The Dancer, JOHN TRAVOLTA

                               The "Dancer"---"John Travolta"

                                         1983 Stayin' Alive  

          John Travolta..! Frankly Sensual..! In his 'Own Erotic' way he looks good and moves beautifully. Travolta looks like he has been dancing all his life. Travolta's natural ability and strength make it look like he has studied disco, jazz, and ballet all his life. "I'm even a good Tap Dancer," John says, having studied Tap with Fred Kelly, Gene Kelly's brother when John was 16 or 17.

                              Saturday Night Fever 1977
                           John Travolta as-Tony Manero

          When asked how Travolta bridged the gap between these different forms of dance he has performed, he answers with his usual, rather shy laugh: "Hard Work.!" Doing a country Line Dance, in Urban Cowboy or his Soul Strut in the Movie "Michael" John Travolta shows a unique style all his own. 

                                    John Travolta  
                
           He may not kick as high, jump as high or turn as fast, but there is a fire and an a raw dramatic and theatrical urgency with his use of his acting skills that Travolta applies when he dances. 
            Dancers, unlike actors are given time limits. "Wait a Minute." John said:  "To make a contribution to Dance and to be as good as I can be, I better get on it..!"
Another great clip of John Travolta Getting On It from "Grease..!"

                           John Travolta- Greased Lightning
                   
            When an Actor studies dance, it isn't with the intention of becoming a dancer, but to use these skills in a movie or in a stage production requiring dance. John Travolta, while preparing for the role in "STAYIN' ALIVE," chose choreographer Dennon Rawls and his wife Sayhber, because they were the only ones who actually let John be brave with dance. "Whoa, this guy hasn't had to many lessons!" and the dancing in "Stayin' Alive" is as a Dancer----> Dances! - - 5-6-7-8--

                            

          John Travolta has always been fascinated by body movement and music.  The fascination of the underdog, the struggling artist. "From birth, everyday is a struggle. To reach maturity is a wonder in itself. Something seems to always be "One Step" ahead of us. "I Want to be a good dancer, better than I am now!" he continued. "Not to audiences who don't know the difference but to be a thoroughbred where dancers know the difference. " "As far as I know, there is no other American Dancer lately who has danced in as many Movies as I have." 

                               John Travolta's "STRUT"   

                "I just DANCE because I love it and people seem to enjoy it!" says John. John's idol, since he was 5 years old has always been James Cagney.  The Great Giants of the Male genre
in American Musical Movie Dance like James Cagney, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and others has always been something John has been conscious of and their contribution since his childhood.

 

                             John Travolta as--> "Barbarino"   

          Be it Broadway shows, Television or Movies that John Travolta has appeared in, John has excited young and old to movement and made people think,"Oh, I Can Dance Like that!" Whether it's Disco, Country Western, Swing, Ballet, Jazz or Tap, John Travolta's feelings are, "If I Can Do It, So CanYou!"  

"NO ONE CAN STRUT LIKE JOHN TRAVOLTA STRUTS!"
I for one, have always had a good time trying.! Thanks John..!

                            John Travolta "STRUTS" Again                      
                                                
                        Dancingly Mr. Shuffles a.k.a. Scott Nicholls 5-6-7-8

"LEGENDARY CHOREOGRAPHERS"

                               "GEORGE BALANCHINE"

                                                           
     Professional Dancer from Russia's Imperial Russian Ballet Academy, George Balanchine was brought up in St.Petersburg where the style of dancing was strict and precise. He began his professional career in Leningrad as cupid in SLEEPING BEAUTY at age ten. He started dancing, as did I, at the age of nine and purely by accident. While visiting St.Petersburg, George Balanchines mother signed George up for an audition at the Imperial School. He was asked to merely walk across the floor. He was judged by posture and carriage. Knowing nothing about dance our how to execute a step, had George been asked to do so. After a long wait his name was announced. George had been selected. 
      George hated the school. George ran away feeling that he had NO aptitude for dance. Olga Preobrajenska, a Prima Ballerina at the school felt differently. George came back.

Igor Stravinsky & George Balanchine rehearse Suzanne Farrell

     By 10 while performing Sleeping Beauty, George Balanchine realized he loved the stage and dancing, but to be able to perform on stage, one had to be Very,Very, good.  The lesson in life we ALL learn as did George is when you see what the work can produce, you want to WORK..!  Trained in acting, mime and the importance of stage gesture, George Balanchine learned the importance of stage gesture and how to work within theatrical disciplines to create illusion.

George Balanchine's APOLLO

         In 1921 George Balanchine entered the Conservatory of Music. Now interested in becoming a fine pianist as well as a dancer, George also found a great interest in moving dancers to music and being able to arrange dances. George did not know how to pursue or explain this great interest in Choreography.
        In 1923 George Balanchine presented his first piece called "Evenings of the Young Ballet." By age 21 George had become Ballet Master to Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Without any reservation George Balanchine feels he owes the Imperial Ballet and Diaghilev for the two hundred year old tradition of discipline and tradition instilled in him for the love of Ballet, its history and artistic principles.
       1933 Les Ballet formed. This was George Balanchine's first company. During this time George Balanchine was invited to the USA to found a school in America. Lincoln Kirstein with Edward M.W.Warburg felt it was necessary for classical ballet to flourish in America. 
       My personal admiration of George Balanchine and his work came from studying his inspirations, work ethics and belief that Talent is God-given. It is NOT given by a nation or a passport. 
What country produces the best dancers narrows down to where you have the best schools and the best teachers. That is where you will find the best dancers no matter what their nationality.
      When asked how to start a piece of choreography, George's answer as is mine, is simply by and idea. Then you find music to fit, or you find music which inspires an idea.

 

               GEORGE BALANCHINES - The "Nutcracker"

             "To be a distinguished choreographer you must first have been a good dancer. You have to go through a period of preparation. People can be advised about technique, they can be told to do this or that differently, but you cannot advise a person to be talented. He is born talented. It is a strange thing: your life is made somewhere, you are pushed in a certain direction, and you move that way." George Balanchine. 

             Dancingly Mr.Shuffles a.k.a.Scott Nicholls 5-6-7-8

          THOSE WHO COME TO THE BALLET TODAY, KNOW IT AND LIKE IT SO MUCH THEY WILL COME ALSO TOMORROW...!

"CHOREOGRAPHERS"

                                       "JEROME ROBBINS"

  Choreographer--"JEROME ROBBINS"--  "WEST SIDE STORY"                       

                                                                    1918---1998
      A career that produced 5 TONY AWARDS on Broadway for High Button Shoes, an EMMY AWARD for his television version of PETER PAN and an ACADEMY AWARD for the movie version of WEST SIDE STORY, JEROME ROBBINS brilliance to create spontaneously for the exact period in time has always been at the height of Dance Culture.
                                  "WEST SIDE STORY"  

 When choreographers and new choreography was in need, Jerome Robbins choreography of FANCY FREE, INTERPLAY, FACSMILE and SUMMER DAY, catapulted the American Choreographer to sensational success.

                                       "FANCY FREE"
     Jerome Robbins, Choreographer for American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet and Ballet U.S.A. created, polished, and perfected his Choreography on the bodies of the dancers who were to perform them.  Jerome Robbins had entered dance school and had been promoted from class to class as he improved in ability. He quickly became a Principal (lead) dancer when he started his professional career. His education at his craft and the realization of Choreography being an ART form,  Jerome Robbins a professional dancer  on Broadway, a director of plays, musicals, television and movies didn't make sacrifices for merely a craft, it was a passion that became a crusade.
           Also a favorite of mine from the Musical "Gypsy" below.

  Being highly influenced myself  by Jerome Robbins Choreography  I saw "GYPSY" at the Geary Theater downtown San Francisco and it  has always been one of my favorites..!

Mr. Robbins numerous awards include the Kennedy Honors award. He also served on the New York State Council on the Arts & Dance panel. Jerome Robbins choreography has epitomized   American dance with intensity and expression.

"TAP DANCE LEGENDS"

                                                      "GREGORY HINES"

     Tap dancing his way out of the ghetto, Gregory Hines has been considered one of the Top Tap Dancers of his generation. By age 6 he and his brother Maurice were performing at the famed Apollo Theater in harlem. It's been said that as a TAP DANCE LEGEND, Gregory Hines could paint Rhythms with Space rather than Sound.

          Gregory Hines, with his smooth solo Tap Style became Internationally known after Tap Dancing started rebuilding in the 70's.  Gregory Hines with many of the TAP DANCE LEGENDS Elders and Master Artists have inspired new generations.

             Audiences listen intently as Gregory Hines plays it dangerously throwing unexpected things out to the audience.  When you see Gregory smile while improvising it might be because he surprised himself by inventing a new step during his performance. This TAP DANCE LEGEND, feels passionately that Tap Dancing must  defend its choreographic integrity by "improvography," a new word which Hines coined. It means using your imagination to create choreography instantaneously.

             Gregory Hines feels that the future of Tap isn't in the mechanics, but in the boldness of the NEW Tap Dancers and choreographers, with percussive phrases of a composer, the Rhythms of a drummer and the training to be a Dancer..!

                  TAP DANCE LEGEND GREGORY HINES

                               

BALLET DANCER/Baryshnikov

                     "BALLET DANCERS"
                           Baryshnikov

                       "Mikhail Baryshnikov"
        Ballet Dance has become an even greater cultural boom in America with Russian defector Mikhail Baryshnikov.  This dance mega-star, soon had the United States training as many if not more ballet dancers than the Soviet Union, due to his popularity and charisma.

        Baryshnikov has admitted that he enjoys the creative process almost more than performing. In competition with his own reputation Baryshnikov would rather work on something new than dance hundreds of Giselles and Romeos.  Ironically, his star shines most when he dances.

        Ballet Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov will bring you to tears with his performance in Hollywoods film "White Nights!" You will be thrilled and moved by his uncommon skill dancing through out this film. One of my favorites is the dance solo pictured above. White Nights may not draw the Rambo crowd but that will be their loss. Below Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in another magnificent dance scene from "White Nights." Baryshnikov's debut on film in 1977 was in another of Ballet Dancers favorite's, the movie "The Turning Point." 

        Baryshnikov's overall success has been as a performer.  Perhaps he was meant to be on stage instead of behind the scenes.

        Born in 1948 and dancing by the age of 9, Misha, as he was nicknamed became the Principal Dancer in the Leningrad Kirov Ballet by the age of 21. Mikhail has toured the world, performed on Broadway and received many awards including the Kennedy Center Honor. His strength, described as strong as a bull, his gracefulness described to be as graceful as a swan and his leaps which never seem to touch ground has made "Misha," Mikhail Baryshnikov to be considered one of the Greatest Male Dancers in the world.

                                Dancingly Mr.Shuffles 5-6-7-8

                         "Dancing Etiquette"

       "Ya Know What?" I Love My Dancing School..! Stand Up Straight, Concentrate, Don't Chew Gum and Don't Be Late..! 
         RESPECT your Art, your Instructor and Your fellow dancers..!
        The beginning dancer can be as young as two years old, or as young as 100. "Dancing Etiquette" is taught to all ages from the moment they step into the dance studio. It doesn't begin during warm-ups or steps across the floor or during the combinations. It starts the second you walk through the door. As the caption above the picture reads, understand that you the parent need to do your part by instilling simple "Dancing Etiquette" rules.

                           "DANCE" FEEDS OUR SOULS!

Ballet Is Dance

                     "BALLET" IS "Dance"


          La Sylphide, Giselle, and Swan Lake, have held the stage and the audiences appeal for more than a hundred years. Like No Other Art form "Ballet" IS "Dance!"
          "When and Where can I see that Ballet Performed Again?" This question by audiences is the closest the observer can come to the steady training required of the dancer in order to create the performance that will captivate them. 
          Ballet displays the most beautiful movement that the body is capable of. The skill of the ballet dancer is useless unless proper training and practice turns it into a visual art. Very few dancers are beautiful when they start training, but when they dance well, they become beautiful. "Ballet" Is "Dance" because of the proof it  shows on every dancer who studies it. To become a DANCER without studying Ballet, is like trying to go to college without the knowledge of the english language. 

         Symphony music asks the dancers body to move in time. Like a poem, it tells us a story we connect to and appreciate. Heroes and heroines or just plain everyday people standing in a certain posture showing us a certain mood creates a story.  Not just Ballet dancers but every dancer creates a story with their bodies. Often ballets require program notes to tell us what the ballet story is really about. Many newcomers feel there might be a hidden meaning to ballets without a story. They expect Ballet to be like theater or movies.   To appreciate it you have to watch it, not think about it. "Ballet" IS "Dance" like nothing else in its purity.

        To enjoy the Ballet, you must go often and not occasionally.  As many times as you might read a novel or go the movies or go to  a museum or listen to a concert or an opera, be persistent to the arts to enjoy the pleasures they contain. If we neglect the ballet, we are depriving ourselves of one of Arts greatest pleasures.  Enlightenment through art has throughout history proven to be a necessity to be happier beings.
        In my study of dance, I found out early that after my study of Tap and Jazz, that "Ballet" IS "Dance" and its foundation. In order to advance I realized the necessity of Ballet training. By age 12, I was picked to be part of the cast performing in the Opera House in San Francisco with the above pictured Leningrad Kirov Ballet performing Swan Lake to a symphony orchestra. My first dance job with pay!
        Like all arts, "Ballet" IS "Dance" and many different things to many different people. It can be high-brow, or something to make fun of. It can be LIFE in its fullest form to some.  Some individuals  never give it a second thought. Bucket list a Ballet once in your life.
        With more people finding new interest to watch dance performances, knowledge and concern for ballet and All forms of dance has grown. Support for dance companies and not in terms of financial support, (valuable as that is;) I mean in terms of interest and response. The Heart of Dance, and All of Dance has found new audiences of all ages and re-newed life..!

        "Ballet" Is "Dance" and it is significant in our culture. Most of all it is a pleasure. Watch carefully and train yourself to see its beauty..! -->  LOL --->  Dancingly Mr.Shuffles 5-6-7-8
        

Tap Dancing Is

                         " TAP DANCING IS "

     "Tap Dancing Is" SOUND! Rhythmic sound made with the feet, and people love rhythm. Tap is a blend of cultures. The Irish Jig, the African Stomp, the Waltz Clog, Soft Shoe, Cake Walk, the Stair dance and the Boogie Woogie. "Tap Dancing Is"  Our American Folk Dance. 

Tap's contribution to the World of Dance is truly unique. Aside from Flamenco, every other dance form offers only something to look at, movement to observe; but in Tap Dancing there is also something to HEAR!

     "Tap Dancing Is" an Art formed in the 1800's. For the first three decades of the twentieth century Jazz rhythms of syncopated feet poured out of nightclubs, radio's, theaters, and movie screens.
Everybody wanted to see it, everyone wanted to hear it, everyone wanted to do it. It was High Style and the very staple of show business.

           During the war era with the great music revolutions, "Tap  Dancing Is" and became, Jazz, Ragtime, Bebop, and Swing. Today it has evolved to accommodate Classical, Pop, Hip-Hop, Rap, Country, you name it. Tap dancers are laying down some Iron to it.

     These new blends of music play a tremendous role in the evolution of Tap, then and now. The entertainment world is ready to move ahead into a more sophisticated future, all set to Taps syncopated beat! "Tap Dancing Is" and has been a dance entertainment form across the country and around the world that a lot of people love to hear and see. It's captivating Rhythms won't let you go. You can't sit still. It makes you want to get up and try it.

     There were and are so many rising stars, male and female, keeping Tap popular on the stage and screen.  There were Flash Acts and Vaudeville acts of all kinds, each featuring some kind of Tap. Tap dancings rising stars that kept Tap dancing exciting to watch. As the years rolled on television shows, documentaries and other variety and talk shows featured Tap and kept it in the public eye. Dance teachers and performers have as Tap Dancing Great "Maceo Anderson" of the "Four Step Brothers" did, they went with the Tap Dancers Code: Change another's steps before you use them! Today, in my opinion, the Direct-Steal is In! Pass it on and keep "Tap" Living and Growing World-Wide.---5-6-7-8
Dancingly Mr.Shuffles

                            Shave & a Haircut--Two Bits 

                                  Famous Dancers
                                      Donald O'Connor/Peggy Ryan

                    

      Born August 28th 1925, in Chicago, Donald O'Connor married Gwendolyn Carter and had one daughter with Gwendolyn. Re-married to Gloria Noble and with Gloria had one daughter and two sons.
     Donald O'Connor came from a Circus Family that graduated into vaudeville. The name of the act was the O'Connor Family. Donald was already on stage and a Famous Dancer by the tender age of "3" Days Old. Donald's mother played piano in the act and Donald was placed on the bench beside her. Donald has been on the stage ever since. Donald's first dancing experience, as far as he understands was at thirteen months old. He couldn't actually dance, but they held him up by the back of his shirt and he moved his feet like crazy. The original act consisted of his mother, father, sister, two brothers and Donald.
      Singing and dancing became second nature to Donald. He would pick steps up on street corners and drug stores and put them into the act. The popular dances then were the Black Bottom and the Shim Sham, which is still being taught and performed today.

                                                                            Peggy Ryan

Peggy Ryan

      A seasoned professional and again a Famous Dancer by age twelve, Donald starred in movies and became a successful teenage heart throb in "Patrick the Great." Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan's first A-List picture was with Jack Oakie, a vaudevillian veteran and hoofer. (Tap Dancer) 
       A talent scout saw Donald and sent him to make a picture called "What's Cookin," with the Famous Dancer Peggy Ryan, Gloria Jean and the Jivin' Jacks and Jills. Donald had Charisma and the studio kept pushing him to the front, while fellow dancers pushed him to the back for not knowing the routines. So Donald went to Johnny Boyle to learn how to dance. Donald drove him crazy and eventually Johnny sent Donald a letter saying he was                
unteachable.  Preparing for the movie "Singing in the Rain" with Gene Kelly, another Famous Dancer, Donald was driving home and found himself thinking about the routines they had worked on in rehearsal. Donald, wanting to look like Gene Kelly thought, "Oh my, which way does he turn?" I only turn left. That's what drove my teacher Johnny Boyle so crazy.
The next day, as soon as he saw Gene he asked him, "Say, which way do you turn?" and Gene replied, "Oh I don't know, which way do you turn?" Donald said, "To the left!"- "Thank-God," Gene said,

"So do I." 

BackStage Dunes Hotel Las Vegas Scott and Donald O'Connor
1980

Hilton Hotel Las Vegas 93'

     "I knew the harder I worked, the more laughs and more applause I got. No one had to teach me that. I could hear it. That was my thing. That's what I was there for. And I really lived to do just that." 

                                                                     

Meeting the Famous Dancer Donald O'Connor and eventually getting to be in Donalds show, Tap Dancing right beside him was a great thrill for me..! You see when I first started dancing at age 9, people asked if I was Fred Astaire and my reply was, "NO" I'm Donald O'Connor..!  Dancingly Mr.Shuffles 5-6-7-8

Tracy, Blaine, Donald O', Scott 

                                                       

Famous Dancers

                                                             "PEGGY RYAN"

   

     An autograph seeker at a Broadway show saw a crowd and pushed his way to the front and asked fellow autograph seekers,"Who is that?"  "It's Peggy Ryan." Never heard of her, what does she do? Patiently the autograph seeker explained, "Peggy was one of the Greatest Dancers in film history."

     Teamed with Peggy Ryan, another talented youngster by the name of Donald O'Connor who I will feature in my next blog of Famous Dancers starred with Peggy Ryan in 14 musicals. All hits and all money makers for Hollywood.  Universal studio had the talented Peggy Ryan under a long-term contract. Donald O'Conner and Peggy Ryan were two of the most popular young film stars of the movie going public around the world. 

     For Peggy, it all began at the age of three, when her mother, Hazel Ryan, arranged for Peggy's first recital after a few months of lessons. It was quickly obvious that Peggy was a natural talent, born with a unique gift.  At age five, mother Ryan had taken Peggy to Hollywood, where she danced in her first film -- "The Wedding of Jack and Jill." The next five years were devoted to more dance lessons. At 10,  mother Ryan and Peggy ventured forth again to Hollywood, this time landing a contract at MGM Studios. Peggy's classmates were a group of talented youngsters, some have referred to as the greatest collection of child film stars in history: Jackie Cooper, Deanna Durbin, Freddie Bartholomew, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney.

     In a dramatic role and not as a dancer, Peggy played one of the kids in the award-winning "Grapes of Wrath." staring Henry Fonda and directed by  the legendary John Ford. Mr. Ford years later admitted to Peggy that she was selected because she was such a good crier!

     Peggy's career included guest appearances on every top television show of the day, plus the class night clubs and hotels. Peggy was booked at the prestigious London Palladium for a two week engagement, her run was extended to a record nine weeks that included a Command Performance before the King and Queen of England. As a favor for producer Leonard Freeman, Peggy played Jack Lord's secretary on the television show "Hawaii Five-O" for eight years.

     By the time Peggy Ryan was in her early 30's, she had conquered every medium of entertainment, with a string of some 60 films to her credit.

      

      I was fortunate to study Tap dancing with Famous Dancer Peggy Ryan and had her choreograph me in as the lead dancer in a musical she choreographed in Las Vegas in 1982. From that experience I was able to meet her film partner Donald O'Connor at the Dunes Hotel and Casino and see his show.  Pictured below The Valentine Ball dance segment from "SpeakEasy"-- by Peggy Ryan featuring The Sophisticated Gents and Scott Nicholls..! 

Peggy recommended us to the Famous Dancer Donald O'Connor who hired us,Tracy, Blaine, Scott to the left of Donald to dance with Donald O'Connor at a special performance at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada.

                             Tracy--Blaine-Donald---Scott

      
                                      Dancingly Mr.Shuffles 5-6-7-8