Dancing Onstage and in the Movies–Part Eight: Gene Kelly

Three years after Easter Parade, Gene Kelly dominated the headlines with his balletic choreography for the 1951 movie, An American in Paris, featuring the symphonic music of George Gershwin. There are seven key sequences from the ballet, created to accompany the score of Gershwin’s tone poem, An American in Paris. We have chosen to focus on one that captures both the seductive nature of the ballet and the sensual music of Gershwin. Our second number is the ballet that Kelly choreographed to accompany the Gershwin song, “Our Love Is Here to Stay.”

Kelly tended to be more static in his choreography, more stately in his movement and more controlled in his routines than the exuberant styles of the 1930’s and 1940’s. In many ways, he provides a transition from Hermes Pan and Fred Astaire to the modern dance styles of Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins.

Let’s take a look at ballet sequence no. 5 (as listed in youtube) from An American in Paris, as Kelly dances with the beautiful Leslie Caron. This sequence depicts the blossoming love affair between the two.

Kelly declares his love for Caron using Ira Gershwin’s words, words written to accompany the last song ever composed by George Gershwin, “Our Love Is Here to Stay.” The ballet that follows emphasizes the mutual nature of their affection.

Our next post will look at how Kelly fused vaudeville routines, tap dancing and ballet into a unified whole in the 1953 movie, Singin’ in the Rain.