Figure 1.--This was a youth dance act performing a rock and roll number on "Morning Star" about 1998. I'm not sure what the dance group was or where they were from. It was a coed group.

Several movies have been made dealing with dance or with dance scenes in the film. We have noted films which involved boys engaged in various dance forms. The most common deal with ballet, but other dance forms are depicted as well, but there have also been filmd dealing with other dance types like interpretive dance. There are quite a few filns from the 1930s with tap dancing scenes, but the film itself is not about tap dancing. The number of films actually about boys dancing are very limited. There are many more films where dancing is just a scene in the film. HBC is, however, aware of only a small number of such movies. Most of the movies that HBC has noted have dealt with ballet Our information in this area, however, is still very limited. Hopefully HBC readers will hlp us build a more complete list. We have also noted some routeins on television. Hollywood went through a stage in the 1930s and 40s when big-budget musicals were produced. Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood were involved and thy were often lavish productions. Along with the singing and music there were often elaborate dance productions. Rarely however were boys involved in these productions. More often they were formats giving beautiful women the opportunity to strut their stuff.

Dance Forms

We have noted films which involved boys engaged in various dance forms. The most common deal with ballet, but other dance forms are depicted as well. There are quite a few filns from the 1930s with tap dancing scenes, but the film itself is not about tap dancing. The number of films actually about boys dancing are very limited. There are many more films where dancing is just a scene in the film. Many notable film scenes do not involve a specufic type of dance, but rather a cheoeographed show business routine.

American Western square dancing

We know of few films which touch on Western square dancing. One film is Lloyd (aka The Ugly Kid) (US, 1998). Square dancing plays a very funny role in the charming little film "Lloyd (aka The Ugly Kid)" made around 1998 near where I live. It gives a pretty good idea what kids think of square dancing today. Plus the film is an excellent representation of the clothes kids wear in California (T-Shirts, shorts, etc.).

Ballroom Dancing

HBC knows of few films dealing with boys participating in ballroom dancing. The only one we know of is "Strictly Ballroom," an Austrlian film.

Ballet

Relatively little information is available on boys' ballet costumes. HBC know of only a few movies that deal with boys doing ballet. One is a British film, Billy Elliot. The other is a Russian documentary, The Children of Theater Street. There are also several versions of The Nutcracker. American and British films have generally dealt with older boys doing ballet. Russian films where there is more of a tradition of boys doing ballet have also provided insights into the clothing and costume of younger boys. Please let HBC know if you are aware of any films which should be added to this list.

Highland Dancing

HBC knows of no filnms dealing with boys involved in highland dancing. Surely they must be some, but we are not familiar with any. Hopefully our Scottish readers will have some suggestions here.

Interpretive Dance

A variety of movies have been made dealing with dance or with dance scenes in the film. Most of the movies that HBC has noted have dealt with ballet, but there have also been films dealing with other dance types like interpretive dance. Our information in this area, however, is still very limited. A variety of movies have dealt with dance thems, especially ballet. There have been few movies that have dealt with interpretive dance, except movies like Isadora that have been about the life of Isadora Duncan. Like wise there are few movies that have even hace secenes involving intrpretive dance. One of the few exceptions is the Shirly Temple vehicle Blue Bird. Boys in the film wore shorts under their tunics as in the "Going to Paradise" scene.

Irish Step Dancing

HBC knows of no films dealing with boys involved in Irish step dancing. In fact, we only know of one film which even has a scene on Irish dance. There is a funny scene in Angela's Ashes where the main charactor Frank, who is around 12, gets money to attend Irish dance lessons and just fakes it in his one and only lesson. It was funny to see him stomping around making it up next to a kid who is taking it seriously. He fakes it again for his parents when they ask him to show them what he has learned. They don't know his stomping around from real Irish dancing. The limited mention of Irish dance in films reflects thefact that it was virtually unknown outside the Irish community until the appearance of River Dance.

Tap dancing

There are numerous movies in which tap dancers have appeared. Most of these films, however, present the talents of adult tap dancers. The films of Fred Astraire and Hinger Rogers diring the 1930s are some of the best examples. The ome child that was primarily showcased performiong tap dancing routeuins was of course Shirly Temple. We recall many films with Shiley Temple tap dancing and several film come to mind. There are virtually no films with boys tap dancing that come to mind at the moment. HBC knows of almost no films dealing with boys tap dancing. The only boys wgich come to mind are the Nicholas brothers. They did some black films while srill children, but by the time they reached mainstream Hollywood films they were adults. The number of boys who did tap dancing, especially in America during the 1920s-40s, were larger than other dance forms. Thus one would think there must be some films with boys doing tap dance numbers.

Social Dancing

One of the most notable films about social dancing is Footloose (US, 1984). It deals with teenagers and gyrating rock music in conservatice Midwestern town.

Figure 2.--There is a marvelous Gene Kelley scene with the children in "Singin' in the Rain" (US, 1952).

Notable Scenes

Boys have been involved in a few notable dance scenes in movies. There are not a large number of films which come to mind, in part because boys are not often used in movie dance scenes. These scenes are not from films about dance or do not involve a major type of dancing, but are rather production numbers, often from musicals. One such number is a dream sequence from Pennies from Heaven (US, 19??). There is also a charming Fred Ataire number in Easter Parade (US, 1948). And of course there is the marvelous Gene Kelley scene with the children in "Singin' in the Rain" (US, 1952). A much less well-known, but charming, scene comes from "The Girl Most Likely" (1957). The scene is a "Ten little indian" numbers with 10 boys and girls in Indian costumes. There is a humerous fance scene in the modern remake of Our Gang The Little Raccals (US, 1994). It involves Alfalfa and another boy trying to hide in a ballet class, but they stand out because they are so clumsey. It was apparently difficult to film the boy who played Alfalfa had ballet training and liked it and had troublr dancing badly enough for the scene. The more common depiction in American films is boys objecting to dancing. A typical depiction, although in a Renaisance setting is The Flame and Arrow (US, 1950) in which a boy objects to being taught dancing.

Musical Productions

Hollywood went through a stage in the 1930s and 40s when big-budget musicals were produced. Buzzy Buskee Burklee?? was particularly noted for these productions. Some of the biggest stars in Hollywood were involved and thy were often lavish productions. Along with the singing and music there were often elaborate dance productions. Rarely however were boys involved in these productions. More often they were formats giving beautiful women the opportunity to strut their stuff.

Unknown Movies

We have found some dance images, but we can not yet identify the movie involved. Hopefully our readers will be able to identify the film. Somne will be easier than others to identify. If we can identify the actors it is usually fairly easy to figure out the movie. This is especially true of American films. We know much less about foreign films.

Television Variety Programs

Childrens'd dance groups have appeared on television prgrams. The types of routeins have varied. We remember that a few children's dance troops appeared on American TV variety programs during the 1970s, but we can recall few details at this time. We do remember one Scottish routein where both the boys and girls wore kilts. The talent program "Star vSearch" had quite a number of dancers, usually pairs or small groups. I'm not quite sure how to describe the routeins. We also note the Russian program "Morning Stars" in which dance groups sometimes performed. An Australian reader remembers an Australian variety show called "Young Talent Time". Tina Arena and Jamie Redfern got fame from this singing and dancing variety childrens music show and was hosted by an Australian pop idol and great song writer by the name of Johnny Young. The program ran from 1971-90. There were child acts for judging and the regular child stars who sang the latest pop tunes from all over America and Europe. These children would be auditioned and start at say 8 years of age and retire at their 16th birthday.

Created: June 2, 2001
Last updated: 6:20 AM 7/13/2008