Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
#0Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 7:55pmOf course, that's just my opinion. She really could do every genre, with such beauty and skill. Not taking anyting away from Kelly, Powell, Astaire, Miller, O'Connor, etc. She's just my favorite. Who's your favorite?
#1re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 7:57pmGwen Verdon.
#2re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 8:29pmI'm a big fan of Cyd Charisse.
#3re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 8:39pm
Vera was great. A bit too thin for me (imagine?).
I love Gwen the most. :)
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#5re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 9:39pm
Male - Astaire & Kelly
Female - Charisse & Ann Miller
#6re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 9:54pmAnn Miller, hands down
#7re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 11:17pmThough Ann and Eleanor could tap the pants off the others, I don't think they could manage the ballet part as well as Vera, Gwen and Cyd.
#8re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 11:19pmVera-Ellen was anyone's equal in the tap department, imo.
Mamie
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/26/04
#9re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 11:39pm
Vera-Ellen was a fantastic dancer but her boniness (boneyness? bonyness?) drove me crazy. I wanted her to fill out a little so those hip bones wouldn't slice one of her partner's in half!
Cyd is my all time favorite.
A click for life.
mamie4 5/14/03
#10re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/29/05 at 11:49pm
How odd! I had just changed my icon over last night to Vera!
Timing is , indeed, everything.
edit: I can't, or rather, won't choose a favorite dancer. There are way too many factors to take into consideration in choosing one spectaular talent over another. I will continue loving and appreciating them all.
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#11re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 1:47am
I adore Vera-Ellen. I think she captures a joy in her her dancing that few of her contemporaries could approach. But she had a very sad later life - she was a severe anorexic before people knew what the term was and suffered from depression. By the mid 50s, she was always photographed in high-necked dresses to hide her bony neck and shoulders. And unlike Cyd Charrise, there was something always child-like about Vera-Ellen (this is an observation, not a criticism).
But my favorite "Movie Star" female dancer made relatively few musicals - and she posessed a luscious sexuality that was hers alone: Rita Hayworth.
She and Garland are the only two partners of Astaire who steal his thunder.
Vera-Ellen
Marquise
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/1/04
#12re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 2:53am
~ Cyd Charisse.
'Nuff Said. 
Goodtoon
Understudy Joined: 11/12/05
#13re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 2:55am
Rita Hayworth comes ALIVE when she begins to dance.
In COVER GIRL, where she dances (to the title song) down that long, curving set of steps/stairs through the mists and on to the stage....just great.
Yet....there are so many great dancers from that era.
I can't choose one.
#14re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 7:35am
YOU WERE NEVER LOVELIER. I love it!
Rita is a great dancer. I just can't take my eye off of her.
#15re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 7:59am
I'm with Brendan.
Two words, baby: Nerve tap.
#16re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 8:06amOh, Jaily, you would have been with Brendan even if he said that Maria Ouspenskaya was his favorite dancer.
#17re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 8:08amLOL - PalJoey, isn't she the mean ballet mistress in Waterloo Bridge?
#18re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 9:24amShe certainly was...she was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1936s "Dodsworth" and '39 for "Love Affair". She also acted under Stanislavsky in Russia, and was a classically trained singer.
#19re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 9:31am
A little brains
A little talent
With an emphasis on the latter..
#20re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 10:35amI love you both.
#21re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 10:48amCharisse and Miller were always my favorites.
#22re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 10:59amDefinitely Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller -- both very different styles, but both impeccably classy and talented.
SorryGrateful
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#23re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 11:33amI did love Vera-Ellen in On the Town and White Christmas, especially when she does that fast "Abraham" number. Amazing! However, I've always got to stick by my man, Gene Kelly, as the best dancer. He was mesmerizing in almost everything he did.
#24re: Vera-Ellen is the best dancer who was ever in film.
Posted: 11/30/05 at 1:04pmI personally prefer watching Eleanor Powell or The Nicholas Brothers and if Gwen was more of a FILM actress rather than a stage actress, I might pick one of them, but that doesn't mean I think they're the best. Vera-Ellen is certainly very talented and accomplished, but I never got that much personality from her, so that's my only hesitation with her.
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