They had a Gene Kelly movie marathon on this weekend. Oh man oh man…I love those musicals!

On the Town
An American in Paris
Singing in the Rain
Summer Stock

Summer Stock is one i hadn’t seen or even heard of before. But it has the COOLEST dance scene in it. You know how STOMP is a performance with all kinds of sound-making objects?
Gene Kelly does this dance that incorporates a creaky floorboard and the way a newspaper on the floor makes his tap shoes sound. My god, it is thrilling!

On the Town explodes, and it has the stellar voice of Sinatra in the harmonies. It’s great! And I love the strong female roles.

An American in Paris is one I’m going to have to sit down and watch carefully again. It was very artistic. Yes, it’s a light musical, but there are incredible interpretive moments that grab your attention. Dance is art, not just entertainment, and Kelly wanted the viewers to see that.

And Singing in the rain has no rivals. It’s a classic for all time.

I am thinking that it is a crying shame that I have reached this stage of my life without learning to tap dance. Something must be done about this!