Movies

The new documentary, Hollywood Singing and Dancing contains a lot of archival footage you've probably already seen, but the new commentary by some of Hollywood's musical legends, along with extended footage, makes it worth watching (look for it in your TV listings). From the promo:

For once, musical numbers are seen in their entirety, such as Fred Astaire's breathtaking tap dancing up the wall and across the ceiling and tiny Shirley Temple mimicking her beaming old black partner as they cleverly tap dance up the wooden staircase and back down again.

Film maker Stacie Hawkins is moving to Los Angeles and is taking her first finished feature, "The Rise And Fall Of Miss Thang," along with her. The film features several choreographed dance routines by the likes of Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and Martin "Tre" Dumas III, according to this article. See video clips on the MySpace Page. The trailer is below!

The movie Idlewild, featuring new music by Outkast, is now set for an August 25th release date. The movie-musical features lots of dance choreography by Tony winner Hinton “The Tap Dance Kid” Battle and, reportedly, a climactic dance scene featuring Jason Samuels, Chloe Arnold and others.

Artists and tap dancers Jenai Cutcher and Mica Scalin are having a Women In Tap Shoes happy hour to benefit their ongoing film documentary efforts. They invite everyone to "bring your own propaganda - promote yourself, your classes, your gigs, and your blog." Check out some of their video clips of Ayodele Casel, Brenda Bufalino, and Sarah Petronio. They promise "Forty Fabulous Flying Feet, Astonishing Acrobatic Action Heroes, and Beer," at this happy hour benefit gig, Tuesday, April 25th, from 6-8pm at Slainte, 304 Bowery (btw Houston and Bleeker) in New York City. You can contact them via email at tapdancefilm@gmail.com or check out their film blog.

Actress and dancer Kelly Brook stars and tap dances in the retro-style musical short, In The Mood, which will be shown at various film festivals in 2006. Set in 1940's London, Kelly will be playing Eva Schmidt, a German spy posing as a dance teacher at an academy in Mayfair, England.

Miss Thang, LLC is looking for tap dancers to play the leads in a feature film to shoot in Chicago. The film, entitled The Rise and Fall of Miss Thang, is the story of an irresponsible party girl who begins a journey to re-discover her tap dancing roots when she is forced to cope with her mother’s expensive gambling problem.

Happy Feet, an animated family feature about a tap dancing penguin that can't sing, is due out in November 2006. Directed by George Miller (he did the Babe movies), it's set in Antarctica, and follows a group of Emperor Penguins who must each sing a unique song to attract a soul mate.

If you haven't already seen the 14 minute tap short, Tap Heat, featuring Jason Samuels-Smith and Arthur Duncan, it may be coming to a film festival near you.