Profile
Photos
Comments
Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz,[1] was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.
According to another major innovator in filmed dance, Gene Kelly, "The history of dance on film begins with Astaire." Beyond film and television, many classical dancers and choreographers, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Jerome Robbins among them, also acknowledged his importance and influence.
Cyd Charisse (March 8, 1922 – June 17, 2008) was an American actress and dancer.
After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s. Her roles usually focussed on her abilities as a dancer, and she was paired with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly; her films include Singin' in the Rain (1952), The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk Stockings (1957). She stopped dancing in films in the late 1950s, but continued acting in film and television, and in 1992 made her Broadway debut.
In her later years, she discussed the history of the Hollywood musical in documentaries, and participated in That's Entertainment! III in 1994. She was awarded the National Medal of the Arts and Humanities in 2006 and died two years later as a result of a heart attack.
Music and Lyrics by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz
From The Band Wagon
Dancing in the dark,
Till the tune end
Were dancing in the dark,
And it soon ends.
Were waltzing in the wonder
Of why were here;
Time hurries by,
Were here and gone.
Looking for the light
Of a new love
To brighten up the night.
I have you to love,
And we can face the music together;
Dancing in the dark.
What though love is old?
What though song is old?
Through them we can be young.
Hear this heart of mine
Make yours part of mine.
Dear one, tell me that were one!
Dancing in the dark!