Ask the Critic: Lewis Segal

Question: With musicals making a comeback on film, is there a Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers or Gene Kelly for this generation?

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Segal: By general agreement, there’s never been a greater tap dancer than Savion Glover, and every year local audiences see shows spotlighting such great-looking, brilliantly skilled dancers as Holly Cruikshank (Twyla Tharp’s “Movin’ Out”) and Rasta Thomas (Debbie Allen’s “Pearl”).

Unfortunately, no studio system now exists to shape projects for these dancers and develop them into film stars. As a result, most dance-related projects are adapted to suit star actors, whether or not they can dance, and what you see on screen often gives you only a carefully edited impression of dancing to camouflage the performers’ inexperience.

The shot-to-shot movement continuity that showcased the skill of Astaire, Kelly and their partners has been replaced by a style built on fragmentary glimpses of somebody’s body moving -- and that body just might belong to a dance-double.

If you want to see a movie shot and cut the old-fashioned, star-making way, check out a Jackie Chan feature. That’s entertainment.

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