Home » The man who could do everything: Tommy Rall

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The man who could do everything: Tommy Rall — 16 Comments

  1. I come here more and more often for the dance posts (though I’ve never been to the ballet in my life).

  2. Fantastic!

    Do today’s theatrical dancers have anywhere near the amount of ballet training as the previous ones?
    I can’t say I have been impressed with new shows as much as these examples.

    Was Fred Astaire ever trained in ballet?

  3. I have always been awed by that Bob Fosse – Gwen Verdon piece from Kiss Me Kate – 75 seconds of some of the most artistic, expressive, pure athleticism I have ever experienced . . . visual candy.

  4. Skilly:

    It’s indeeed great, but Verdon wasn’t in Kiss Me Kate. Do you mean Carol Haney?

  5. OMG, my apologies, yes, Carol Haney! That woman was awesome! Whatever happened to her? So sexy and, MAN!, could she dance!!

  6. Neo, thanks for the note on Astaire. I kind of thought as much: he had the ballet grace, but not the jumps and spins, unlike Rall.

    Just dropping this off “for the record” – it’s a collection of Sonja Henie clips; the quality is variable (fair to poor), and the poster had no musical sense at all (no attempt to use the original sound, or cut a connected track that matched the action), HOWEVER, the second clip (0:53) shows Sonja actually dancing (no skates) and she looked very proficient to me.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSJMwn1QXNI

  7. I have not much interest in dance, but I can appreciate it, and I appreciate the education I get in it here.
    It helps to round my education.
    Thank you.

  8. Fosse and Rall were groundbreaking in the fifties. But old Fred Astaire–at the age of 55–could still pick them up and lay them down when Fosse and Rall were revolutionizing dance in film, as this clip from Daddy Long Legs demonstrates:

    https://youtu.be/FwImKYGCSxI?t=98

  9. sid charisse

    and for the men, i am a big fan of Russ Tamblin..
    [yawning man (tom thumb), west side story, etc)
    his son is also in the industry

    lots of people in industry that time were triple threats
    today, very much not so much
    it was different when people went to the music store to buy written music to play at home, and so could judge what they were hearing better… (fewer audio tricks. anyone here who performs want to elucidate for us, as i am tired)

  10. that kiss me kate clip starts with more singing by Rall.

    Also always nice to see my dad’s favorite Ann Miller.

  11. While I was still in the military, I had the privilege of serving with Tommy Rall’s son. His son tended to keep it quiet about who was his father. He had some interesting stories about growing up and I enjoyed his descriptions of acting and dance classes. He decided against the stage and joined the military where, the last time I saw him, he was doing quite well and was one of the more technically and tactically proficient individuals with whom I served.

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