Replay

Yes, I know: all the cool kids do the iPod shuffle.  I, being uncool, lack an iPod.  Instead, I break out the DVDs and watch people dance.  New dance numbers in the rotation:

• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: Michael Kidd's brilliant barn-raising challenge dance, which must be the most testosterone-heavy choreography ever created.  Dangerous, too.  The men are super: Jacques d'Amboise, Matt Mattox, Marc Platt (the original Dream Curly from Oklahoma!), Tommy Rall (who ought to have had a far more high-profile career), and Russ Tamblyn. 
• The Band Wagon: The "Girl Hunt Ballet," featuring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in a dead-to-rights parody of film noir.  Once again, choreography by Michael Kidd. 
• Broadway's Lost Treasures II: This compendium of performances from the Tony Awards includes the late Michael Jeter's almost unearthly Charleston from Grand Hotel (choreographed by Tommy Tune). 
• Oklahoma!: Back to the classic movie musicals and Agnes de Mille's "Out of My Dreams" ballet, with James Mitchell, Bambi Linn, and (doing his best) Rod Steiger.  The Freudianism dates it, I think, but it's still powerful.  Incidentally, Mr. Mitchell (who is still working) has aged astonishingly well...

• Deep in My Heart: Cyd Charisse (again) and James Mitchell (again) have sex tango in Eugene Loring's staging of "One Alone" from The Desert Song. Er. Um. Yeooowwwza. How did that get by the censor?!

Comments

[profsynecdoche]

Even I (who loathe musicals, and consider the Broadway musical to be the nadir of Western art forms) have to admire the dance scene in Seven Brides and Seven Brothers. It really is a pretty stunning spectacle, and the whole film is so excessive that it keeps me in stitches.

[DocMara]

Cool! My wife and I don't own a T.V. (we're both English Profs), but we watch DVDs on my Mac and do ballet training. Dance numbers rock!

[lizistrata]

Yes, it's true that the cool kids do the iPod shuffle. But now, the nerdy drama teachers can do the musical theatre iPod shuffle as well. I suggest you invest in one of these little wonders. You can have a musical theatre extravaganza in the palm of your hand.