Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers PDF

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Two of the most important tap dancers of the twentieth century were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. They are important because of their early stardom, artistic contributions to dance, and social relevance during their time period. Fred Astaire was born on May 10th, 1899, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Frederic and Johanna Austerlitz. He had an older sister named Adele, born September 10th, 1897. They were enrolled in a dance school, Chambers Dancing Academy, and on the advice of their dance teacher, the family changed their last name to Astaire to anglicize it. Adele and Fred danced together and became a brother-and-sister performance act. They danced on the vaudeville circuit, and were paid very well, up to $750 a week, which was a great deal of money in the 1920s. They were called “the greatest child act in vaudeville” by a New Jersey newspaper. The Astaires continued to perform together as teenagers and young adults, but as time went on, Adele grew tired of performing. Their last appearance together was on March 5th, 1932. After this, Adele left show business to marry English nobleman Charles Cavendish, leaving Fred on his own. He was not known for being particularly handsome, but relied on his acting, singing, and dancing skills to find performance jobs. He signed a motion picture contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) Studios. His screen debut and first role under this contract was in Dancing Lady  in 1933, in which he played himself. Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath on July 16th, 1911, in Independence, Missouri. She adopted the name Ginger when her younger cousin Helen couldn’t correctly pronounce Virginia. Her parents divorced when she was still a young girl, and she took

the last name Rogers, which she used for the rest of her life, from her stepfather John Logan Rogers. When she was a teenager, she won a Charleston dance contest, and thus got her start in performing. Like Fred Astaire, she began her career in vaudeville and later moved to Broadway performance. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers both gained fame as movie stars and as tap dancers. They were partnered by the movie studios in several 1930s movies:  Flying Down to Rio, The Gay Divorcee, Roberta, Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, Swing Time, Shall We Dance, Carefree, a nd The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. T  hese movies had numerous famous dance numbers, such as “I’ll Be Hard to Handle” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” from Roberta, “ Cheek to Cheek” from Top Hat, “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” from Follow the Fleet , and “Pick Yourself Up” from Swing Time.  Many of these songs made use of Ginger Rogers’ unusually flexible back for distinctive, gymnast-like moves. The dances were also noted for Fred Astaire’s perfectionism with motion and impeccable sense of rhythm. Aesthetically, they danced in perfect synchronization to achieve a flawless appearance in their movies. Fred Astaire was noted for choreographing many of his own dances. As Joseph Epstein notes in his biography Fred Astaire, “... even when he didn’t...in most instances the final on word on how the dance was to be shaped was his. Even when under the sway of another’s choreography, Astaire’s style always left its own strong mark (Epstein, 169).” One of their choreographers, Hermes Pan, also gained fame. In 1933, he landed a job as an assistant to the dance director Flying Down to Rio , where he first met Fred Astaire, whom he was noted as physically resembling. He met Ginger Rogers three years earlier when he played a chorus singer

in a broadway production of  Top Speed. He collaborated with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in seventeen out of Fred Astaire’s thirty-one films by choreographing and staging their dance numbers. Fred Astaire called him his “idea man” for his contributions to their work. In fact, he was so devoted that he learned the dances Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ performed twice, “the man’s and the woman’s part!” as stated in Rusty E. Frank’s book TAP! The Greatest Tap Dance Stars and Their Stories 1900-1955 ( Frank, 83). Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were dance partners and became co-stars, even though she was twelve years younger than he. Though they were partners in business, they were not partners in life. Fred Astaire was married twice, to Phyllis Livingston Potter from 1933 to her death in 1954, and to Robyn Smith from 1980 to his death in 1987. He had two children with his first wife, Fred Jr., who was born on January 21st, 1936 and Ava, who was born on March 19th, 1942. Ginger Rogers was married five times, to Jack Pepper from 1929 to 1931, to Lew Ayres from 1934 to 1940, to Jack Briggs from 1943 to 1949, to Jacques Bergerac from 1953 to 1957, and to William Marshall from 1961 to 1969. She had no children. She was a member of the Republican party, like Fred Astaire, and also a devout Christian Scientist. The phrase “backwards and in high heels” was popularized due to her, as in “Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels.” It generalizes that women receive less credit than men, even if they are doing the same thing or even doing something more challenging, which has some truth in it to this day. They were well known for their fancy and elaborate costumes (Fred Astaire’s signature top hat and tails and Ginger Rogers’ long, flowing dresses) as well as their graceful, elegant, and perfectly synchronized dancing, which many people try to imitate.

They were socially relevant during the twentieth century because of their status as co-stars. They both headlined the movies in which they acted, which was somewhat unusual for the time period. Usually, the man was the star and the woman had a less important role. This paved the way for many other actresses to become headlining movie stars, encouraging them to become famous in their own right, not just as supporting characters to men. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were notable for being among the first entertainers to dance in films. Another Hollywood dancing star, Gene Kelly, later said, “the history of dance on film begins with Astaire.” In his book Astaire, The Man, The Dancer, B  ob Thomas quotes Patrick Dennis, the author of Auntie Mame: “Our only god was Fred Astaire. He was everything we wanted to be: smooth, suave, debonair, dapper, intelligent, adult, witty, and wise (Thomas, 1).” Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers contributed artistically to the art of dance by bringing pair tap dancing into the mainstream. Before them, tap dancing was either done solo or in groups. Aesthetically, they were known for a refined style. They introduced the concept of dancing and singing simultaneously, which many other dance duos later imitated. People were “enamored with the motion as well as the scintillating rhythms he (Fred Astaire) could make with his feet (Love to Know, Fred Astaire Biography ) .” “Astaire's execution of a dance routine was prized for its elegance, grace, originality, and precision. He drew from a variety of influences, including tap and other black rhythms, classical dance... to create a uniquely recognizable dance style.” (Wikipedia, Fred Astaire) They later went their separate ways as performers, but remained good friends for the rest of their lives. This period is when their differences as entertainers emerged. Fred Astaire later partnered with Eleanor Powell, Rita Hayworth, and Lucille Bremer, but none of these

partnerships were as successful as his pairing with Ginger Rogers. Fred Astaire announced his retirement from show business in 1946, but this was very short lived. He acted in Easter Parade in 1948, replacing an injured Gene Kelly. He co-founded a chain of ballroom dance studios, called Fred Astaire Dance Studios, with brothers Charles and Chester Casanave in 1947. These studios began franchising in 1950. Although he sold his share of the chain in 1966, it continues to use his name. Currently, there are over 140 franchised studios in the United States, Austria, the Dominican Republic, Poland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Ginger Rogers returned to theater acting and starred as Dolly Levi in the Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! , and directed an Off-Broadway production of Babes in Arms . She continued to make television appearances until the late 1980s. Fred Astaire died on June 22nd, 1987, at the age of eighty-eight, and Ginger Rogers died on April 25th, 1995, at the age of eighty-three. They both left their mark in the worlds of film, music and dancing, and both have stars in the motion pictures category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their unforgettable contributions to the entertainment industry, specifically motion pictures. They are both still well known today, their movies are still watched regularly, and people will continue to imitate their dancing style. They will always be remembered as two of the most famous, most talented, and most successful tap dancers in history, and for their early and continuing stardom, social relevance, and artistic contributions to tap dancing....