dancing

The Can Can Dancers at the Moulin Rouge 1950s

The Can Can Dancers at the Moulin Rouge 1950s

The can-can dancers of the Moulin Rouge in Paris, probably taken some time in the 1950s judging by the hair and make-up styles.  Those flying leaps into the splits look really painful! The backstage photos showing them warming up before a performance are really interesting too, they were all so bendy!

Let’s Dance!

Let’s Dance!

The forecast heatwave seems to have arrived in full force today and it’s far too hot to actually dance, so here are some vintage photos of people dancing their socks off to keep us all entertained. Thinking about doing exercise is almost as good as doing it, right? Oh, and I’d like to know your(…)

Vintage Performers: Ruth St. Denis

Vintage Performers: Ruth St. Denis

Ruth St. Denis was one of the pioneering dancers of the early 20th Century who brought exotic Eastern dance to the West in the 1910s and 1920s. Born on a farm in New Jersey, she was a vaudeville dancer when her fascination with Egypt began in 1904 after she saw an advert for Egyptian Deities(…)

1940s Chorus Girls Rehearsing

1940s Chorus Girls Rehearsing

Choreographer Lee Sherman photographed rehearsing dancers at Radio City Music Hall, New York in  June 1947. I love the fabulous costumes, and also the way the photos give a real impression of his energy. He’s working at least as hard as all the dancers! You can read more about the production he was rehearsing for(…)

Movie Tuesday: Swing Time (1936)

Movie Tuesday: Swing Time (1936)

I’d forgotten just how delightful Fred and Ginger movies are. It’s been probably 15 years at least since I last watched one and they really are the best kind of movies. If you love a good rom-com, amazing dancing and show stopping glamour, then they really are for you. Swing Time has got to be(…)

Screen Idols: Fred Astaire

Screen Idols: Fred Astaire

Was Fred Astaire the greatest dancer on the silver screen? Personally I think he probably was, I grew up glued to Fred and Ginger movies and absolutely adored him! Born Frederick Austerlitz in 1899, Fred took to the stage at an early age singing and dancing with his sister Adele in a vaudeville act (see(…)

A little bit of joy for a Sunday morning: Gene Kelly and Jerry

A little bit of joy for a Sunday morning: Gene Kelly and Jerry

  Go on, have a slice of pure unadulterated joy this Sunday morning. What could be a better start to the day than Gene Kelly and Jerry mouse having a dance? This clips is from the 1945 movie ‘Anchors Aweigh’. Enjoy! x   Edited with BlogPad Pro

Atomic dancer

Atomic dancer

An “atomic pin-up girl” dancing in front of a (stemless) mushroom cloud. This photo was taken at Upshot-Knothole Dixie on 6th April 1953. I’m assuming somebody thought it was a good idea to photograph a pin-up shoot in from of an Nuclear test, but it all seems very strange now. I guess attitudes were very different in(…)

Vintage ballet costume

Vintage ballet costume

Legendary ballet dancer Anna Pavlova in costume as a bacchante in The Seasons. C. 1900 Source and copyright: This work is in the public domain in Russia according to article 1256 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Leslie Caron

Leslie Caron

The wonderful French actress and dancer Leslie Caron, (she was the one in An American in Paris with Gene Kelly) in a publicity photo. Source and copyright: This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice. Edited with BlogPad Pro

Rita Hayworth dancing with Fred Astaire

Rita Hayworth dancing with Fred Astaire

Rita Hayworth dancing with Fred Astaire from the movie ”You Were Never Lovelier’ Source and copyright: This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice

Fred & Ginger: They All Laughed

Fred & Ginger: They All Laughed

I just love this beautiful dress! Clip from Shall We Dance. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing to “They All Laughed.”