no... no.... this is STILL unbelivabale... Gene`s talent was from out of this world!!! Astaire might have been the king of grace but Gene`s dances were so athletically challenging!!! Gene Kelly was THE man!!!! men back in the 50s weren`t supposed to be in that kind of physical shape! Gene Kelly was so ahead of his time in that area...
As someone who loved and learned tap in my younger days, I also took some roller skating classes in my college years. Of course, I had to try to tap on skates like I'd seen Gene do. I can not stress how difficult it was. Roller skates need to be stiff and strong to keep the wheels aligned and rolling. But tap requires a flexible sole to manage alternate heel and toe work, and cushion leaps and jumps. Everytime I see this, I can not imagine the work that went into it to figure out how to rethink even basic tap steps to work on skates. Then to add in the skating bits, and the full choreography, and a complex street scene to organize with cars and crowds.... It's just mind-boggling, start to finish.
@@ccverdera6298 I have no idea, I took a couple classes thru college decades ago, and they provided the skates. And I barely remember even college now. But good luck!
Anybody today could do this... it's called "CGI". The sad thing is, they wouldn't even BELIEVE that actually he did it all in real life. Gene Kelly was so talented and held such a high standard that it was nearly impossible to differentiate his performance from one take to the next. There will never be another like him.
This is just simply amazing to watch. I am most definitely not a tap dancer. From the comments on here from what I am reading. To tap dance on roller skates is extremely difficult. What I do know is that NOT IN THIS MOVIE but in “Singing in the Rain”. His tap dance scene was done while Gene was running a 102 degree fever. He also did that whole dance in one take. Gene was the epitome of a professional. From what I have read about him he was a very sweet and caring guy. However he was very OCD when it came to his dancing. Just a odd bit of trivia about the measure of the man.
What flips me out most is a simple thing: the fire hydrant move. It’s not that the move itself is difficult. What I can’t figure out is how he managed to control his speed so carefully that the move took place exactly on the right beat. He’s in the middle of tap dancing on skates and he’s rolling. You don’t exactly have a gas pedal and a brake. He had to arrive there at the right split second for that move to work and be in synch with the music, and it’s completely in synch with the music.
Thank you for posting this, you did the world a solid! I challenge any entertainer today to do this at all, but forget on roller skates! I miss Gene Kelly.
As a life long roller skater, what Kelly does in this number is short of a miracle. Do you know strong your legs have to be to make moves like that? And nonetheless with key skates?! Damn! Even if the skates are glued to the shoes the pounding of those metal wheels on hard pavement must've torn up his knees for weeks.
Listening to the tap sounds and watching the skates you can tell while turning that he is not creating the triple step tap you hear. They added the tap sounds to make him appear to do more than he actually was. Most is real but not in a couple spots.
You know in the many many years to come when there may no longer be all these videos to watch.... no one will remember who this is or what those are on his feet because paranoid owners of this video don't want to share it... Well then I guess this won't be going in the time capsule... Sorry Gene!!
There is, quite rightly, much talk about artistry, skill, talent and style around these Golden Age hoofers....... But come on, how feckin' FIT to you have to be to do this sort of thing?!
