After my recent first and last with Gene Kelly, I was glad to find in my mailbox something I thought might help me understand Kelly's place in the dance world of musical movies. Gene Kelly--Anatomy of a Dancer was an American Masters PBS broadcast from 2002 and includes lots of clips from Kelly's films and talking head interviews with people who worked with Kelly and critics who put his work into the perspective of dance history on film.
Knowing very little about dance, I can tell that Mr. Kelly doesn't dance in the same way as Fred Astaire, and one critic puts it rather simply, in a manner even we neophytes can understand: Kelly puts everything down into the floor, while Astaire lifts everything off the floor. I can appreciate that critics here refer to Kelly's style being more athletic, but I think perhaps that does a disservice to the other dancers' styles. Kelly's choreography looks more athletic.
I wanted to see more early history on Mr. Kelly in the feature, but touting itself as analyzing the contribution to film dance of its subject, I guess I need to find a more traditional biography to fill in the early blanks.
It was especially nice to include so much information from Kelly's first wife Betsy Blair and their daughter. I also enjoyed seeing Betty Garret--the Edna Babish of my youth, from Laverne and Shirley. And Arthur Laurents may be one of the last connections to that era of musical-making, both on stage and on film--and he's still directing, with a new Broadway production of West Side Story in both Spanish and English set to open soon.
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
PBS American Masters Series
Broadcast in 2002
Released on DVD in 2004
Cast: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse, Leslie Caron, Besty Blair, Elvis Mitchell, Betty Garret, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Nina Foch, Arthur Laurents
Knowing very little about dance, I can tell that Mr. Kelly doesn't dance in the same way as Fred Astaire, and one critic puts it rather simply, in a manner even we neophytes can understand: Kelly puts everything down into the floor, while Astaire lifts everything off the floor. I can appreciate that critics here refer to Kelly's style being more athletic, but I think perhaps that does a disservice to the other dancers' styles. Kelly's choreography looks more athletic.
I wanted to see more early history on Mr. Kelly in the feature, but touting itself as analyzing the contribution to film dance of its subject, I guess I need to find a more traditional biography to fill in the early blanks.
It was especially nice to include so much information from Kelly's first wife Betsy Blair and their daughter. I also enjoyed seeing Betty Garret--the Edna Babish of my youth, from Laverne and Shirley. And Arthur Laurents may be one of the last connections to that era of musical-making, both on stage and on film--and he's still directing, with a new Broadway production of West Side Story in both Spanish and English set to open soon.
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
PBS American Masters Series
Broadcast in 2002
Released on DVD in 2004
Cast: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Cyd Charisse, Leslie Caron, Besty Blair, Elvis Mitchell, Betty Garret, Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Nina Foch, Arthur Laurents
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