Eleanor Powell, "Matador"

[@netwitt1]

When you start watching clips back to back, you really get overwhelmed by her power, grace, and confidence. She truly is in a class by herself. Thank goodness so much of her work is preserved on film. Wow.

[@vicsaul5459]

she is the best all round dancer ive ever seen. her timing is so in sync, she is an incredible gymnast with the grace of a prima ballerina, and some how she can defy gravity. never seen anyone float like she does, id just like to say thank u to youtube and these tribute channels because here we are with all this technology in 2020 a century on from the golden age of the big screen movies, personally from that era to today i cant think of anyone male or female that comes even close to Eleanors talent, have u seen her in hula! barefoot. no tapping. her energy is unreal, the most expressive dance sequence ive ever witnessed. she uses every inch of her body to speak fluent dance! i have been watching clips on here every night for a week, and thankfully new clips keep popping up. she is still entertaining the world in 2020 . amazing talent with amazing grace. #1

[@netwitt1]

I remember that the first time I saw Ellie dance on film I was a kid and yet I instantly sat up and took notice. I was mesmerized. Here was someone unlike anyone else I'd ever seen. Such infectious joy and such commanding talent; completely possessing the screen and the viewers' attention. I never tire of watching her or listening to her. Thank goodness we live in age that her performances are preserved for all to enjoy.

[@ddoyle11]

My god, I'm exhausted just watching her. What an incredible dancer! This was a talent that comes just once in a hundred years.

[@Slywoody48]

She was born to do this!!! The best there ever was, is or will be!!!!!!

[@Justin.Martyr]

*Ann MiLLer?*

[@bmepdoc]

@@Justin.Martyr I don't believe either one's excellence has ever been disputed, however - watch all there is to find, just here on YT and it's difficult not to conclude Eleanor occupied a level of technical superiority not seen since. JMO

[@jackanthony976]

@@bmepdoc Also Eleanor usually played a character in her dancing. Eleanor was creative in diversifying her routines so that each routine was different. And this routine is a good example. She plays the character of a matador and uses the cape so brilliantly with her dancing. Ann Miller was...well she usually played Ann Miller in most of her routines with the usual Ann Miller wide smile with only slight variations.

[@esmeephillips5888]

@@jackanthony976 Ann spent too long tapping at Radio and Columbia. MGM was prepared to let her diversify, notably in duets with Ricardo Montalban, but she was still treated as a specialty. She was unable or unwilling to push for control and top billing. Her work in 'On the Town' hints at how much more she could have done, but she admitted she was bored by ballet- so Cyd eclipsed her after Ellie quit, and Vera-Ellen simultaneously turned up to challenge Ann with more versatility (if less personality) than Cyd. It is a commentary on how this combination of her apathy and Metro's neglect meant that in Ann's last and probably greatest tour de force. 'I Gotta Hear That Beat', she is back to the old machine-gun footwork... and with Busby Berkeley and Willy Covan steering her. Nostalgia prevailed. Looking at the post-1945 scene, it is plainer than ever that Ellie's place as a soloist originating her dances and having major productions built around them was unique. Her commercial as well as artistic status would never be rivaled. She recognized that her dream of marriage and motherhood was incompatible with the fearsome strains of her job. Ann tried to have it all and got the worst of both worlds. At least she was too tough to be broken.

[@hfortuable]

Such grace, timing and versatility. She is the greatest dancer of all times. Not to mention her beauty.

[@justinmartyr4420]

*Ann MiLLer AND Elenor PoweLL/ BOTH*

[@coreycox2345]

I keep vascilating @@justinmartyr4420 They are both excellent. This must be the best. Wow.

[@ghw7192]

Although not in the same league, Rita Hayworth was also excellent.

[@netwitt1]

Ole! Even when you can see her feet perfectly, when she pulls out the stops, her taps are so fast and subtle that you can't believe she's making all that noise!

[@robertwilkins8357]

Incredible to see her dance!

[@patcauch]

Olé Eléanor the fabulous dancer. Marvelous to watch you dancing.

[@agnesobelfan8855]

I find her to be the most fascinating dancer. The way she uses stuff to dance with is so cool like here with cape and rope in Western Rope Dance and athletic way she dances is jaw dropping. Eleanor doesn't need partner. She is impeccable and fascinating all on her own. No wonder Fred Astaire was intimated and Fayard Nicholas gave her such great complements.

[@VaudevilleJoe1925]

May Elie live on in Tap Dance Heaven. An amazing talent.

[@nessieness5433]

Perfection in timing, elegance and energy, WAOW! Fascinating to watch and so totally in the role. Thank you miss Powell.

[@luckdog909]

@hajune It is AMAZING, the talent Ellie possesses. WHY is there no one tapping like this today? Today's tappers seem to focus mainly on one thing, speed. To be fast is good. But to be fast, rhythmic and incredibly artistic is what puts people in awe, which is exactly what Ellie did!!! Tappers need to get back to this!

[@carpeinfinitum]

what a woman...! what a diva!!

[@robertcongdon6296]

Ellie's prodigious talents elicit awe and wonder. I never tire of watching this glorious woman and I never will.

[@luigilamorte7753]

What a beautiful and talented entertainer. I have been a big fan for years and makes my day when I watch a scene of her fantastic dancing.

[@luckdog909]

@hajune Rediculously talented, madly skilled!!!

[@netwitt1]

Just wanted to add that in "A Century of Dance", Ian Driver credits Ellie with bringing one of the great black dancers, Willie Covan, to MGM as head dancing instructor. He, in turn, taught Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller, among others. Unfortunately, there weren't many opportunities open to dancers/actors/entertainers of color in Hollywood at that time.

[@esmeephillips5888]

Robert 'Buddy' Bradley faced the same problem. He had already made a name on Broadway, but Hollywood was less keen. So Buddy went to England in his early 20s and did fine as a choreographer for Jessie Matthews and others, as well as running a school like Covan's in London's Regent St. Paul Robeson was another who got better opportunities in 1930s England.

[@militarymom6690]

The one and only...Ole’!!!!! 💃🏽

[@shereewilson6278]

Eleanor Powell was in a league of her own as a dancer, What an amazing woman!

[@luckdog909]

@hajune I feel that if Ellie danced today she would be the most successful and sought after dancer hands down. I've already watched "Buck and Bubbles Varsity Club". John was another amazing talent, you can definitely see his influence in Ellie's dancing. I'll be sure to watch the Abbott and Costello clip. Thank you for all you do to help educate us on this precious talent!!!!

[@Miss-cq6iw]

Mesmerizing. Gifted. I can watch her all day. G.O.A.T

[@gariel11]

Es una joya ver a una artista como Powell Bailando 'al estilo de' la danza española. En concreto al ritmo conocido como zapateado. Muchas gracias por compartir ❤

[@dreamer2anime]

Ole!! That was amazing

[@esmeephillips5888]

Nice example of her mock-solemn face at 0:25. Watch the changes of expression through this whirlwind performance. Ginger would keep the same look all through a dance b/c she had to sweat every step. If she was an actress who became a dancer, Ellie was vice versa.

[@patcauch]

Magnifique, bravo Eleanor.

[@luckdog909]

@hajune Why they kept her movies locked away for that long is beyond me. Amazing? She totally blew me away in the first 30 seconds that I saw her move. And tapping while spinning like she was on skates, to turn around and continue to dance perfectly??? I don't know how she kept her composure to do that. As an experiment I did some simply dance moves, turned fast for a bit, and tried to do the same steps I just did. Forget about it!!!!

[@hd-xc2lz]

Her movies have been available for some time. On VHS before DVD.

[@luckdog909]

Absolutely breathtaking!!

[@JessicaGarcia-oj3pc]

A fantastic dancer....

[@DanielAyet]

Magnífica!!!.

[@eijigosen]

Dear NewGitanoCandela, Thank you amigo for putting this matador piece of Elly. I fully enjoyed it. I am a long-term fan of tap dancing and musicals from Japan.

[@beigelycheenut]

What's nice about her is that she dances like a woman, and doesn't try to come off all girly. There's a certain androgyny in this dance and in her look. She commands a lot of power many other female dancers from this era (and today's era) did not because they revert to a certain immature girlishness.

[@esmeephillips5888]

Absolutely. Her mischievous blend of masculine costume and attack with confident feminine grace and beauty is intriguing. And on top of it all is her sense of fun, her generous readiness to laugh at it all. No other woman dancer had these traits, then or later. Like Fred Astaire, as Arnold Bennett wrote of his anti-hero in 'The Card', she was 'dedicated to the great cause of cheering us all up.' They were life-enhancers.

[@hd-xc2lz]

Was this remark made in response to Astaire's (intended) insult that she danced like a man, was too heavy footed?

[@arthurgearheard4701]

She wasn't a Lesbian!

[@funkrocker8011]

Wow! Fabulous, incredible, fascinating, spectacular.

[@Moionfire]

oh, my god, she is perfect.

[@sandranelson3327]

She’s amazing!

[@netwitt1]

Thank you, Judith, for bringing this up. I was skeptical when I heard that claim, but did not follow it up with any research.

[@AuntieMamie]

This woman is beyond perfection. I only wish she remained on the screen longer.

[@daveerhardt1879]

I've watched a lot of her videos, and I must admit she might be the best dancer man or woman in the Hollywood golden era. A more versatile dancer then anyone I've seen, she's much more then a tap dancer. No wonder Fred Astaire didn't want to dance with her.

[@cattycorner8]

He didn't?

[@esmeephillips5888]

@@cattycorner8 He was scared of her but he accepted the challenge, as 'Moaning Minnie' (Adele's nickname for her brother) always did in the end. And the results, in 'Broadway Melody of 1940', were nonpareil.

[@metanoia272]

Perfecto

[@esmeephillips5888]

Eleanor Powell had planned a longer sequence, including a flamenco-style duet with the young Jose Greco. As it was, she engaged a professional matador to teach her passes with the heavy cape and the etiquette of the arena. Unlike Sam Garrett, who schooled her in the Western Rope Dance, the expert did not urge her to quit movies and become a bullfighter.

[@cattycorner8]

@Esmee Phillips What a wonderful number that would have been with Greco! I recently read that Vincent Minelli did not think Powell was "that great of a dancer." I was shocked to hear this!

[@esmeephillips5888]

@@cattycorner8 It is stranger bc he had directed for the first time on Broadway with Powell in 'At Home Abroad', and is said to have fought against the exclusion of her number 'The Lady with the Tap', whose idea of tapping in code had been recycled in 'Ship Ahoy'. Minnelli disparaged 'I Dood It' in his memoirs, calling it 'my sophomore jinx'. But the slapstick theater and spy-chase scenes are very adroitly handled, even if they owed more to Buster Keaton's tutoring of Skelton. VM may have felt (understandably) peeved by the studio's cheapskate recension of 'Swingin' the Jinx Away' as a postscript. His next projects were the extravagantly mob-handed 'Ziegfeld Follies' and 'Yolanda and the Thief', whereas Powell's magic lay in a more refined, monochromatic solo purity. Conceivably also VM's attachment to Judy Garland made him subconsciously downplay Powell bc he was bent on making Judy Metro's replacement for Ellie- who had already announced her retirement- as queen of the musical lot. After all, it was in a Powell pic that Judy had first got herself seriously noticed with 'Dear Mr Gable'. And both of them were very conflicted, neurotic characters, whereas Ellie was a tranquil, steadfast professional.

[@mkmih01]

THE BEST EVER!!!!

[@intheory9772]

While others may have had more energy, sex appeal, or were ideal partners.Eleanor was a magician of her art form and, a true prop master. Bravo!

[@domenicv7962]

more energy? sex appeal.?...than Eleanor???? Don't think so....that person has not been born yet!!!

[@oysterpippo]

Undowbtely the greatest, the female version of FredAstaire. They were the magnificent couple. greatest!

[@robertwilkins8357]

Her memory had to be so strong!

[@luckdog909]

@hajune Just watched this again. She had nerves of steel!!!

[@esmeephillips5888]

With its call-and-response routines, female upper-body 'haughtiness' and percussive footwork, flamenco always seems the natural European adjunct to tap dancing- guitars and castanets adding to the syncopation potential. So it was odd that Rita Hayworth, soaked in flamenco since infancy, never became a specially proficient tapper.

[@marcelohughes]

As a man, I can tell you that not only she was UNIQUE in dancing, but she has the most beautiful pair of legs I have ever seen in a woman. GOSH....if I can find a girl with that talent...(or some) and THAT LEGS...well, my mom would be very happy!!. I should marry her in a week!!. Mattew. (i,m only 31...have plenty of time to find such a gal)

[@safenders]

Man time flies, you must be nearly 40 now I hope you found her

[@hd-xc2lz]

@@safenders Agreed, we need an update, plus attached KZbin video demo-ing dance skills of wife if found.

[@jackanthony976]

Movie actor Glenn Ford beat you to it as far as marrying her. The marriage was so bad that Eleanor (as a devout Christian did not really believe in divorce) filed for divorce after 15 years of marriage. Eleanor filed for divorce on Glenn's birthday for mental cruelty.

[@patcauch]

Ce numéro est d'une grande beauté. Vive Eléanor, les claquettes et le flamenco.

[@esteetabernac]

Holy crap, that went on forever! Eleanor must have been dying by the end.

[@barabbabill548]

eccezionale!!👏👏👏

[@luckdog909]

@hajune FLAWLESSLY SUPERHUMAN AT THAT. I bet bulls would be terrified to get in there with her!!!!!

[@lgr6709]

ELEANOR es maravillosa, Pero muy tristemente ese baile-representación, inevitablemente me recuerda la terrible crueldad y tortura que se ejecuta en una plaza hacia el magnífico animal como es el toro. ¡¡UNA VERDADERA PENA!!! ¡¡ MATADOR, MUY TRISTE !!

[@elvisuk]

embaressed to so say never heard of this lady till today...................WOW

[@JudithIN410]

Henry LeTang as Eleanor Powell's "tap master"? He was 3 years younger than she. By the time he opened his first studio at age 17, she was already a star on Broadway - had been for years. She repeatedly said she had a life-time total of 10 tap lessons, all from Jack Donahue at his school in New York City. She did learn informally from other dancers over the years - notably Bill Robinson and John Bubbles. She and LeTang may have crossed paths but I've never seen any other reference to him.

[@goerge131]

I my book she was the greatest step dancer ever !!!

[@patcauch]

Vous étiez juste merveilleuse Eleanor.

[@esmeephillips5888]

Nowadays we watch old movies, 99% of the time, on little screens at home. But imagine the impact this must have made on cinemagoers, sitting in the dark under a huge picture with the music blasting out. With no quick replays to hand, they must often have left wondering if they had really seen bravura sequences such as this, or imagined them. I know of no other performer- male or female, musical, comic or dramatic- who so utterly commanded the screen as Ellie did. She had control of her numbers and made the most of it. Feminists ought to burn candles to her.

[@Annamaria-iq1wy]

Io la trovo magnifica !!!

[@WanderingUkes]

Lordess of the dance.

[@rebeccacares3468]

Wow, did she do all her own choreography? Her dancing is much more athletic and exciting than the stiff, girly stuff other women were doing at the time.

[@Tatiana17475]

Элеанор здесь 30 лет, молодчина, танец с присущей ей агрессией, в нем она показала все свои прекрасные балетные возможности и мастерство степа.

[@domenicv7962]

Da

[@pollutionfreeplanet]

This is the kind of stuff magic is made of.

[@jaywar69]

From the movie 'Ship Ahoy' (1942)

[@cattycorner8]

I thought it was from "I Doodf It"?

[@esmeephillips5888]

@@cattycorner8 No, though both had Red Skelton as the male lead.

[@moafra]

troppo brava....e' forse il miglior numero per me..bravo gitanocandela....

[@johannahidalgo7738]

I love ms.powells dancing, but has she ever tried fancing flamenco? That dance jss tapping also, d shoes r different, i think, but id epild jave been a great adaptation!🤔

[@hd-xc2lz]

Having just seen a flamenco performance a couple of nights ago, and thinking about tap differences while watching, I'd say they can't be combined unless within a tap version that mocks the anger and passion of flamenco. The moods of the two are diametrically opposed, as well as approach to choreography.

[@jackanthony976]

I believe she did flamenco in her Vegas act.

[@partycentralsales]

Fierce.

[@SAACAAS]

Olé!!!

[@sourtaps]

why is she so bomb

[@Squeaky1423]

Brava!!!!

[@cattycorner8]

Does anyone know how they miked the taps?

[@esmeephillips5888]

The taps were dubbed. Eleanor always put her own in, watching a playback and using a special pair of shoes, nicknamed Ike and Mike, on a tap board. Fred Astaire did his own but Ginger's were recorded by Hermes Pan. IIRC Gene Kelly did his also. You needed rhythm in your hands as well as your feet.

[@arthurgearheard4701]

What film is this from?

[@TheAfterHoursLV]

The original Bobby Schmurda with the hat.

[@emiliosarabia2550]

Difícil ritmo el llamado tapdance -dentro del género claqué- doña Eleanor Powell, figura indiscutible en los años 40-50, se luce como sólo ella sabía hacerlo. Ahora que llamarlo "matador". Nuestro pasodoble y el baile flamenco puro, son otra cosa.

[@liorajimenez3085]

I think she'd have been better paired with Gene Kelley rather than Fred Astaire.

[@muffinnme5491]

Wasn't Gene Kelley a tiny tot when she was a Star?

[@liorajimenez3085]

LaVonne Menzel Oh stop. I'm talking about their dance technique.

[@muffinnme5491]

I was also meaning their dancing. I was thinking she was of a different era than Kelley, ya know, much much older; but I guess not. :)

[@liorajimenez3085]

LaVonne Menzel I will look it up They're born the same year: Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly: August 23, 1912 Eleanor Torrey Powell: November 21, 1912

[@glenjones7597]

@@muffinnme5491 - Eleanor Powell and Gene Kelly were the same age, She just became a star before him

[@chrissj439]

It's very neat but I don't find it particularly exciting.