Year in Review: Best Dance Moments

[Michael surveyed the year in dance in cinema for 2012. For 2013, Dancin' Dan takes over the listing of key dance moments in the cinematic year. - Editor]

I started dancing as a kid because of Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor in Singin' In The Rain, and haven't looked back since. I'm continually fascinated by the ways in which dance is filmed and what dance on film might say about the state of the state of both arts.

What do the films of 2013 have to say about dance? Not much but definitely that we dance to have fun, especially at parties! Dancing gifs and best moments after the jump

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Here We Go!

Just what I needed.

True Oscar Stories: Ann Reinking

Today is Ann Reinking's 64th birthday so do some impossibly precise Fosse moves tonight whereever you are in her honor #andallthatjazz

When I tweeted that this morning the internet saw fit to remind me of her big Oscar moment performing Phil Collins' Against All Odds (1984) and though it was legendarily awful I personally have nothing but fond memories of Reinking from Annie (1982) and Micki & Maude (1984) and her foxy Roxie Hart (pre-movie version). Plus, of course, All That Jazz (1979) which would have been a better Oscar moment had they saw fit to nominate her for Best Supporting Actress that year.

I have only very vague memories of the 1984 Oscars (only my second ? time watching as a kid) and YouTube doesn't help since her Oscar night performance has never been online to my knowledge though I did discover some time-capsule LA Times items about that moment and this oddity from the Golden Globe nominated Movie Movie (1978) while searching for it.

Harry Hamlin's half aroused/half terrified Golden Globe nominated pretty mouth-face is so adorbs, don'cha think? I mean that's the only sane face to pull while watching Ann Reinking doing spread eagles and scissor kicks in a black tearaway gown and blonde afro.

-She sure can sing."
-With every bone in her body." 

I wish I could see her number from the Oscars and am suddenly filled with longing for the days of big awful Original Song production numbers on Hollywood's High Holy Night. Which are your "favorites" - scare quotes intentional? 

Crazy/Possessed Ballerinas. Are There Any Other Kinds?

In preparation for our two part Horror Best Listing (pre-Exorcist and post-Exorcist which arrives tonight) I caught up with a few classic titles. One of them, briefly discussed on the latest podcast, was Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977). I can't say I took to it exactly, despite being partial to films which boozily strip naked and beg their Production Designer & Cinematographer to f*** them.

slumber parties in horror movies? never a good idea

Suspiria (have you seen it?) starts sort of well, flying right into an unnatural rainstorm with a weirdly off kilter urgency as ballerina Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) arrives in Germany to attend an prestigious ballet academy. But those first two kills are so yuck making the intro a mixed bag for me. For its middle section, which I assume is where the film's classic status derives, the movie does little cul-de-sacs in creepy/garish atmospherics punctuated by two perversely inventive murders. But then, oops, time is up. For its last trick, Suspiria speeds through a dud finale with mood-killing exposition (how was Udo Kier ever this young!?) and badly dated visual effects. By the time the credits appear, it's lost pretty much all of its intermittent unnerving power. For me at least; I understand others really do dig it.

After Suspiria ended, my mind wandered to a more general cinematic question: Are there any silver screen ballerinas that are happy?

See, it seems like screen ballerinas are always batshit crazy whether they're...

Suspiria

...possessed by the occult

The Red Shoes

...dancing feverishly as if possessed by toe shoes

Black Swan

...having psychotic feathered breaks

The Turning Point

...or engaging in neurotic Oscarbait-offs. 

Can you think of any well adjusted ballerinas in fiction?
And if you can't whose your favorite nutjob ballerina?

Back "2" School Again!

Dancin' Dan here to welcome you all to 'Back To School' Month at The Film Experience! We'll be sharing our favorite moments from cinema's schools all month.

Has there been a better back-to-school anthem than the opening number of Grease 2? I just love it.

Of course, it was always my fantasy to return to high school on the first day back from summer break and have the entire student body descend upon the front doors with a crazily-choreographed, flawlessly-danced production number, but that's just me. I mostly just settled for a snazzy outfit instead. Usually with a bow tie.

Any fond memories of the first day of school you'd like to share?