Bob Fosse's Iconic Choreography from Sweet Charity | TUNE

Check out this incredible Bob Fosse choreography from Sweet Charity!
What is Sweet Charity (1969) about?
Shirley MacLaine gives one of her greatest performances in this spectacular musical based on Neil Simon’s smash Broadway hit. Director Bob Fosse broke new cinematic ground with this freewheeling, visually stunning story of a lovelorn New York dance hall hostess, Charity Hope Valentine, who dreams of old-fashioned romance but gives her heart to one undeserving man after another.
Watch the full movie here: www.uphe.com/movies/sweet-cha...
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#sweetcharity #shirleymaclaine #musicals #musicaltheatre

[@emacias1980]

Austin Powers dancing makes so much sense to me now. Love this. Edit: thanks for all the likes. Much Love 💜

[@rexnemo]

Yes he was transported back through time to the set of this film but the footage was cut .😜

[@zyxw2024]

I'm of this era. This is when free style dance began. The 1970s in discos was heaven on Earth.

[@starkhorror1776]

Austin Powers nailed this!🥰

[@wplants9793]

Best comment I’ve heard in a long time

[@waterkaren3636]

I keep waiting for him to jump out 😀🤣

[@casper7319]

Something that i love about oldfilms is that they dont take out the steps sounds. A lot of modern musicals take it out and just play the audio which takes away the impact of a lot of the moves

[@itscarolinequeen]

I think the foley artist actually put the step sounds back in

[@TopHatNat]

It's ASMR before ASMR was a thing.

[@insertname1857]

i mean the step sounds are likely taken out, then added back in by a foley artist to be precise and clean sounding as opposed to squeaking like a basketball court. the "footsteps" may not even be from shoes. could be bricks clacking together. check out what a foley artist is! foley is a really cool and underrepresented part of filmmaking

[@ptonpc]

From what I can tell, based on other videos of this sequence, the step sounds have been put back in. When I do not know.

[@user-bu4xd9vf3o]

Вы не в курсе, что такое степ?

[@dozeyrosie645]

The video shows just how timeless "the little black dress" is.

[@daanisch]

it looks like she's playing an actress pretending to be an actress from the sixties

[@HeatherValentineMsFoodie]

😂😂😂😂

[@cv1909]

Its not timeless it started in the 20th century post 1st war when women bodies started to become exposed by men in the media. You can see the before and after really well. Women started to use small clothes while men could keep their dignity. Its sexist. Its disguised as ok and timeless but its not its part of a huge trap in a package that bear many things degrading for women.

[@dr.medieval1131]

This number is so stylishly unreal, it almost feels like animation.

[@thomasdequincey5811]

It's strange, stupid and brilliant at the same time. Fosse was a maverick.

[@carolcox302]

He was bloody brilliant.

[@amialal4510]

@@carolcox302 A genius! I was 20 when I saw All That Jazz in 1982 in communist Hungary. I didn't even know what it was but I was mesmerized. It's just grown over the years! Never get tired of his work. I've watched ATJ a zillion times! 😂

[@mhm8922]

You could not have said it better.

[@Walkerwitchyworld]

Yes, it is all those things rolled into one 😊

[@CommieBukkakie]

we here in the homosexual world call that "camp"

[@nekograce7914]

Ahhh the 60s. A technicolor fever dream of fabulous choreography.

[@texasgigi3684]

Exactly! I totally agree!

[@RichardBarnett-hs1qy]

Let's hear it for the dancers!

[@Gee-xb7rt]

This has always been my favorite musical, and so many people think I'm weird for it, its big mad campy genius.

[@Ciclopea2]

I unironically love it, not only Fosse's brilliance as a choreographer, it's that 60's swagger infused in their movements, and how Bob painted these pictures that became a cornucopia of intricate shapes the human body can create and how everything flowed and looked harmonious, like kinetic art. If i was a dancer it would be the thrill of a lifetime to perform a Bob Fosse choreo.

[@PrimoLife2]

What you said!!!

[@hellyan35867]

It's amazing. But also, I thought it was a modern parody of 60's dancing at first, which shows you how iconic and timeless the actual performance is.

[@quentinduplooy9868]

I've seen some fantastic contemporary versions of this choreography. They seem sanitised. To tight, these dancers have a fabulous hippy era individuality about them, which kinda sorta makes it so typical of it's time

[@arturocostantino623]

Much more mod than hippie but yeah

[@WereMike]

I know that professional dancers are in tremendous physical shape and have great coordination and stamina but these routines look like a brutal core workout...and the precision and postures throughout it all, sheesh.

[@CortexNewsService]

That's what always gets me about this scene. The way they move bodies almost doesn't seem real.

[@tamagotchiocean]

Yes it is brutal. I learned some of fosse’s choreography in my jazz class and let me tell you… it was like bootcamp. That class was the best shape I’ve ever been in my life and i probably lost 20lbs. It’s the entire reason I’m still so muscular now. My teachers were super militant.

[@MicaFarrierRheayan]

The girl looks so sassy and so precise. You can see that even her eyes are so enigmatic. The camera angle are so on point and the oversimplified set (specially the color palette) are insanely hypnotizing!

[@roguejester4986]

Suzanne Charney was excellent.

[@hamsterdiving7593]

You know a choreographer is brilliant when you first watched this as an 8 year old and haven't seen it since, but you remember it even after 56 years because of the quirky hand/wrist movements... ❤

[@janieroberts8895]

Same here. I'm 59 and watched this as a little girl. I remember the girl slinging her ponytail around. Very memorable.

[@zoezwar9911]

@@janieroberts8895me too😅

[@MLA0686]

Omg the male dancers were also phenomenal

[@StudentDad-mc3pu]

Everything is part of the Choroe- the smoke, the lighters, the fingertips, the face - such attention to detail!

[@user-qv5ue5zw1s]

sister is WHIPPING that pony... amazing

[@barbaro_24]

For a while, I watched this movie thinking it was a movie in 2024. The costumes, choreography, and dancers' performances never feel old. so cool!!

[@MrRoyobentoni]

Now I know why he's exalted in the dance community.

[@sabatheus]

Those fluid arm movements are mesmerizing!

[@user-bp2xq5iv4j]

The musical numbers in "Sweet Charity" are peak late 60s. If I knew nothing whatsoever about this movie and you showed me any of the musical numbers and asked me "when was this movie made?" I would have said 1967. 😁

[@ReesorPark]

Very close. 1969

[@charlesbird781]

The choreography is like an impeccably made timepiece that runs counterclockwise.

[@MsJordanElaine]

Me realizing that the Beyoncé “Get Me Bodied” music video was absolutely a reference to this specific scene.

[@tequiness061]

Great Beyoncé video!

[@sustainableedtech]

Yes. also Beyonce's All the Single Ladies. Moves from 'Something better than this' in same film. Bob Fosse still feels so presente.g. in 'Back on 74' dance routine. All the better for everyone...

[@joshuacontreras]

I’m having a similar realization but with Emma Bunton (aka Baby Spice)’s music video for “Maybe,” it’s so good, check it out and you’ll see the striking similarities in origin :) @msjordanelaine

[@eleganceevolved8328]

Yeeees!!! I definitely noticed that too!!! ‘

[@maxoreilly2698]

Beyoncé has lifted heavily from fosse and others

[@pethomas]

Fosse the auteur at work here. This scene serves literally no purpose in the movie - doesn't move the story forward, doesn't include any of the main characters. Fosse was just like, "Yes, I'm gonna have a 6-minute scene to showcase music, choreo, and my dancers - because I want it there." Highly unlikely any director today could get that kind of freedom.

[@kumaranvij]

I think you mean, "this scene doesn't develop the plot," not "it serves literally no purpose in the movie." There are lots of great scenes like these in great movies that are like little "story within a story" moments. Especially in musicals - and of course also in novels. They actually do serve to add to the themes of the movies, it's just harder to pinpoint how.

[@c.a.savage5689]

Also highly unlikely is that any film director would Also be a talented and visionary choreographer....

[@john-lenin]

It's emblematic of her being in a completely new social element that seems totally bizarre to her (as the shots of the other patrons that introduce this also show).

[@jospenner9503]

It's an old fashioned dance break that are taken from stage musicals.

[@stephenolan5539]

It shows the contrast of the main character's life of being a dance hall girl.

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

I never get tired of watching this. So much fun and they throw in Ben Vereen too

[@mst3kpimp]

I don't think that's Ben, he shorter than that.

[@doloresbriseno2567]

That is Ben Vereen. He posted the dance on his IG. Plus I know his voice and those moves anywhere.

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

@@doloresbriseno2567 I knew it was Ben Vereen too

[@maxoreilly2698]

Ben Vereen😍

[@aimee-lynndonovan6077]

Have to watch again. Really great choreography. Love the diversity and brown skin makeup.🙌🏾

[@TheWorld_2099]

The intelligence, humor and satire in this choreography is incredible

[@organiccher64]

I'm amazed at how people can remember all those moves..incredible.

[@Angyyyyy]

The more you study dance, the more you can memorize. And of course so many rehearsal

[@mamacitaslove]

My wrists hurt just watching lol. What a brilliant story teller he was. Such un natural movements made to move together. Wow.

[@Haley497]

Ministery of Silly Walks approved. Brilliant!

[@Shyknit]

You just know someone's grandma was freaking out about all the hip movements like, "we didn't do this in the 1910s" 💀

[@warriorwinter2233]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 sick of you already, the accuracy 😂😂😂😂🎯🎯🎯🥂🤣🤣🤣❤️

[@paulabarr4239]

And now that lead dancer is someone’s grandma. 🤗

[@debrac1688]

Actually, grandparents did

[@debrac1688]

I think he got the idea for this choreography after getting his fill of blase, jaded beautiful people nightclubs

[@jasminecollins897]

Prooobably more upset about the mini dresses, but yup. And her generation scandalized their own grandparents just as much. And so on.

[@lifelikelisa]

She’s All That, Bring It On, Wednesday, Single Ladies. Bob Fosse, still relevant.

[@franciscolopezchavez]

Watch the "Get me bodied" music video by Beyonce ad you'll see how she got "a lot of inspiration" on this masterpiece

[@ReflexCrimePod]

Never seen something so ridiculously BEAUTIFUL in all my life… this is absolutely insane I LOVE IT 😻

[@sailormoonworld]

Okay, those kids in my high school were totally wrong! I knew how to dance after all 😂I was just imitating this routine.

[@lede1810]

This choreography is incredible

[@ankerelite]

One of the greatest choreography pieces of all time🎉❤❤❤

[@helenmachelen4200]

They really radiate happyness

[@subzero780]

The ministry of silly walks approved this! Wednesday also!

[@anix2457]

You can see Wednesday Adam’s dance was inspired by this routine. It’s brilliant.

[@Lizwindsor]

Or Beyoncé blatantly ripping it off

[@cookinma]

Came here for this comment

[@RaquelPereira-fj4kt]

same ​@@cookinma

[@ameliaalastairmoon4145]

Yes, absolutely. It's from this routine and also I feel quite heavily from the Addams Broadway musical. A few moves are step-by-step from the Ouverture.

[@ph8632]

@@Lizwindsor I would never watch anything having to do with her. So I didnt know she was ripping off old white folks work.

[@StLProgressive]

That was incredible. Every single movement was precise. I didn’t know rolling your wrists could look so elegant. 😂❤

[@christinamacgregor667]

Kirsten Wiig Liza Minnelli turns on a lamp got me looking at this. Love this .

[@robertwilkins8357]

I belonged to the Arlington Va. Players and we did Sweet Charity and Bye Bye Birdie. I was in the chorus and i thought i would go on but know. The director wanted me to sing cry at Wedding but i didn't have the nerve. My voice back then in the 70s was real high and i found out kater when i had voice teacher in California in Atwater her name was Hazel Bentz wounderful lady.she said my voice was the key of f. Now I'm 83 its gone. Mrs. Benz want me to sing in the church on base O Holy Night and chickened out. I did have the power to do it but no confidence i was 20 then in the Air Force at Castle AFB. The thing is I think about often what could have been. My dear Mom sang often when I was young. The show we did was a great success to a sold out theater. Is a great memory.

[@nawnopenah]

This just made me understand 5 movie references all at once

[@Deniseeee84]

Name them in please

[@Chibbykins]

​@@Deniseeee84 I can do one, which is Bring It On when they're rehearsing their cheer routine

[@ExidusElectric]

I'm thinking Wednesday's dance scene was pretty heavily influenced by this

[@carolineriedelsperger944]

@@Deniseeee84 I think there's also a bit of Christina Aguilera when she auditions for Cher/ Tess in Burlesque...?

[@petersantospago1966]

Fosse... The Dr. Seuss of dancing😂

[@peterjanosik3601]

I watch this every time I see it, I do not understand the story behind it, but I know there is a story, there is something in this that forces me to watch it again and again...

[@momokoblue8032]

It also brilliantly incorporates popular dance fads of the era into the choreo like The Jerk, The Monkey and The Swim.

[@cathytice6370]

I've always thought of Fosse's work like a simple but amazing dish: the few ingredients are obvious, but admixed perfectly, with no extra anything, just yum.

[@genigeni9335]

The craziest yet the most dynamic choreography ever seen! Stellar!

[@lionofjudah3457]

Shirley McClaine does an amazing job of this dance in the movie❤

[@Aqualyra]

That's not Shirley dancing in this scene. She's sitting in the audience watching.

[@carag2567]

This is one of my all time favorite dance scenes on film. The choreography is so innovative and just plain weird it's spot on Fosse even to an uninitiated eye, the dancers are so performative and energetic it's like they all brought their A game to the set, the shots are set up perfectly so that all the key elements of the dance are captured exactly when and how they should be seen, and the energy is just so frenetic and contagious it makes you want to get up and dance along with them! I absolutely love this piece! ❤

[@quentinduplooy9868]

Such a fabulousness! Avantgarde til now...

[@jennamarie2481]

I remember watching the Beyonce Get Me Bodied music video with my Aunt and then she introduced me to the inspiration, Sweet Charity. I thank the good Lord for that fateful interaction

[@blacksad23]

My absolute favorite dance number still to this day. Bob Fosse was a master

[@LTW530]

Love the ‘60s ❤

[@user-hj1mq3ol9v]

다시 보려고 5번째 들어옴 너무 매력적이에요

[@LeslieNicole]

Absolutely love this! Brilliant. The male smokers in the beginning were a hoot.

[@harbingersev-oh-wohne]

The principal dancer OWWW MAMA she ate!!!

[@abigailn3055]

I want whatever he was on when he choreographed this complexly brilliant piece of art.

[@cchawk6280]

I think Ben Verene is one of the dancers. Imagine the hours of practice to get that precision. The choreography for Back on 74 is very similar style. Enjoyed 👍

[@mhm8922]

That is Ben! So cool!!

[@akaLaBrujaRoja]

Ben was Fosse’s male muse.

[@banterj]

Oh you are talking about the chereography…you are not even addressing the videography yet,mind you this is not digital,that would have taken days of them doing this over and over again,if not weeks of those performers wearing the exact same hair,makeup and wardrobe …but this was back in the day when people actually worked hard.

[@karinamiddlebrooks2167]

I love back on 74 because of that.

[@rheatollina]

I've never seen anything like this. The cigarette-smoke routine in the first 30 seconds is incredible...

[@suhseal]

Ben Vereen at the end gives an energy that’s unmatched. And at the finale of something so brilliant too. Goddamn

[@rocksaltcomando]

This makes me a lot more confident in my wacky dance moves lol I’m just gonna rock them 😂

[@marcelokahwage6098]

Bob Fosse = Genius.

[@KayDejaVu]

I love how they had cigars. Very unique choreography.

[@sj-el4lu]

The cinematography is fucking incredible too

[@zk4761]

Back to 1974 made me want to see what Fosse's choreo is all about. I can see the connection, very cool.

[@go3119]

3:13 for Bring It On!!! Awesome

[@Dr.Chi_]

Ahhhh!!! So that’s where this style of movement came from!! ❤❤❤ Thanks for the education

[@momokoblue8032]

It all Bob Fosse

[@ibansesat]

No idea how i found myself here but i am so glad i did!❤

[@vanessa_the_mindset_maven]

GROOVY!!!!! I miss choreography.

[@katarinakennedy997]

This has been the most surprising and inspiring video I have watched in the longest time. Fruity and sour and good. Thank you 🙏.

[@Clint_Leastwood]

I once painted a house with this playing in the background for hours, over and over :)

[@Risingofthephoenix]

THIS IS ART!

[@Ciara1594]

It's amazing how they can remember all the dance moves. 🏆

[@philipdawes2661]

Absolutely stunning. Seriously well done to the choreographer and 'the team' performing it. I wonder how much rehearsal and 'takes' there were for getting to the finished 'product'.

[@joannedempsey1568]

I know this film flopped but only bcoz of the length of the scenes,I think it was just slightly before it's time but it's aged like a fine wine 🍷 ❤

[@joeson7700]

FOSSE , Force to Reckon in great Choreography

[@world3957]

Well done to the children and the choreographer, excellent dancing

[@maryeheinly8256]

I absolutely love this ! Could watch this for hours !!

[@feleicia6565]

The choreography and dancers are astounding. ❤

[@LisaSchnettler]

I've seen 3 Fosse revivals on Broadway over the years: Chicago (of course), Pippin, Fosse, Dancin'. Chicago was enjoyable. But the rest, particularly Fosse and Dancin' which were showcasing his style, etc. just missed the mark. The fluidity, the quirkiness, just got lost in translation. Thank goodness he committed so many of his works to film so we can see the original done by him with his picks.

[@rightmadmod9416]

And to think AI would never come up with this in 1 trillion years. Stunning and cheeky AF. ❤

[@kenjones102]

Robin Williams loved to poke fun at Bob Fosse. Now I see why.

[@TheSimmpleTruth]

Wow, this is perfectly 60-70’s. It reminds me of the old Batman series when I was a child. That’s exactly how they danced, all the musicals of the era. My mother dressed me with mini skirts and mini dresses and white knee-high boots that looked like plastic. I wouldn’t know the material, but they were shiny. We used to have “plastic” furniture in the living room. I remember the plastic transparent air-filled arm chair. I was afraid it would burst if someone poked it with a pen.

[@radicalmama135]

The concept of ugly pretty via dance (all those awkward angles) perfectly executed ❤

[@beck1365]

I love this so much and I do not know why.

[@aztekspirit]

Because it's brilliant!

[@cheetahslims7849]

It’s so unlike modern choreography. It’s very cool and strange!

[@firstnamelastname-nk4ut]

They must've been absolutely boiling, I mean, MELTING under those suits (and lights) 😆 Worth it though! Truly Iconic indeed! 🔥🎆

[@peequod]

Mancini’s music is boss 🤌

[@annstillwell730]

So seemingly simplistic at times it hides how technical this all really was. Weird but genius at the same time. Totally changed dance. Hard to believe it was also 55 years ago.

[@karinamiddlebrooks2167]

The prom dance from shes all that drew inspiration from this.

[@constantineangelgutierrez1851]

Oh my goodness, so good. Love ❤️ it.

[@FountainWeeper]

this is gorgeous

[@joemadden4160]

Turning human beings into veritable cartoon characters is pretty effin brilliant. Kudos to these men and women. Kudos to Mr. Fosse.

[@goseemekah]

Let me be the judge...this is AWESOME!!!

[@shaunamarie1053]

Absolute wisdom.

[@mmc1227]

Feel tempted to do this dance at a club.

[@william_at]

This is a Masterpiece that could be candidate for UNESCO'S World Heritage

[@josenavas9968]

Interesting from the first step. Must say I would to watch the entire show

[@felinetherapy4782]

I don't know how this came into my feed but I'm so glad. Have we gone backwards?

[@LEMATTOFFICIAL]

The most random greatest I've come across

[@IllerArian]

This choreo was in Bring it on, when Torrence is finding inspiration.

[@IvanIvanov-qe6uv]

Шедевр на многие годы! Сейчас так не умеют...

[@naomi8292]

When people are like "men were MANLY men in the oldy days" I'm like maaaaaaate I hate to break it to you

[@LettyFlo]

I growed up in Hollywood 60s and never saw this choreography. I was captured.

[@missh3200]

Fosse magic. 🌟 *bravo.