Twice in the last couple of weeks, I have gone out Latin dancing. As many of you will know, I love to dance, but I hate going out when it is cold and dark so, except when it’s summer, I mostly just dance around the living room. However, after talking about it since the start of the year, I finally went out with some folks (well, one person) from my church missional community (read: house group) and we had a fab time! Muscle memory is a wonderful thing, and even though I may not have danced salsa or bachata in about a year, my feet still remember what they are supposed to do.
I also enjoy watching dancing, so my recent dancing seemed like a good inspiration to write a post on some of my favourite dance scenes in films, something I had been planning to do anyway, but I lost my notes for it and had to start from scratch. However, it’s no great hardship to watch lots of dance scenes again, and I hope you enjoy them too.
White Christmas
Here’s the title track of this particular post. The always likable Danny Kaye and the impossibly lithe and bendy Vera Ellen have a wee private dance that starts off a waltz but soon adds tap, flamenco and acrobatics.
Take the Lead
A little bit (OK, a lot) racier, this one: the tango danced by a teacher (Antonio Banderas) with the help of a stunning girl from his dance school, to demonstrate to the annoying inner-city children that ballroom dancing is not lame and for sissies.
Swingers
This one is a swing dance of some kind (I don’t know the fine distinctions). What is fun about it is that, in the context of the film, it’s so surprising. When the music gets fast it seems as if it’s going to be a cringey, embarrassing moment, and then…
By the way, I’ve set this to start a few seconds in, but if you rewind this clip to the beginning, there are some swearwords. You’ve been warned.
Enchanted
If the dances so far have been intimidating, this next one isn’t. We could all probably dance like this, with a little practice, but again it’s the context that makes it so special, as the hero and heroine are finally able to express their true feelings through dance. And isn’t Amy Adams’ dress gorgeous?
Labyrinth
Ending with a fever dream of a dance, when Sarah (Jennifer Connolly) hallucinates about being in the ballroom of the Goblin King, Jareth (David Bowie). She looks like a million dollars (I love her hair jewellery!) but she is way out of her depth. It’s a significant scene because the audience, and Sarah, finally realise that what Jareth wants is not so much to steal Sarah’s brother as to seduce her. Ever since I read Susanna Clarke’s Austen-esque novel, this scene always makes me think of the never-ending faerie ball in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.
I was hoping to have the Rose Waltz from The Slipper and the Rose in here, as it is so beautiful, but unfortunately it’s not available online (except for a wee snippet at the end of this very long trailer for the film – the link takes you straight to the right bit), and it would have made this list six rather than five, which is no good. So I encourage you to watch the whole thing instead, with ALL of its wonderful dances! And I encourage you to get out and go dancing yourselves. At least while the weather holds.
K C Murdarasi 
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