Hello Everyone. Have a beautiful weekend.
Please Subscribe To My Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/c/AndrewChoreographer?sub_confirmation=1
Happy Birthday/Anniversary Fred Astaire.
What do you think of the dance number?
Fred Astaire in A Damsel In Distress, 1937, performing “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”
Choreographers: Hermes Pan. Fred Astaire.
Assistant Choreographer: Angela Blue.
Fred Astaire (Frederick Austerlitz).
Born: May 10th 1899, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. – Died: June 22nd 1987, Los Angeles, California, USA. Age 88.
Mr. Astaire’s ability was being creative, performing and executing choreography with precision, such as his performance in “Nice Work If You Can Get It.” Whereby he makes use of the set of drums and tap dancing whilst maintain excellent rhythm, clearly demonstrates his ability and high regard for his artistry.
Mikhail Baryshnikov sums up Mr. Astaire accurately. “Dancers hate Fred Astaire. He gives us complexes because he is too perfect.”
Mr. Astaire provides good advice that is still relevant for artists/performers today.
”What counts more than luck is determination and perseverance. If the talent is there, it will come through. Don’t be too impatient. Stick at it. That’s my advice. You have to plug away, keep thinking up new ideas. If one doesn’t work, try another.”
Mr. Astaire first took up Ballet (about 5 years old– 1904) with his Sister, Adele. The dance training was at Alvienne School of the Dance, New York; Ned Wayburn Studio of Stage Dancing. Mr. Astaire also studied Tap Dancing under one of the great Tap Dancers, John W. Bubbles.
Mr. Astaire began dancing professionally with his Sister, Adele in Vaudeville (1905).
By 1917 they had headed to New York and performed on Broadway. Their first Broadway Show was, Over The Top 1917. Between 1917 and 1933, Adele and Fred appeared in 10 Broadway Shows together. Such as, Lady, Be Good – 1924, Funny Face – 1927, The Band Wagon – 1931.
Mr. Astaire went onto appear in one more Broadway Show without Adele, Gay Divorce – 1932. This Broadway Production, Gay Divorce went on to be made into a movie with Ginger Rogers in 1934 called, The Gay Divorcee. Only one song of the Cole Porter Broadway Score, Night And Day, was used in the movie.
Mr. Astaire produced dances for the 1925 Broadway Show, Sunny. (517 Performances, New Amsterdam Theatre).
Between 1917 and 1933 Mr. Astaire and Miss Astaire appeared on Stage in London.
Between 1933 and 1949 Mr. Astaire and Ginger Rogers made 10 movies, 9 at RKO Radio Pictures, first movie was Flying Down to Rio 1933. And one movie at MGM, The Barkleys of Broadway, their only color movie together.
The last movie Mr. Astaire and Miss Rogers made together was The Barkleys of Broadway, 1949.
Mr. Astaire made 41 movies during his career; his last movie was Ghost Story 1981. He also appeared in over 15 TV Shows/Specials.
Did You Know?
Mr. Astaire’s artistic collaboration with Hermes Pan started back in 1933 on the set of Flying Down To Rio. The two men went on to have a lasting friendship for decades.
Mr. Pan Recounts: ”It was a fortunate situation that I met Astaire and that he was of the same outlook, feeling and mentality as I was. It sort of blended into a beautiful thing.”
Awards/Honors/Tributes:
Academy Awards: One Nomination for Towering Inferno, 1975.
Mr. Astaire was presented with an Honorary Award, 1950, “for his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures.”
Golden Globes: 6 Nominations, 3 Wins. One Win was, Best Actor – Comedy or Musical Three Little Words, 1950.
Primetime Emmy Awards: 5 Nominations: 3 Wins. One Win was, Best Single Performance by an Actor an Evening with Fred Astaire, 1958.
American Film Institute: Life Achievement in 1981.
In 1987 Mr. Astaire was inducted into the National Museum of Dance’s Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.
In 2002 Mr. Astaire was inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame.
Please visit my Facebook Page.
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewChoreographer/videos/629190899102761/
source
