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Classic screen dance legend Ann Miller in glamour portraits by John Engstead, circa mid-1940s.

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Remembering film and dance legend Cyd Charisse on her birthday... Born Tula Ellice Finklea on March 8th, 1922 in Amarillo, Texas Died on June 17th, 2008 (age 86) in Los Angeles, California ❤ Gifs of Cyd and Fred Astaire performing the Girl Hunt Ballet number in the MGM/Vincente Minnelli musical comedy The Band Wagon, 1953. Charisse, who danced with Astaire in two movies (The Band Wagon and Silk Stockings) and with Gene Kelly in three (Singin’ in the Rain, Brigadoon, and It’s Always Fair Weather), commented in 1976 about her experiences with the two legendary hoofers by stating: “I'd say they were the two greatest dancing personalities who were ever on screen. But it's like comparing apples and oranges. They're both delicious!”

Cyd Charisse by Virgil Apger, early-1950s.

Marilyn Monroe, Donald O’Connor and Mitzi Gaynor perform the song Lazy in the 20th Century Fox/Walter Lang musical There’s No Business Like Show Business, 1954.

“All right, I'll give you a name. But if you ever let it out, I'll swear I lied. It was Rita Hayworth. Rita danced with trained perfection and individuality. She was better when she was 'on' than at rehearsal.” -Fred Astaire when asked who his favorite dance partner was shortly before his passing in 1987. (The Fred and Ginger Rogers dance partnership was so ingrained in the public’s mind that Fred was nervous to admit this. Astaire and Rogers, though they respected each other, actually had a somewhat “tetchy” relationship.) “I guess the only jewels of my life were the pictures I made with Fred Astaire.” -Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire dance The Shorty George in the Columbia Pictures/William A. Seiter musical comedy You Were Never Lovelier, 1942.

Debbie Reynolds and dance legend Bob Fosse in the “Balloon Dance” number from the MGM/Stanley Donen musical Give a Girl a Break, 1953. This number was cleverly filmed so the choreography appeared in reverse in the film. Debbie Reynolds had a ~very~ inappropriate incident with Bob Fosse during production of this movie (giving the film’s title an entirely different meaning), which she dealt with in an effective and rather “pointed” manner: Bobby did the choreography for our numbers together, and he came up with some very strenuous routines. It was the most difficult dancing I’d done since Singin’ in the Rain, but I was determined to keep up with him. During rehearsals, Bobby, who was so in love with his own well-endowed self, would come up behind me and press his “gift” into my backside to tease me. It was obvious he wasn’t wearing a dance belt; I could feel everything he wanted to share. And Bobby didn’t respond to subtle discouragement, like being pushed away vigorously. Fed-up, I went to a nearby drugstore one day at lunchtime to purchase a jockstrap for him, hoping it would help him to contain his enthusiasm. “Give me the biggest jockstrap you carry,” I told the clerk. “An extra-extra large.” He looked at me, puzzled. “I have an extra large size,” he responded, “but the only color it comes in is black.” Perfect. I bought it. Back at rehearsal, I placed my present in Bobby’s locker. He got the message and never poked me again. -From Unsinkable: A Memoir by Debbie Reynolds, Harper Collins, 2013.