Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films

Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films

Fred Astaire presents us with a rare phenomenon: his dance career spanned half a century, yet because his primary medium was film, most of his work has been preserved. As a profoundly welcome result, his brilliance is there to be discovered and enjoyed by generation after generation. He has been compared to Bach by George Balanchine; Merce Cunningham calls him a genius; Rudolf Nureyev considers him the greatest American dancer in history. But what exactly is it that makes Astaire's dancing so extraordinarily beautiful and timeless? What is it in his choreographic style that is so distinctive, so inimitable? To help answer these questions, John Mueller has made extensive use of recently released material from archives and interviews -- including one with Astaire himself -- and has assembled from every one of Astaire's filmed dance numbers an essential sequence of frame enlargements (there are more than 2,300 in all) to accompany his thorough, lucid descriptions of what is being danced and how. In this way he anatomizes Astaire's entire filmed dance career -- movie by movie (there are thirty-one chapters, one for each of his musical films), number by number, almost step by step. And in an extended introduction, the author examines Astaire's career on stage and television as well as in film; his original and influential use of the movie camera; and his significant contribution to the integrated musical. He discusses Astaire's personality (so different from his on-screen persona), his working methods, the problems and successes he had with his various co-stars, and the nature of his association with the legendary songwriters of his day.When first published, this important book was honored by the Dance Perspectives Foundation as "the most distinguished book-length manuscript in the field of dance." The judges praised the book for revealing "in exacting detail the multi-faceted accomplishments of one of our great creative artists."