top 100 big dance numbers in movies

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100. The Big Tapdance Finale in Zatoichi

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

99. When The Beatles Go To The Nightclub In A Hard Day's Night and Ringo Freaks Out On The Dancefloor

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

98. The False Flashback Scene In Strictly Ballroom

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

97. Christina Ricci bowling dance, Buffalo 66

― AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:56 (twenty-one years ago)

96. the bowling alley scene in grease 2 (we're gonna score tonight!)

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

oh these have to be BIG

― AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

95. Street party scene in One From the Heart

― AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

94. "Stool Boom," Waiting for Guffman ("from the parlor to the POOL room!"

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

94. The dance contest in Grease

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

all the bowlers are dancing around the lanes and singing and jumping in the air. you don't get much bigger than that.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

93. the dancing/synchronized swimming nuns in History of the World pt. 1

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

96. The Dream Sequence in Big Lebowski Set To "Just Checked In To See What Condition My Condition Is In" by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (Note: Also Has A Bowling Element)

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

nono lauren, I was correcting myself

― AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

91. Sparklemotion, Donnie Darko

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

90. The "Stayin' Alive" sequence in Airplane!.

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:02 (twenty-one years ago)

89."Time After Time" Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

88. The waltzing ghosts in Carnival of Souls.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

87. Drunken dancing elephants in Dumbo

― AdamL :') (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

86. The ghosts at the end of Beetlejuice doing "Jump in the Line"

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:04 (twenty-one years ago)

85. Following Rollergirl's ass through Boogie Nights

― Continuing to be ModJ, Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

85. african anteater ritual in can't buy me love

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:05 (twenty-one years ago)

84. All the crazy ballet shit in The Company.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

83. Debbie Reynolds tapdancing "Good Morning" in Singin' in the Rain

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

That bowling/dance/dream sequence in Lebowski is seriously without a doubt one of my five favorite parts of any movie ever.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:09 (twenty-one years ago)

82. An obvious one, but the "Make 'em Laugh" routine from Singin' in the Rain."

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

81. the dance battle between Jim-Carrey-as-shaved-alien-Wiplock and some Carl Weathers wannabe in Earth Girls Are Easy

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Lauren is picking ace dance numbers.

82. The end dance sequence in "Center Stage"

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:10 (twenty-one years ago)

81. Every single scene from Showgirls specifically the dazzle-hands in the first number from GODDESS

― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

80. Roxanne tango from Moulin Rouge!

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

OTM

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

79. the oompah loompah sequence after Mike TV gets shrunk in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

78. The Big Showdown in Drumline

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:15 (twenty-one years ago)

and it's from TV so it doesn't count but:
The Dance-Off in "The Office"

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

77. really, all of grease 2.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

76. "Every Sperm Is Sacred" scene from The Meaning Of Life

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

75. The Spazz (Anthony Michael Hall) dancing at the school dance in 16 Candles.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

74. library dance scenes in the breakfast club.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

73. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett flirting in BBC Pride & Prejudice

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:20 (twenty-one years ago)

72. Roy Scheider/Ben Vereen/Ann Reinking/Whoever the other lady is in the 'Bye Bye Love" death finale in All That Jazz.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:24 (twenty-one years ago)

71. the 'Do You Love Me' scene in Dirty Dancing

#82 should be top 5, obv, if not #1

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

70. The stepping sequence, "School Daze"

― artie, Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

69. All of Cabaret

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

68. Anna Karina and Claude Brasseur doing the Hully-Gully in Bande A Part

― antexit (antexit), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:01 (twenty-one years ago)

67.5 (does it really have to be BIG): Simple Men
67. Bande à part

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost whoops

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:03 (twenty-one years ago)

67. the finalé of Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:03 (twenty-one years ago)

66. church-building dance in My Darling Clementine

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Not big but the best - Nicholas brothers in 'Stormy Weather'.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:05 (twenty-one years ago)

on that tip: 64. nightclub scene from Carmen Jones

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

63. Gone With the Wind - when Scarlett dances with Rhett even though she's in mourning.

― nory (nory), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:28 (twenty-one years ago)

62. Cab Calloway as the ghost walrus (with assorted anthropomorphized spooks) in Minnie the Moocher

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

61. The ballroom floor ruckus in 1941 (I just want that sequence on tape, fuck the rest of the movie)

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

60. The dance that ends up in the pool thanks to Alfalfa Switzer in "It's A Wonderful Life."

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Cab Calloway as the ghost walrus (with assorted anthropomorphized spooks)

Might want to rethink use of word "spooks" here.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

59. that scene in Cruising where Al Pacino is sniff ether from a hankie, jerking around a dance floor and turning gay or something

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Cab Calloway as the ghost walrus (with assorted anthropomorphized spooks)

Might want to rethink use of word "spooks" here.

-- St. Nicholas (naamm...) (webmail), August 3rd, 2004 2:34 PM. (Nick A.) (later) (link)

why?

i spelled "anthro..." wrong.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:37 (twenty-one years ago)

58. The dance-off in Zoolander between Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson

57. The dance-off in Starsky & Hutch between Ben Stiller and Har Mar Superstar

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

56. "Tequila" in Pee Wee's Big Adventure

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Um, racist connotations of word "spook"? Pretty sure this used to be a fairly common racial epithet. Of course, I know you didn't mean it that way, but it just reads kinda weird.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I believe that was a 'walk-off' in Zoolander.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Um, racist connotations of word "spook"? Pretty sure this used to be a fairly common racial epithet. Of course, I know you didn't mean it that way, but it just reads kinda weird.

-- St. Nicholas (naamm...) (webmail), August 3rd, 2004 2:39 PM. (Nick A.) (later) (link)

i've never heard that! you might be right. when i hear "spook" i think of ghosts or cia agents.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

true, but they did the robot. and the robot is the bast dance of all time.

55. Davey Jones & Toni Basil performing Harry Nilsson's "Daddy's Song" in Head

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

After a very brief google, I came up with at least one use of the word 'spook' in this way, so at least I'm not totally crazy.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:43 (twenty-one years ago)

a very well-known movie features that usage of the word just preceding a... big dance number!

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

54. most of the south park movie

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Spook is definitely old derogatory word for black people.

― Michael White (Hereward), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha, Amateurist picked my two faves again - Bande a part and Simple Men.

53. Sweet Charity, which I saw for the first time on Sunday and it blew me away.

― Tag (Tag), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

52. Opening dream sequence from Bring It On.

― ModJ In Name Only, Tuesday, 3 August 2004 21:49 (twenty-one years ago)

51. The "Romeo and Juliet" scene in Empire Records where everyone's dancing with each other in the store.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 21:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Pick virtually any Indian film from the last forty years!

― Japanese Giraffe (Japanese Giraffe), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 11:10 (twenty-one years ago)

50. John Claude Van Damme - Kickboxer

― Velveteen Bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 11:13 (twenty-one years ago)

49. The Ray Charles Scene in The Blues Brothers

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 12:35 (twenty-one years ago)

wow, I'd forgotten that one, Fritz. That was a class dance scene.

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

48. Opening of the first Austin Powers movie

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 13:05 (twenty-one years ago)

47. The big dance number from Tank Girl. It's the only good thing in the film.

46. "Luck Be a Lady" from Guys and Dolls (my favourite musical).

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

down to # 45 and no one has mentioned the end of Footloose? I'm appalled (and am throwing it in...)

― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

The over-the-top apocalyptic tribal rave scene in Matrix 2.

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 4 August 2004 17:30 (twenty-one years ago)

ha ha POSTAPOCALYPTIC PLUR

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:16 (twenty-one years ago)

43. Opening of Ghost World (with the Bollywood movie clips)

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

42) Napoleon Dynamite

― Dale the Panopticalist (cprek), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

rosemary OTM, finale of All that Jazz. Bye, Bye Life!

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The "I Only Have Eyes For You" sequence in "Dames"
(endless Busby Berkeley pysch eyeball madness)

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 4 August 2004 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

41. The Barn Raising in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

― Madchen (Madchen), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 20:06 (twenty-one years ago)

yessss!!!

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 4 August 2004 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)

six years pass...

41. The Barn Raising in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
― Madchen (Madchen), 04 August 2004 20:06 (6 years ago) Bookmark

this is coming up in about twenty mins. i'm off to get a cup of tea during the ads. sundays dont get any better imo

― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Sunday, 10 October 2010 14:24 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdvO0tmNjGo

― dude (del), Sunday, 10 October 2010 15:10 (fourteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPzyGRKQGc4

― dude (del), Sunday, 10 October 2010 15:13 (fourteen years ago)

You've got Band of Outsiders and Simple Men already...For esoterica, I like this one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4xIr54mH0I

― clemenza, Sunday, 10 October 2010 15:17 (fourteen years ago)

Even though most of the rest of the movie varies from shit to meh, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's dance routine after he's shagged Zooey Deschanel in 500 Days of Summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2seAJsrtIbQ

― ailsa, Sunday, 10 October 2010 15:20 (fourteen years ago)

Surprised this wasn't mentioned--probably #1 on my list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MiMrtI3aQ4

Three others I couldn't find clips for: the proms in Carrie (fake band) and The Virgin Suicides, and "The Stroll" in American Graffiti. They're not really dance numbers per se, but they're great nonetheless.

― clemenza, Sunday, 10 October 2010 15:24 (fourteen years ago)

five years pass...

retro at NYC MoMA for Jack Cole, bigtime film choreographer, a pioneer and Fosse influence; possibly most famous for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

http://www.artforum.com/film/id=57547

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/dance-dance-revolution-moma-celebrates-the-films-of-jack-cole-whose-choreography-shaped-his-century-8151873

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHgyTHVa5Ws

― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 20 January 2016 22:57 (nine years ago)

and, you know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUGfC7GYi18

― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 21 January 2016 17:25 (nine years ago)

I love this one. Uncredited choreographer was Toni Basil, and I think that's her in the red/white sweater.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWjCvchFBY0

― Retro novelty punk (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 21 January 2016 18:23 (nine years ago)

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