Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire was a master at what he did. His elegance and grace have never, and could never, be matched by another dancer. Astaire brought charm to film and a delightfulness to song. Fred Astaire was a singer and an actor, but most of all an dancer. The fluidity to his dance numbers is awe-inspiring. The key to Astaire's success was that he made his dances look easy. An incredible amount of strength is necessary to dance like he did, but Astaire made each number a masterpiece. Watching his movements, the perfection of each step, the grace of his hands, is something so beautiful it's hard to take in.

If you're interested seeing beauty interpreted through dance by one of the greatest dancers to ever set foot on a stage, I would encourage you to look into Fred Astaire's collection of movies. I highly recommend his films with Ginger Rogers, but especially "Top Hat", "Swing Time", "Shall We Dance", and "Follow the Fleet". With a signature smile, and his regular top hat and tails, Astaire is astounding in each of the above films.

Tap and ballroom, ballet and swing are encompassed in his dances. In "Shall We Dance" a scene that took 150 takes, in which Astaire and Ginger tap with a twist-in roller skates. In "Carefree" A scene in which Astaire taps-with golf balls. Two weeks and six hundred golf balls later, the scene was finished. In "Follow the Fleet" Astaire and Rogers raise the roof with the song-and-dance number "Let's Face the Music and Dance". In "Swing Time" both a gorgeous tap tribute to Bojangles and one of Astaire and Ginger's most amazing dance numbers ever choreographed, which appears effortless after 350 hours of rehearsals. Each one of Astaire's performances is utterly delightful and, as always, incredibly beautiful and astoundingly choreographed.

In tribute to one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen, I salute you, Mr. Fred Astaire.

"Can't act...can't sing...balding...can dance a little"-review of Fred Astaire's first screen test