Eleanor Powell–La Conga Tap
Before we get into today’s post, we need to make an announcement. We never intended to do this much writing on our Facebook page. It happened by accident. We were just going to post something new once a week. That is the way we started publishing on our page back in January. Then, people asked if we could post our thoughts more often. So, we changed our publishing schedule until finally we were publishing something every day. We started our Facebook page just to see if there was any interest on social media. You have been providing us with proof that there is interest, if we do our homework and then publish something that explains the music and provides an illustration of the music. However, we are just storing too much material on Facebook.
So, starting Monday, we are going to try something new. As usual, when you go to our Facebook page, you will see the start of the post, with the words “See more” to follow. Only on Monday, please click on the link immediately following the words, “See more” and you will be taken to our website, where the body of the post will be stored. We need to store and index (archive in computer jargon) all of these posts, because they can be a valuable part of our educational outreach program for schools. Many of you used to be teachers, so you know how valuable some of this material could be to a teacher who wanted to wrap a lesson plan around the recorded work of a composer, a performer, a music director, etc. Our educational outreach program is in the planning stage, as we are still in the process of contacting various schools to gage interest.
Second, if we load the content onto our website, whenever we want to publish two clips at the same time, we will have an option that permits us to embed both clips on one new post on the website instead of having to schedule two posts on the Facebook page, like we did for the Honolulu trailer and the Hula dance.
From your standpoint, when the clip is over, just click on the Facebook address and you will be back on our Facebook page, where you can like, love, wow, share, comment, just as you do now. Moreover, by making this change, if we have more material on our website that might be of interest, we can also provide a link to that material (once I learn how to use a link). If I do it right, the link shows up in blue. Again, it is purely optional on your part if you want to see more. Otherwise, just click on the Facebook address and you will be back on the Facebook page.
We hope this change does not inconvenience you; it is a necessary change for us, and we think we have made the transition fairly easy for you. Please let us know if you have any difficulty with the new process. Of course, there is a good chance that you know more about how this computer stuff works than we do. So, if you ever want to explain something that you think might help us, please feel free to comment. Thank you for your patience; and now let’s get back to Eleanor.
Recently, we came across a very cryptic youtube clip, and we became curious. Over time, we found some comments that explained what had been very confusing. Here is the commentary that we found:
“Uploaded on Apr 6, 2010
“Eleanor Powell in Metro Goldwyn Mayers’ ‘Honolulu’ 1939.
“This routine was cut from the original film for reasons unknown. However it is and will remain a lost beauty after it was found in the late 80’s in MGM’s vaults. This was added to the 1946 unsuccessful film ‘The Great Morgan’ starring the famous Frank Morgan. I really hate how there are so many cuts away from Eleanor’s performance, I have thanks to another YouTuber I have seen the full routine without cuts but that version features a buck and wing, crazed, frenzied tempo purposely done. Yet this version is executed much more in proportion, languid yet elegant. She is nothing but terpsichorean brilliance!!! Bow down to the master of tap!!!
“The routine is either called Got a Pair of New Shoes and or The La Conga Tap.”
Here is the clip that went along with the commentary:
https://youtu.be/lF_e-6LuB0U