Eleanor Powell in 'Rosalie'

Eleanor Powell's beautiful yet powerful tap dance on a giant set of drums. (1937)

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Eleanor
• Powell
• Nelson
• Eddy
• Dummy
• Why
• should
• care
• MGM
• Musical
• Tap
• Dance
• drums
• cole
• porter

[triumfero]

My mother was her stand-in . I have great still clips of this many other films they worked in together.

[Shurayuki18481]

@triumfero That's lovely to hear thanks for stopping by and sharing that.

[ghtsw11]

I remember seeing this on "That's Entertainment" for the first time, followed by other performances on "That's Dancing". Utterly brilliant. The high kicks going up the drums and those moments when she tapped the beat with one foot are unbeatable. No question - the best.

[Shurayuki18481]

@ghtsw11 Thank you for your kind comments! - G.A

[SDKoka]

Quite simply, Eleanor Powell is the greatest dancer who ever lived - even Fred Astaire admitted that he was nervous about dancing with her!! Notice that most shots are lengthy - no cut & paste in her movies! And is there anyone who can watch her turns without getting dizzy? It is bewildering how she maintained control...

A great natural beauty combined with the ability to make the most difficult routines look effortless make this one of my favorite numbers of all time.

[Shurayuki18481]

This number is quite beautifully haunting, your right about her being better than Fred Astaire. Him and Gene Kelly get all the gold stars but it's Eleanor who at the end of the day is the classiest of them all.

[beriflor]

she's the greatest dancer of all time, period. eleanor powell....wow, the nicholas brothers said her combination of ballet, dance and athleticism was unmatched even by astaire and kelly and davis and barishnikov

[triumfero]

My mother also was of the opinion that Bill Robinson was the greatest she ever saw.

[RedWillyandFugi]

@triumfero I love that you shared this with us! Tell us more and who else she worked with : ) !

[varon1979]

I really don,t care about her dress, or about the extravaganza,,,I ONLY care about Miss Powell,s AMAZING routine here, the best I have EVER seen!!. She is a Godess...unique....a wonderful artist...the BEST dancer EVER!!. Matthew

[ecapital46]

@SDKoka If you could ask both Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire who they considered the greatest (tap) dancer who ever lived, both of them would tell you it was Bill "Bojangles' Robinson. Don't think there has been a tap dancer alive, including Powell, Astaire, or Kelly who ever rated themselves above Bill Robinson. Due to Hollywood segregation, he didn't get the starring roles, sharp wardrobes, and first class music and sets the others got, but off the movie set everybody knew who was best.

[ecapital46]

@weightfeather1 We can always respectfully disagree. I wouldn't rate this routine anywhere near any of her dance routines in Broadway Melody of 1936 - particularly her finale, which remains the best performance I think she has on film.

[frogrfb]

@weightfeather1

I just watched her Hula dance number in Honolulu. Now, THAT"S what I'm talkin' about!!

Thanks for the reference! Thank God the choreographer decided to showcase her feminity for posterity!