2016 Gotta Dance! Blogathon

Get your dancing shoes ready because the Gotta Dance! Blogathon has arrived!

The Task

Celebrate #NationalTapDanceDay and the great Bill Robinson and Fred Astaire with a post that celebrates dance in film. Everything is game: choreography, dancers, music, partnerships, style. The important ingredient is fun!

The Menu

Sit back and let us razzle dazzle you with these copasetic posts:

Classic Reel Girl - Everything's Copasetic when Bill Robinson Dances

Old Hollywood Films - Ballet Sequences in Old Hollywood Films

Moon in Gemini - The Turning Point (1977)

Love Letters to Old Hollywood - Scattered thoughts on An American in Paris (1951)

Define Dancing - The hypnotic magic of Girl Hunt Ballet

Realweegiemidget - Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)

Cinema Cities - The Barn-Raising Dance in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

 Wonderful World of Cinema - Put your Dance Shoes and Watch "Footloose"!

In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood - Dancing Lady (1933) Joan Crawford Dances with Fred Astaire

Christina Wehner - Cyd Charisse

The Flapper Dame - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

 Cinema Gadfly - The Red Shoes

Critica Retro - Gene Kelly

 Back to the Golden Days - Gene Kelly and Judy Garland

 Phyllis Loves Classic Movies - The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing..Especially If You're Vera-Ellen!

Pop Culture Reverie - Dirty Dancing

Sometimes the best things happen while you're reading about dancing.

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Thank you for stopping by and reading our posts, and a big thanks to all the wonderful bloggers who were able to participate this year!

Happy National Tap Dance Day!

Everything's Copasetic when Bill Robinson Dances

This entry is part of the Gotta Dance! Blogathon hosted by Classic Reel Girl on May 25th. Click here to view more fabulous entries celebrating dance in film.

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On Wednesday, May 25th, we celebrate National Tap Dance Day and the birth of the King of Tap himself, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

Born May 25, 1878 in Richmond, VA

Image Source

Today, Robinson is best remembered for the four films he made with Shirley Temple. He has been both praised and criticized for his part in these movies. Praised for breaking race barriers when he and Temple became the first interracial dancing duo to grace the silver screen. Criticized for taking "Uncle Tom" roles where he portrayed servant, slave, butler, and overall protector of a little white girl.

5 Movies on an Island

In honor of National Classic Movie Day, Rick from Classic Film and TV Cafe is hosting the 5 Movies on an Island Blogathon.

The Task

Pick five classic films you would want to have with you if stranded on a deserted island.

Whittling my beloved film collection to only five was no easy task. Which movies would I be content forever replaying in my head because I know every line and move by heart? Which movies would I want the full film experience? I needed some criteria.

Dancing Legs Quiz ~ May 2016 Edition

Take a look at the following partial pictures. Each pair belongs to a dancer whose birthday is this month. Name the dancer. Then give yourself a bonus point if you can name the movie.

1)

 

2)

Good Luck!

Star-Studded Couple Blogathon: Marge & Gower Champion

This post is part of the Star-Studded Couple Blogathon hosted by Phyl over at Phyllis Loves Classic Movies. Click here to read more fabulous posts about star couples.

Marge and Gower Champion were a popular dance team during the 1940s and 1950s. The married couple co-starred in seven films, made numerous television appearances, had their own television series, The Marge and Gower Champion Show, and even wrote a book on how to dance.  

Beyond the Cover: Alice Adams

This post is part of the Beyond the Cover: Books to Film Blogathon hosted by Now Voyaging and Speakeasy. For more fabulous entries, click here.

***Spoilers***

Until a few months ago, I avoided Booth Tarkington's novel, Alice Adams. Like its heroine, I preferred to be willfully ignorant of reality and believe in RKO's fairy tale film ending. The idea that there was an alternate universe in which Alice did not get her happily-ever-after bothered me. By not reading the novel, I denied its existence.

Dancing Legs Quiz ~ Apr 2016 Edition

Take a look at the following partial pictures. Each pair belongs to a dancer whose birthday is this month. Name the dancer. Then give yourself a bonus point if you can name the movie.

1)

2)

3)

4) and 5)

Good luck!

Easter Eggs in my March Viewing

Easter eggs. The wink and nod between filmmaker and audience. The quick quip that slips past censors. The hidden gem...

...and I love finding them. 

In honor of Easter, March's Viewing Journal will include a few eggs I caught along with my usual musings. Movies covered include Beloved Enemy (1936), Foreign Correspondent (1940), and Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). So grab another slice of pie and cup of coffee, kick back your feet, finish that chocolate bunny, and enjoy the reveal.

***Spoilers ahead***

Gotta Dance! Blogathon Update

Looks like I made a rookie mistake. Turns out there is another major blogathon occurring during the Gotta Dance! window, so I'm going to move my blogathon to May 25th, which is National Tap Dance Day. 

Updated banners are available in my original post.

Ciao til next time!

Announcing the Gotta Dance! Blogathon

**Updated 3/24/2016**

May is an important month in the world of dance. Two greats were born: Fred Astaire on May 10, 1899 and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson on May 25, 1878. In honor of these great dancers and National Tap Dance Day--which coincides with Robinson's birthday I will host my first ever blogathon:

Gotta Dance! May 25, 2016

Come join me in celebrating all things dance: the choreography, the dancers, the music, the partnerships. 

Marathon Stars Blogathon: George Murphy

This post is part of The Marathon Stars Blogathon hosted by The Wonderful World of Cinema and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood. You can read more fabulous posts by clicking here.

The Task

*To get to know a star whose films you have not widely viewed (max three prior to blogathon)
*View at least five of their films and report back

Who I picked and why

After consulting Constance Valis Hills' Tap Dancing America and checking to see if there were enough films available for viewing, I selected George Murphy for the Marathon Stars Blogathon. According to Hills, Murphy is one of the "Irish Princes" who brought the vaudevillian and popular stage tradition to the big screen. 

What better month to celebrate the Irish actor than in March?

Source - Biography.com

Dancing Legs Quiz ~ Mar 2016 Edition

Take a look at the following partial pictures. Each pair belongs to a dancer whose birthday is this month. Name the dancer. Then give yourself a bonus point if you can name the movie.

1)

2)

#CurateMyLife ~ Flash Blogathon

Margaret Perry is hosting a Flash Blogathon this weekend as part of her Cultural Heritage Management course. She asks classic movie lovers to document their classic film heritage and culture. To aid in the task, she has given us a list of items to share--kind of like a scavenger hunt.

If you would like to join in the fun or want to see what others have contributed, visit margaretperry.org for the full scoop.

Classic Reel Girl's #CurateMyLife entry ~

1. DVD collection: