby Womack Marvin Gaye
10.
 Frankie Valie and the Four Seasons Hooray For Hollywood - Doris Day

Ambrosia

 Phil Perry Nancy Wilson Ted "The Wizard" Mills Gamble and Huff