Actors - Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances

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	Actors - Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances

This is a quick reference guide to over one hundred and forty of Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances compiled from his thirty-one Hollywood musical comedy films produced between 1933 and 1968, and his award-winning television special An Evening with Fred Astaire (1958). It is incomplete, as Astaire produced three further television dance specials between 1959 and 1968 each featuring Barrie Chase. Further information on the dance routines may be obtained by clicking on the film links. While Fred Astaire remains the most prolific and influential dancer in cinema history, his corpus is also valued for its inventiveness, virtuosity and precision of execution, indeed a hallmark of Astaire was his determination never to repeat himself. In the field of motion-picture dance, only Gene Kelly is considered to have created work of comparable quality and importance, and even he was unable to match the sheer volume of Astaire's output.

With the exception of the dances in Roberta
(1935), where the taps were recorded live, all of Fred Astaire's taps were re-recorded by him in post production, and while this was common practice in Hollywood musicals of the time - for example Ginger Rogers' taps on the Astaire-Rogers pictures were post-recorded by Astaire's collaborator Hermes Pan - it was unusual for a major star to undertake such a tedious and time-consuming task. It was the act of a perfectionist who was by no means a workaholic - between films he would seldom dance, devoting himself instead to his family and favourite pastimes of horseracing and golf.

The ongoing controversy over the use of film clips of Astaire's dances

Clips showing Astaire's filmed dances are rarely shown in public today, although they have recently featured in films such as The Green Mile and, more controversially, in Dirt Devil commercials. Astaire always retained the sole rights to film clips of his dances and after his death, these rights passed to his widow Robyn Smith Astaire - who charges a fee schedule for the airing of these clips that some program producers consider uneconomic. Mrs. Astaire has contended that the license fees are moderate and are used to help fund litigation to defend against copyright infringement of her late husband's estate.

Solo dances

The solo dances are classified according to genre. An asterisk (*) after the entry indicates the backing presence of chorus dancers for at least part of the routine. A (w/ song) after the entry indicates that Astaire sings the song as an introduction or accompaniment to the dance. For this purposes of this classification a tap solo is defined as a routine where a substantial part of the routine is taken up with tap steps.

Tap solos without props

"Music Makes Me" from Flying Down to Rio
(1933).

"Don't Let It Bother You" from The Gay Divorcee
(1934).

"It's Just Like Looking For A Needle In A Haystack" from The Gay Divorcee
(1934). (w/ song)

"I Won't Dance" from Roberta
(1935). (w/ song)

"No Strings (Part 1)" from Top Hat
(1935). (w/ song)

"I'd Rather Lead A Band" from Follow the Fleet
(1936). (*) (w/song)

"Slap That Bass" from Shall We Dance (1937). (w/ song)

"Boogie Barcarolle" from You'll Never Get Rich
(1941). (*)

"Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye" from You'll Never Get Rich
(1941).

"March Milastaire (A-Stairable Rag)" from You'll Never Get Rich
(1941).

"One For My Baby" from The Sky's the Limit
(1943). (w/ song)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances ]

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