0:00:05 > 0:00:10As a principal ballerina at London's Royal Ballet for 20 years,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14Darcey Bussell was one of the world's most famous dancers.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18APPLAUSE
0:00:18 > 0:00:22But the rigours of classical ballet are a long way from the world
0:00:22 > 0:00:24she is about to enter.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39I have to say the attraction to those films as an eight-year-old,
0:00:39 > 0:00:44they were my first real introductions to wanting to dance at all.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Four years after retiring, she is going to attempt
0:00:48 > 0:00:51to dance in a completely new way.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57To tap like Fred Astaire...
0:00:58 > 0:01:02..to foxtrot like Ginger Rogers...
0:01:02 > 0:01:04..and to leap like Gene Kelly.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10But this kind of dancing is the opposite of everything
0:01:10 > 0:01:11she has been trained to do.
0:01:13 > 0:01:14SHE LAUGHS
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Maybe I am slightly stepping out of my comfort zone. Just a little bit.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Ah-ha-ha!
0:01:20 > 0:01:23She's got to be crazy, but God love her.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27If she does it great and I like it, bravo.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37By stepping into the shoes of the Hollywood greats,
0:01:37 > 0:01:43Darcey will discover the story of these films' music...
0:01:43 > 0:01:44costume design...
0:01:44 > 0:01:47The skirt goes with you, look at that.
0:01:47 > 0:01:48..and famous set pieces.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54And by dancing them herself, she'll unlock the secret of their genius.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16From the moment sound came to the movies,
0:02:16 > 0:02:21every Hollywood studio developed its own style of musical.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24And for the next 40 years, huge audiences were enchanted.
0:02:26 > 0:02:34What is it that these movies leave in our hearts?
0:02:35 > 0:02:42It's some image of brio, sophistication, romance,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46wit, lyricism, all coming together in this rhythmic current.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56People like Astaire, Cyd Charisse and Ginger Rogers,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59they're the most watched dancers of all time,
0:02:59 > 0:03:00and will continue to be so.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06The first film musicals were crude.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Cameras and microphones had to stay still,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12so dancing was difficult to capture.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15But the technology quickly improved.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18New dance musicals became big box office,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21and new kinds of styles danced their way to fame.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32How they did it, I just don't know.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34They had great technique,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36and their musicality, the way they could
0:03:36 > 0:03:42interpret a piece of music just through their bodies was fantastic.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47Darcey Bussell has always wanted to dance like the performers
0:03:47 > 0:03:49she grew up watching.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53I think it is a little dream to imagine that I could ever achieve
0:03:53 > 0:03:55any of these numbers myself.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Now her moment has come.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02In two weeks' time she will go before the camera to dance
0:04:02 > 0:04:05her versions of numbers she has always loved.
0:04:07 > 0:04:08That worked for me.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Moviegoers came to expect and love a range of dances,
0:04:14 > 0:04:17so Darcey is going to perform four classics.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21A Fred tap solo...
0:04:23 > 0:04:26A Fred and Ginger romantic duet...
0:04:27 > 0:04:30A comic trio from Singin' In The Rain...
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and a complete reinvention of one of the most influential
0:04:33 > 0:04:35dance numbers ever filmed.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40It is ambitious, isn't it?
0:04:40 > 0:04:43All of it's ambitious because, of course, I've been a ballet dancer
0:04:43 > 0:04:46for the last 21-odd years professionally,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51and so I haven't had a chance to do many of those other styles.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53And so, yeah, I hope it's going to be fun.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56I hope it's not going to be terrifying.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03- Darcey retired to live in Australia four years ago.- Morning.
0:05:03 > 0:05:04Now she's returned.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09It's day one of rehearsals in a dance studio in West London.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16In just two weeks, she must unlearn the ballet technique
0:05:16 > 0:05:18she has been trained in since the age of nine
0:05:18 > 0:05:22and make her body move in a completely different way.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27Well, no, I think whatever we do we've got to replace ourselves...
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Helping her, along with two West End dancers,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34is one of Britain's leading choreographers, Kim Gavin.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Maybe um-ba-um-ba and hold it.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Like Darcey, Kim trained at the Royal Ballet School.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44But he made his name in commercial choreography,
0:05:44 > 0:05:48producing show-stopping numbers for Take That, among many others.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54'We're paying tribute to four classic scenes
0:05:54 > 0:05:57'and adapting them for ourselves.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00- 'We're exploring, you know.' - Sorry.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04It's very much an exploration of that era
0:06:04 > 0:06:06and how difficult the routines were.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15First, Darcey will be attempting the iconic Puttin' On The Ritz.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23The number poses three main technical difficulties.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Darcey will have to learn a whole new way of using her feet...
0:06:31 > 0:06:35..of holding her body, and using props,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38all within an extremely complex rhythm.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45'When you watch Fred Astaire doing Puttin' On The Ritz,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48'my brain understands how difficult it is,'
0:06:48 > 0:06:52but my heart understands how gorgeous it is just to watch it,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54and that's what great dancing's all about.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Fred Astaire himself said that rehearsing this solo
0:06:59 > 0:07:03took five weeks of backbreaking physical work.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10Suddenly he goes through that glass door and there they are,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12'an army of Freds.'
0:07:14 > 0:07:17'It's just unbelievable!'
0:07:20 > 0:07:23'I think, with Puttin' On The Ritz, apart from being a classic piece,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25'you look at and go, "How did they do that?"
0:07:25 > 0:07:27'Then, in a rehearsal room,'
0:07:27 > 0:07:31it's much more of a realisation once you've put it on your own body.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35- It's not so taking. - I'm going...- Yeah.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39But you're thinking more that the stick is kind of there.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- Controlling the move.- Yeah.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52Ballet is all about effort and holding the leg as high as you can,
0:07:52 > 0:07:58or the turnout, keeping your feet pointed all the time.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02And I think that what the big jump is to the styles that we're doing
0:08:02 > 0:08:05is more about feel and being relaxed.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Just relax your feet, be sloppy with your feet a bit more.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10It's difficult to be sloppy.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14I know, but you're almost pointing your feet between each shuffle.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- I want you to dance like that. - I know.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18I want you to walk around like that.
0:08:18 > 0:08:19'It's not about having a stiff back,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22'having turnout, having poise and strength.'
0:08:22 > 0:08:23One last time from the top.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27'It's about relaxing into the thing
0:08:27 > 0:08:31'and expressing yourself within it.'
0:08:31 > 0:08:32Ah-ha-ha!
0:08:32 > 0:08:34'And I think that's the difference with Darcey.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38'I think it's about the tap and the rhythms and making it smooth,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41but it's not about the effort that you put in that she would do
0:08:41 > 0:08:42if she did a ballet.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Tap teaches you things that lots of ballet people never know.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57'You are thinking percussively and you are thinking down.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Ballet is generally an art of the aerial, going up.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03In tap, you're going down into the floor. You've got to think hard.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07You have to think of making a noise rather than never making a noise.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09And then it is extraordinary speed with the feet.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Of course, a ballet dancer moves fast with the foot
0:09:12 > 0:09:14but they're using the foot differently.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16They're seldom bringing down the heel.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21When they move fast with the feat they're normally covering ground
0:09:21 > 0:09:24in a very different way from the way tap dancers are.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27So there is Fred going "b-r-r-r-m" in ways that I can't even analyse.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Any ballet dancer's just going to have to think of the whole
0:09:33 > 0:09:36musculature from the hip down in a whole new way.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Fred's special skill was to make everything he did look natural
0:09:44 > 0:09:48and make every extraordinary movement look like everyone
0:09:48 > 0:09:51could do it if they just chose to.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52And that's quite a skill.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58I would imagine, without masses of experience,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00it's extremely difficult.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05It feels like it's something that maybe you need to have been doing
0:10:05 > 0:10:08all your life, you know, till it's integral to the way you move,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10so that's difficult.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Fred Astaire rehearsed every single routine for weeks
0:10:20 > 0:10:21before he was satisfied.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26But Darcey only has a fortnight to rehearse four routines.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30And tap was forbidden at ballet school because it was thought
0:10:30 > 0:10:33that it weakened dancers' ankles.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34One, two, three...
0:10:34 > 0:10:36SHE LAUGHS
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Tap dancing is something I suppose
0:10:38 > 0:10:42I've always been very passionate about, watching the films,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44and it is incredibly exciting to watch.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47'And it would be nice to think
0:10:47 > 0:10:50'that I could achieve some of that excitement.'
0:10:50 > 0:10:53- Did the first bit right.- And again.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Both Nathan Clark and Dougie Mills are experts in tap.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Bap-bap-bap.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04- Do it without the turn for now. - I need to turn. Sorry.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06- I'm too old, aren't I? That's my problem.- Here we go.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08One, two, three.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12'When you watch most tap dancers, their hands and arms are basically
0:11:12 > 0:11:13'just hanging there.'
0:11:13 > 0:11:16With Fred Astaire, everything is used.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21OK, his feet are going, but so are his arms and so are his hands.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Astaire's style with the upper body,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27which is not that of any other tap dancer, this way of making
0:11:27 > 0:11:31a line throughout the body, making shapes, so you really are
0:11:31 > 0:11:36turning a technique into style, physical style - extraordinary.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40And the way he uses the cane,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43the way the cane is used as extra rhythm throughout,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46it's as though he's got three legs.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Hey! That's it.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Fred Astaire wasn't just a dancer,
0:12:02 > 0:12:03he was a drummer and a pianist.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07There are recordings of him doing all these things if you see him
0:12:07 > 0:12:11in a wonderful movie where he has a jazz number with a drum set.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And you see him, in one take, with his feet playing
0:12:14 > 0:12:17the drums as well as his hands.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21It is great music and it's great dancing.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39- How was that?- My first rehearsal day after about three years.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41SHE LAUGHS
0:12:41 > 0:12:43How was it?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Um, well, it feels all lovely now because you're so hot and sweaty
0:12:46 > 0:12:48that you can't feel a thing.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50I'm just conscious of what it's going to feel like
0:12:50 > 0:12:53when I wake up in the morning! SHE LAUGHS
0:12:53 > 0:12:56My body is not used to this any more.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00Just going to have a stretch.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06'Camera.'
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Don't rush. One, one, stay, down.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Darcey has come to ask for advice from a man who has already
0:13:13 > 0:13:17brought Fred's style to modern audiences by fusing it with ballet.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19And show it. One...
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Derek Deane.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Fast, fast, fast, fast.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26Good. One...
0:13:26 > 0:13:29He is rehearsing the English National Ballet
0:13:29 > 0:13:32in his production of Strictly Gershwin,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36in which Darcey's tap mentor, Dougie Mills, is co-starring.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38And down.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45Mwah! Sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp.
0:13:45 > 0:13:46One, one.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52That's good. Come in, boys, in.
0:13:58 > 0:13:59OK.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06Well, Fred Astaire was obviously the greatest dancer that ever lived, really, wasn't he?
0:14:06 > 0:14:09I know, and he wasn't even that good looking, was he?
0:14:09 > 0:14:12- No, not even that good looking. - It just shows you anyone can do it.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15True, but what enormous charisma.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17And if you look at all those old films,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20the energy levels are enormous.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23They make it all look terribly easy, they make it look terribly simple,
0:14:23 > 0:14:29but your energy levels have to be at full blast to be able to show that.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32- I have to say, I'm a bit scared. - Well, I don't think you should be.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35It's about how, it's about where the eyes are going,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38it's about where the head is going. Is the boy behind?
0:14:38 > 0:14:42- There's so much... - You're giving me so many tips.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46There's so much luggage there that makes it look right.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48You are taken more in by the dance.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51- And with the style. - And the way he moved.
0:14:51 > 0:14:57- And the most simple step, made it look extraordinary.- Absolutely.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00I think you're very brave to do this. I think you're very brave.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03I think it's a great challenge for you to try and do it,
0:15:03 > 0:15:09but you know, what they had was invention, musicality and style.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13So, you obviously have to be able to create
0:15:13 > 0:15:17what they first developed, which is not impossible at all,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20but very, very hard because it was so set on those people,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22do you know what I mean?
0:15:22 > 0:15:26- As we said, their characters. - Their characters and how they were.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29It scares me to even think that I'm trying to attempt it.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33- But then I'm also very excited at the same time.- Of course, of course.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35- It's a challenge for you. - I wish I was younger.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38- Yes.- You're going out of your comfort zone as well.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41You're going to find this very amusing, I know.
0:15:41 > 0:15:42HE LAUGHS
0:15:52 > 0:15:53Oh, I like that!
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Dougie Mills and Paul Robinson, two of the company's stars,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01have been inspired by the history of tap.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04- Woo!- OK, OK, OK....
0:16:04 > 0:16:09- We're actually on the wrong side. - Are you serious? - Yes, we normally click.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12But we're the other way. We always miss that though.
0:16:12 > 0:16:13We always miss that.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I'm just trying to touch on the history of tap
0:16:16 > 0:16:18and where it really started.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Can you give me any ideas
0:16:20 > 0:16:25or your inspirations of where tap inspired you?
0:16:25 > 0:16:30It was Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. That was my...
0:16:30 > 0:16:33- Earliest memory?- Yes. - Yes. Inspirations, isn't it?
0:16:33 > 0:16:37I'd go back maybe only 10 years or something before that
0:16:37 > 0:16:41to two people that really impressed me were the Nicolas brothers,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44were so acrobatic and their feet were amazing.
0:16:44 > 0:16:49- I don't know if it was the brother thing, how in sync they were. - They could feed off each other.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Yeah, and I think they started the whole role of film
0:16:51 > 0:16:53which moved to Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly
0:16:53 > 0:16:55and that was definitely our inspiration.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59- We try to do it the best justice possible.- Exactly. Major respect.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00Yes, absolutely.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Give me some tips of what kind of hits you straightaway
0:17:03 > 0:17:06if you think about Puttin' On The Ritz.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09- What is your first image? - I would say fluidity with a cane,
0:17:09 > 0:17:14- being it's so fluid.- Ease, yes.- The way he just, the moves, the cane.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18- From one move to the other. - The cane is so in sync with his body
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and the way he moves it round his body and stuff.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- It's just like... - The cane is my partner.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29The style with Fred Astaire's stick and positioning and...
0:17:29 > 0:17:34and all those shoulder moves and... I've got a lot to think about.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38But it's all about rehearsal and if I go over it, I think,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40they also mentioned a stick
0:17:40 > 0:17:43and having that relationship with the stick
0:17:43 > 0:17:47that it's actually your partner that Fred Astaire used that stick
0:17:47 > 0:17:51as part of his moves, it wasn't just an added on prop.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Worries me a bit as well.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57But I'll just have to take it to bed with me.
0:17:57 > 0:17:58SHE LAUGHS
0:17:58 > 0:18:01That doesn't sound right, does it?!
0:18:01 > 0:18:03We know what you mean!
0:18:03 > 0:18:05I'll just sleep on it.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09I'll have to sleep, that doesn't sound right either!
0:18:09 > 0:18:11That sounds awful.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16Musicals were big business for a year after the coming of sound,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19but then, the depression hit Hollywood hard.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23One studio, RKO, even faced bankruptcy.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24NEWS PIPS
0:18:24 > 0:18:27But then, a dance musical with a performer new to movies
0:18:27 > 0:18:31called Fred Astaire became a surprise hit.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32LIVELY MUSIC
0:18:35 > 0:18:36Fred's skills in the theatre
0:18:36 > 0:18:40had attracted the interest of Hollywood producers relatively late.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44He was 34 by the time he made his first films in 1933.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51He and his sister Adele had been performing on stage,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54in vaudeville, later on, on Broadway
0:18:54 > 0:18:58and here in London from the ages of five and seven.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04He and Adele had done a screen test back in the 20s
0:19:04 > 0:19:10and this famous quote attributed to an anonymous studio executive
0:19:10 > 0:19:14which is, "Can't act, can't sing,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16"balding, also dances."
0:19:17 > 0:19:22Before sound, a man who looked like Fred would never have been a star.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24But Fred's dancing and singing
0:19:24 > 0:19:27made him one of the biggest names of the 1930s
0:19:27 > 0:19:30and saved RKO itself from ruin.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39He took inspiration from wherever he could find it.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43For tap, he borrowed dance styles he saw in the 1920s Harlem.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49In this case, given an innovative treatment
0:19:49 > 0:19:52within a bygone tradition of the minstrel show.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02From the 20s onwards, tap meeting ballroom,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04this is the great confluence
0:20:04 > 0:20:08and it was happening partly with the black African American artists,
0:20:08 > 0:20:13but partly with the high age of 20s, 30s elegance
0:20:13 > 0:20:18also, so it's the overlap of both white and black areas of society.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Plenty of people feel that tap belongs to black artists
0:20:23 > 0:20:26and that Fred Astaire was an interloper.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29For me, he's as great a tap dancer as there ever was.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36- I'd just like to go from the beginning again.- Yes.- Sorry.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39MUSIC: "Puttin' On The Ritz"
0:20:39 > 0:20:42It's day three of the Puttin' On The Ritz rehearsals.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Darcey now has to put together the moves,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47the cane work and the tapping.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52And Darcey's knee, which went through major ligament surgery
0:20:52 > 0:20:55five months ago, is holding up well. So far.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00'She's recovering from the knee injury,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03'which is hard,'
0:21:03 > 0:21:05especially the tap, it's hard
0:21:05 > 0:21:08because you're completely pounding on one knee.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I think she's certainly got guts.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21She snapped a tendon in the knee,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23called the anterior cruciate ligament.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27She must adapt her dancing accordingly.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31'I was doing some dance classes just for fun
0:21:31 > 0:21:34'and I landed from a jump. Um, I dislocated my knee.'
0:21:37 > 0:21:40'And I had to go and see a physio surgeon that day.'
0:21:42 > 0:21:44'And they said that I had snapped it.'
0:21:46 > 0:21:52And I said, "But I know, I've seen dancers snap Achilles and ACLs
0:21:52 > 0:21:54"and it goes off like a gunshot."
0:21:56 > 0:21:57'I said there was no sound.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00'They said, "Probably because of your career,'
0:22:00 > 0:22:02"there wasn't much of a tendon left anyway,"
0:22:02 > 0:22:06cos I have had two operations on the same leg, on my ankle.
0:22:06 > 0:22:07Seven, eight, one...
0:22:07 > 0:22:12Basically they cut your hamstring and they graft it on with two screws.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'Normally it would be you wouldn't dance on it, probably,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21'until eight months after the operation.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25'So what I mustn't do on it is jump.'
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Um, any large jumps, I can do small jumps.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36But if you have a choreographer that knows you, you can adapt.
0:22:42 > 0:22:43SHE LAUGHS
0:22:43 > 0:22:45They've just pulled out of the insurance.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48I'll use it as my other knee.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50one, two...
0:22:50 > 0:22:53The next day, Darcey's family arrive to give moral support.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55- Hello.- Hello!
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- Hi! Hello.- Hi, Angus. - Hey, Jim. How are you?
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- Good, thank you. - Nice to see you.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04- Oi, you.- I'm all sweaty, sorry.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Are you going to do a little run for us?
0:23:08 > 0:23:10Her husband Angus is worried
0:23:10 > 0:23:13about the physical toll the rehearsals are taking.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16- Go and sit down. - How's your knee?- Yes, knees.- OK.
0:23:20 > 0:23:21MUSIC STARTS
0:23:27 > 0:23:28SHE SCREECHES
0:23:32 > 0:23:33I'd missed this.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Oh, my bottom hurts.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37- And then keep moving straightaway. - Don't stop.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Mummy was really good.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43When you're older, you can be like Mummy, but singing.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45You don't want to be a dancer as well?
0:23:45 > 0:23:47I would like to be a dancer.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49So you can be dancing and singing, can't you?
0:23:51 > 0:23:53You just have to work hard, like Mummy.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55She works hard, doesn't she?
0:23:55 > 0:24:00Just work hard. Mummy can teach you everything she knows about dance.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03- She already has. - She's taught you everything already?
0:24:06 > 0:24:11Tap isn't Darcey's strongest suit.
0:24:11 > 0:24:12So she has to work very hard
0:24:12 > 0:24:16to get to six, seven, eight out of 10 by HER standards.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21Plus having had the ACL on her knee only five months ago,
0:24:21 > 0:24:23this is right border line.
0:24:23 > 0:24:24Darcey's very careful,
0:24:24 > 0:24:29but we are at the minimum threshold of what she would normally do.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32So, we've got our fingers crossed.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35We've really got our fingers crossed
0:24:35 > 0:24:37that she will get through this program.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48- Ah!- OK.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50APPLAUSE Doesn't hurt so much now.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54It is odd, doing it in my 40s.
0:24:54 > 0:24:55I'm not used to being old
0:24:55 > 0:25:00and the recovery period after each day being really tough.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01I have sort of bowed down
0:25:01 > 0:25:05to my body is just going to hurt for the next three weeks.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08MUSIC
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Hi. Is this studio two?
0:25:16 > 0:25:19- That way.- Great, thank you.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23The music Darcey will dance to is being recorded
0:25:23 > 0:25:27specially for her at the legendary Abbey Road Studio Two.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32The Beatles among others famously used this studio.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34And now conductor John Wilson is here,
0:25:34 > 0:25:39recording music otherwise only available in the original mono.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45John Wilson's sell-out proms and concerts of Hollywood classics
0:25:45 > 0:25:48are attracting new audiences to this music.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03Start the letter "I" with the pickup from the clarinets.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- Oh, this is Darcey. Hello.- Hello.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09Shall we welcome her?
0:26:09 > 0:26:11APPLAUSE
0:26:13 > 0:26:16We're just about to try and do this nicely for you.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20He has assembled a 63-piece orchestra dedicated to recording
0:26:20 > 0:26:25this music faithfully for the first time since these movies were made.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28Yes. One, two, one, two...
0:26:28 > 0:26:31MUSIC: "Puttin' On The Ritz"
0:27:12 > 0:27:16OK, we'll do that as an edit. That's it.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21- ..Faster the easier it gets. - For me? Slower!
0:27:21 > 0:27:22SHE LAUGHS
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Because I'm not a tap dancer.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27I'm pretending.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30That's a good one for the violin lines, I'm told.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Are you going to have a listen to it, yes?
0:27:37 > 0:27:40MUSIC REACHES CRESCENDO
0:27:40 > 0:27:43LAUGHTER AND SQUEALING
0:27:43 > 0:27:46I'm in shock. SHE LAUGHS
0:27:47 > 0:27:52Not that I wasn't expecting it to be good but, um...
0:27:52 > 0:27:56slightly too professional for me!
0:27:58 > 0:28:03John has made it his mission accurately to recreate music
0:28:03 > 0:28:05that was once thought lost forever.
0:28:05 > 0:28:12In 1969, MGM was taken over and the room full of scores
0:28:12 > 0:28:15and all the orchestral parts was destroyed.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21One Saturday morning, every note of music written for every MGM film
0:28:21 > 0:28:26was taken away and used as landfill for a golf course.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28So that music no longer exists.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34So I had no choice other than to transcribe them from the soundtrack.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37But it's music I've loved all my life
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and for the past decade I've been restoring this music
0:28:40 > 0:28:43by listening to the soundtracks. Laborious though that may be,
0:28:43 > 0:28:49one is restoring great works of American popular culture.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52All right, I know how to fix that.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56And they're as fresh now to listen to, especially live,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59as they were when they were first recorded.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02One, two, two, two...
0:29:02 > 0:29:04MUSIC STARTS
0:29:07 > 0:29:09'It's really impressive.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14'And seeing them all kind of furiously getting in every note,
0:29:14 > 0:29:16'I feel incredibly honoured, actually.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20'It sort of wants me to make it even more perfect
0:29:20 > 0:29:23'and I'm not going to be satisfied unless it is.'
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Five. MUSIC CONTINUES
0:30:49 > 0:30:52My groin. SHE WINCES
0:30:55 > 0:31:00- Which number is this?- This is just the last toe, heel, toe, heel.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03And into the nine, cos we haven't got a clean one yet.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10In these movies, the sound of the taps was added separately.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12Unusually, Fred always did his own,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16and Darcey comes to what's known as a Foley studio
0:31:16 > 0:31:17to try to do the same.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26- Can I do that again?- One more. Just the same place.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31With the music and the taps in the can and barely a fortnight
0:31:31 > 0:31:34after arriving London, it's Darcey's first film studio day.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37I'm not limping. I'm all right.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39< Morning, Darcey!
0:31:40 > 0:31:43You were going to push in there.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45One, two, three, four, bring it in front of you.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49Nathan Clark, having helped coach Darcey, will now be filling in
0:31:49 > 0:31:53as the army of Freds after she goes through the mirrors.
0:31:53 > 0:31:58- OK.- Cameras rolling. - Have fun, enjoy, and cue music.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07'My body's feeling like it used to feel, a bit beaten up.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09'But I feel really honoured
0:35:09 > 0:35:12'that I got to actually work on that choreography
0:35:12 > 0:35:15'and just appreciate what a genius Fred Astaire was.'
0:35:15 > 0:35:20I probably didn't give him the justice he should have had
0:35:20 > 0:35:24in Puttin' On The Ritz, but I'm really glad I attempted it.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28I've got a couple of blisters in my tap shoes for a change
0:35:28 > 0:35:30instead of my point shoes.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38Everyone loves tap dancing. The problem is with tap dancing,
0:35:38 > 0:35:40it's a thing you have to do basically on your own,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43it's an individual thing. And people want to dance
0:35:43 > 0:35:47to meet the opposite sex, that's what dancing was all about.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, that's what you wanted.
0:35:52 > 0:35:53For Darcey's second number,
0:35:53 > 0:35:57she has to move into a very different type of dance.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00The romantic duet.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05Darcey has come to one of the last remaining ballrooms in Britain.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08These dance styles were once all the rage.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15My dad, who used to go dancing a lot,
0:36:15 > 0:36:21has spoken to me about, everyone went dancing. Everyone.
0:36:23 > 0:36:24'Everyone wanted to dance
0:36:24 > 0:36:27'because you all wanted to be Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31'They would watch the movies and see a little move
0:36:31 > 0:36:33'and then they would try and interpret that.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36'My dad would practise with his sister in the front room.'
0:36:36 > 0:36:39"Let's try and do that thing Fred and Ginger did."
0:36:39 > 0:36:40And they'd practise it.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44And when he'd get to the ballroom, get the girl and give it a go!
0:36:46 > 0:36:51The dances that swept Britain were directly influenced
0:36:51 > 0:36:53by the Hollywood dream factory.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57And when RKO paired an at first reluctant Fred
0:36:57 > 0:36:59with a certain Ginger Rogers,
0:36:59 > 0:37:03the most enduring and celebrated duo in dance was formed.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08Of the hundreds of films RKO made,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11the Astaire-Rogers pictures were among its most profitable.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Well, you know, a lot of the dances that are ballroom dances
0:37:16 > 0:37:19actually come from America.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21The foxtrot, that's a Hollywood dance.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24The quickstep comes from the Charleston.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28So that's another dance that comes from America
0:37:28 > 0:37:30and has developed into one of our ballroom dances.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33And I think when people went to the cinema,
0:37:33 > 0:37:37they wanted to be Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44The duo changed not just Hollywood
0:37:44 > 0:37:48but how couples on both sides of the Atlantic danced.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Dances from their films became crazes,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56such as the hit of 1934, the Continental.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04Retro DJs the Shellac Sisters play these very records today.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07- And would this have first come off a film?- Yes.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12As people saw the dancing, Fred and Ginger doing amazing things,
0:38:12 > 0:38:14and probably thought, "Hmm, if I get a hold of that 78,"
0:38:14 > 0:38:17you know, "Me and the wife can learn those steps
0:38:17 > 0:38:19"and then we'd wow them on the dancefloor."
0:38:21 > 0:38:24# It has a passion, the Continental
0:38:24 > 0:38:26# An invitation to moonlight and romance
0:38:26 > 0:38:28# It's quite the fashion, the Continental
0:38:28 > 0:38:31# Because you tell of your love while you dance
0:38:31 > 0:38:35# Your lips whisper so tenderly
0:38:35 > 0:38:40# Her eyes answer your song
0:38:40 > 0:38:43# Two bodies swaying, the Continental. #
0:38:43 > 0:38:44'Why do you think it became a craze?'
0:38:44 > 0:38:47'I think with the Continental, it was a bit risque, wasn't it?
0:38:47 > 0:38:49'Because they kiss in the middle.'
0:38:49 > 0:38:52And that would have been quite unusual, to do that in public.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54- In that time as well.- Yeah.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57# Kiss while you're dancing. #
0:38:57 > 0:38:59'So to have a dance where that was part of the dance...
0:38:59 > 0:39:02- 'It was allowed.' - 'I think it was a boys' dance.'
0:39:02 > 0:39:05- It was choreographically allowed in the music.- Exactly!
0:39:05 > 0:39:09I'm sure all the men rushed to the dance studios to learn that one!
0:39:09 > 0:39:11You can imagine the queues outside!
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Yeah, in that era, it would have been very undone.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19Some dances were brief crazes,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22but other Fred and Ginger numbers have endured forever.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27In her version of Cheek To Cheek,
0:39:27 > 0:39:32from the movie Top Hat, Darcey will be taking the Ginger Rogers role.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I wonder what's keeping Horace.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42'It's always a question with dancing all the time,
0:39:42 > 0:39:43'how much is it about sex?'
0:39:43 > 0:39:46- I'm afraid I'm going to have a headache.- Don't go.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50This is a meeting I've been planning a long time.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52'Katharine Hepburn's famously meant to have said
0:39:52 > 0:39:56'that Ginger gave him sex and he gave her class.'
0:39:56 > 0:39:58Nice to see you again, Miss Tremont.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04You robbed me of the pleasure of introducing you two.
0:40:04 > 0:40:05You've already met!
0:40:05 > 0:40:11The chemistry between him and Ginger was never equalled ever again.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23'I think, physically, they were such perfect complements,
0:40:23 > 0:40:25both very lissome, both very lithe.
0:40:25 > 0:40:30She was just the right body shape to match his slight figure.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38'And it's a very good example of how they told a story in dance.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41'It's very much part of their characters,
0:40:41 > 0:40:44'their thought processes, their feelings,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48'all of which their wonderful fluency of movement communicates.'
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Watching this as a kid on Sunday afternoons,
0:41:10 > 0:41:13this probably would be one of my favourite pieces.
0:41:13 > 0:41:18Cheek To Cheek. It's very romantic.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21I do love the feel.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24She looks like she's totally studying Fred.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30She's got her eye on him all the time.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34And he looks like he's just playing with the steps.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44The techniques in this style of dancing are also very different
0:41:44 > 0:41:47from ballet. Here, Darcey will have to go against her instinct
0:41:47 > 0:41:51to keep her knees straight and her feet turned out,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54and she'll have to allow her posture to relax.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03'It looks so easy, but it actually isn't at all.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06'I mean, rehearsing it is actually really tiring,'
0:42:06 > 0:42:10cos they bounce all the way through it, they're doing a lot of jumps.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Even though the steps are so simple.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16MUSIC CONTINUES
0:42:40 > 0:42:44I think my favourite bit is the end, where they're cheek to cheek,
0:42:44 > 0:42:46it suddenly just all makes sense.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52And he REALLY pushes his face against hers, she seems a bit kind of tense.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54Quite lovely.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01And the relief that they're finished.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11This image of romance has a powerful appeal across the decades.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19Two years ago, Darcey was a guest judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23- Hi.- Hi, Moira, lovely to see you. - Lovely to see you.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25- Welcome back!- I know, I know.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28It brings back a lot of good memories. It's really nice.
0:43:28 > 0:43:29- I love the new sets as well. - Oh, good!
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Yeah, it's very impressive.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40For us, with Strictly,
0:43:40 > 0:43:42the likes of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44they are the benchmark for dance.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48It's about the coupling, it's about the chemistry.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52That's who Len will set as a benchmark
0:43:52 > 0:43:55for everybody to aspire to be.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59That's what I want to see.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02That's what I want to be - transported to Hollywood.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05And, whether I'm stuck here in Shepherd's Bush, I still want
0:44:05 > 0:44:09to be there in Hollywood, thinking of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17We're working on four different pieces. One is Cheek To Cheek.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20- Oh, yes!- Which was Fred Astaire.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25- Would you have an tips for me approaching a piece like that?- Um...
0:44:25 > 0:44:26I mean, I know it's foxtrot.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30It's very fluid, very fluid and smooth, so I would say,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33because it's so linear,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36but the lines are also very smooth
0:44:36 > 0:44:40going in and out, so no tension in the body.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44It has to have some kind of tension, but it has to be a very fluid,
0:44:44 > 0:44:48- relaxed tension.- Slightly hidden. - Yes.- That's brilliant.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50- Thank you very much. - You're welcome.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53- All the best for tonight. - Thank you.- Enjoy.- Thanks.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10MUSIC OBSCURES SPEECH
0:45:12 > 0:45:16- That's not on the beat.- They don't hit it.- They don't hit it, do they?
0:45:16 > 0:45:18- No.- I wish she didn't have that bloody dress on!
0:45:21 > 0:45:22I can see it.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26This time, Nathan will be taking the Fred Astaire role.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28'This is a bit of a challenge,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31'working with a ballerina, cos we have completely different training,'
0:45:31 > 0:45:34the way you hold you hold your body is different and the way ballet boys
0:45:34 > 0:45:37partner their girls is different to the way we're trained.
0:45:37 > 0:45:43- Is it because I'm trying to go, "Yah...yah"?- Rather than going...?
0:45:43 > 0:45:46'Cos I haven't done the classical training with partners,
0:45:46 > 0:45:50'but I know that it's a lot more controlled and rigid
0:45:50 > 0:45:53and you know exactly where everything is, where,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55when it comes to partner work in the jobs that I do,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58it's, "Throw that girl around as fast as you can
0:45:58 > 0:46:00"and just hope that you get there in time."
0:46:02 > 0:46:03Huh!
0:46:03 > 0:46:05SHE CHUCKLES
0:46:05 > 0:46:07I think Darcey's done an amazing job of coming over
0:46:07 > 0:46:10to my side of things, and I've also learnt a lot from her.
0:46:10 > 0:46:16Five, no, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Da, da, ya! Yes?
0:46:19 > 0:46:22If I go past you, it's crap.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25Ballroom dancing, waltz and foxtrot particularly,
0:46:25 > 0:46:28you swing from the hip. It's all about the...
0:46:28 > 0:46:32They're called the swing dances, because you swing through the hip.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36In addition to that, you have to get sway.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39These things are not natural in a ballet dancer.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45When you watch ballroom dancing, the first step is taken through the heel
0:46:45 > 0:46:49and then you lift up onto the ball of your foot to get rise and fall.
0:46:49 > 0:46:54Same in the foxtrot - heel, ball, rise and fall.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59In ballet, you very rarely - in fact, I don't know if ever -
0:46:59 > 0:47:01you step forward through the heel.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05It's always off the ball of the foot or through the toe onto the ball.
0:47:05 > 0:47:10So, this is going to be technically a huge challenge.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14'Apart from just learning the choreography
0:47:14 > 0:47:17'and getting the number down,
0:47:17 > 0:47:20'the technique is going to be so difficult,'
0:47:20 > 0:47:22and so far out of Darcey's comfort zone.
0:47:22 > 0:47:26- You seem to glisse on and then he pulls you down.- So it's more that.
0:47:26 > 0:47:31- Yeah.- And I'm doing like that on top.- Yeah.- Like a ballet step.
0:47:34 > 0:47:41Marcus and Karen Hilton are 12 times champion ballroom dancers.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44They've come to give Darcey some technical tips
0:47:44 > 0:47:47about how this sort of dance style differs
0:47:47 > 0:47:49from what she's been brought up to do.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51Quite a slow one, isn't it?
0:47:52 > 0:47:55Yeah, so it's like a check to the left, to the right,
0:47:55 > 0:47:56then it comes back.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00It's sort of doing a triangle. Is that right?
0:48:00 > 0:48:02I suppose it's almost like a check and back.
0:48:02 > 0:48:03We call it a natural check.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06'If I look at male and female in the ballet world,'
0:48:06 > 0:48:09the male will just literally support the female,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12whereas, in this instance, body weights are coming together.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15'So it's the weight of the body that's supporting each other.'
0:48:15 > 0:48:19'So we've got that constant body contact and weight contact.'
0:48:19 > 0:48:22- It's quite soft, isn't it? - It's much softer.
0:48:22 > 0:48:28We were just going, "Side and side, side and side." And it's like across.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30'I think the challenge is tremendous,
0:48:30 > 0:48:31'but she's coping admirably.'
0:48:31 > 0:48:33From an early age, she's been told
0:48:33 > 0:48:36she must straighten those knees, no matter what.
0:48:36 > 0:48:37Flex your knees.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41Darcey, chase after me and just feel how flexed my knees are.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43- They never, ever...- Straighten.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46'We're talking about flexed knees,'
0:48:46 > 0:48:49inside edge of knees coming inside, no turn out,
0:48:49 > 0:48:51tracking of the legs under the body.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54Put your knee together, the back of the knee.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56But, um, she's making a lovely job of it
0:48:56 > 0:48:59and I know she's capable of doing it beautifully.
0:49:14 > 0:49:15Beyond technique,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18Darcey needs to find out what was the essential character
0:49:18 > 0:49:22that Ginger Rogers brought to this extraordinary dance partnership.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28Actress Summer Strallen is about to play the Ginger Rogers part
0:49:28 > 0:49:31in a new national touring production of Top Hat.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33She was a beautiful lady.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36She was incredibly petite, wasn't she?
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Yeah, tiny, and a fantastic actress.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42I think that's the main thing that I love about her.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46She wasn't THE most fantastically trained technical dancer,
0:49:46 > 0:49:48yet she looks it.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53- 'There's a meaning to every single move that she does.'- 'Yeah.'
0:49:53 > 0:49:57'And you can really tell what she's thinking the whole way through.'
0:49:57 > 0:50:00- 'Having a story with her moves.' - 'Absolutely.'
0:50:00 > 0:50:03And that's been a massive inspiration to me, anyway,
0:50:03 > 0:50:04watching her work.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06One, two, three, one, two, three.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09One, two, three, turn! One, two, three, tur...
0:50:12 > 0:50:13Let's try it again.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16'Ginger Rogers was essentially an amateur.'
0:50:18 > 0:50:20'Glorious amateur, I should say.'
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Because she almost...
0:50:22 > 0:50:25You almost watched her learn to dance through each film.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28'She learnt from Astaire and she got better and better as it went along.'
0:50:32 > 0:50:33'The pleasure in watching her,'
0:50:33 > 0:50:36is watching this person who's loving it,
0:50:36 > 0:50:38absolutely loving doing what she's doing
0:50:38 > 0:50:40and loving getting better at it.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49'And it's partly why we all love Strictly Come Dancing, actually.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52'We love seeing those people getting better each week.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55'We love that sort of change and how they feel about it.'
0:51:04 > 0:51:06'And it's a lot to do with feeling, I think.'
0:51:06 > 0:51:09So that would be my advice, really, is to try and capture that,
0:51:09 > 0:51:12not just the technique.
0:51:18 > 0:51:21The success of Fred's films attracted some of the top
0:51:21 > 0:51:24popular composers of the day to work with him.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28- Nice and lightly, yeah? - And Irving Berlin's Cheek To Cheek
0:51:28 > 0:51:30was one of the most lasting numbers of them all.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32THEY PLAY "CHEEK TO CHEEK"
0:51:36 > 0:51:40These movies often prompted the musicians to their finest.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43Irving Berlin had been at the top of showbusiness
0:51:43 > 0:51:46since the First World War, or thereabouts,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49but he'd actually gone to a slight loss of inspiration.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Suddenly, he's invited to work on Top Hat
0:51:51 > 0:51:55and working for Fred Astaire brings his greatest flowering so far.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03MUSIC OBSCURES SPEECH
0:52:07 > 0:52:11'Fred Astaire was this sort of quality control man,
0:52:11 > 0:52:13'when it came to certain composers.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16'He'd been known to say, "I think you can do better."'
0:52:18 > 0:52:21'He was tireless in polishing it to a real perfection.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24'The sort of perfection I don't think we'll ever see again.'
0:52:26 > 0:52:28'The way Fred Astaire put a number across,'
0:52:28 > 0:52:32was often, you know, very much involved with his rhythmic sense.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34He never thought of himself as a singer,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37but he was many composers' favourite singer.
0:52:37 > 0:52:43He always sang beautifully in tune and he had this sort of poise
0:52:43 > 0:52:46and rhythmic sort of grace,
0:52:46 > 0:52:49which I think did a lot of those numbers
0:52:49 > 0:52:51great credit and great justice.
0:52:51 > 0:52:56- Well, if Madge doesn't care, I certainly don't.- Neither do I.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58All I know is that it's...
0:52:58 > 0:53:00# Heaven
0:53:00 > 0:53:03# I'm in heaven
0:53:03 > 0:53:09# And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak
0:53:09 > 0:53:16# And I seem to find the happiness I seek
0:53:16 > 0:53:19# When we're up together dancing cheek to cheek. #
0:53:24 > 0:53:27'The phrasing that Fred Astaire brings is so astounding.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29'I love the way he slides the voice generally.'
0:53:29 > 0:53:31# I'm in heaven Da-da daa-da. #
0:53:31 > 0:53:35It's really a master musician portamento effect, that.
0:53:35 > 0:53:41# Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak
0:53:41 > 0:53:48# When we're up together dancing cheek to cheek. #
0:53:48 > 0:53:52While rehearsing, Darcey gets a special visitor.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55- "Rehearsing Cheek To Cheek..." - "A swell tune."- "A swell tune."
0:53:55 > 0:53:59The perfect vernacular for the time!
0:54:00 > 0:54:04As a teenager, Ava Astaire travelled frequently with her father.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08Daddy and Ginger, they never fought.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12There's always all these stories about how
0:54:12 > 0:54:14they were fighting constantly
0:54:14 > 0:54:18and I really think that probably can be attributed
0:54:18 > 0:54:22to the dress that he had to fight
0:54:22 > 0:54:24when they did the number Cheek To Cheek.
0:54:24 > 0:54:29They got out there to do the shot and the feathers started shedding
0:54:29 > 0:54:34and they got up his nose and in his eyes and he lost his temper.
0:54:34 > 0:54:39And from that, legends have been built that they fought constantly
0:54:39 > 0:54:42but, actually, when the whole filming was over,
0:54:42 > 0:54:47they presented her with a gold feather for her charm bracelet.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49How funny.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52It is one of those magical pieces, when you watch Cheek To Cheek.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54You just go, "That dress, oh, my gosh, that dress."
0:54:54 > 0:54:58I can see why she wanted it and she did design it
0:54:58 > 0:55:02and it's just that they never rehearsed with those dresses,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04any of the costumes.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06They never did in those days.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10And there you are, the feathers down low there.
0:55:10 > 0:55:13Couturier to the stars and one of Princess Diana's
0:55:13 > 0:55:15favourite dress designers, Bruce Oldfield,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18is giving advice about the type of frock Darcey might wear.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23That dress, on its own, is a dog.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26And that dress needs a body in it and it needs a body who's dancing
0:55:26 > 0:55:28because it's this great, big bulky coat.
0:55:28 > 0:55:29Cos she was so petite,
0:55:29 > 0:55:32to put her in something that kind of covered her up.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Yeah, it's ridiculous. But, of course,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37it was a sublime dress in motion.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40A ghastly yeti of a frock.
0:55:40 > 0:55:42I've never seen somebody faff around with a dress
0:55:42 > 0:55:44that's in their mouth and she's like this.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47- Every time she went upside down, you couldn't see her face.- Yeah.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51So he would lunge with her, and the dress would be flapped over her face.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53It must have been...
0:55:53 > 0:55:55No, apparently, after that film, she was called Feathers,
0:55:55 > 0:55:57- that was her nickname. - Ah.- Yeah.
0:55:57 > 0:56:03- Amazing. So, can we look at it? A feel of that...- Of feathers, yeah.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06Chic to chic. Cheek to Cheek, not chic to chic!
0:56:06 > 0:56:11Yeah, it just needs flow at the hem, doesn't it? Um, what about this one?
0:56:11 > 0:56:15Cos this one has, you know, it's massively...
0:56:15 > 0:56:18There's a lot of dress there. This is a wedding dress.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20And, of course, if you danced in that,
0:56:20 > 0:56:22it would just keep moving after you.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25- Yeah.- It's very short. I've got such a long body.- Have you?
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Well, you might come out the top end, as well.
0:56:28 > 0:56:29- Thank you. - That wouldn't do.
0:56:29 > 0:56:31SHE LAUGHS
0:56:31 > 0:56:33Hello! Does it do up?
0:56:33 > 0:56:35- I don't know.- Ooh.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37Ginger. Ginger.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40Is it cos I've got to lower it? Cos my waist actually is tiny.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44I think it is, but then your boobs might jump out the top.
0:56:45 > 0:56:46Don't...
0:56:46 > 0:56:48THEY LAUGH
0:56:48 > 0:56:50That'll be exciting!
0:56:50 > 0:56:51THEY LAUGH
0:56:51 > 0:56:53No, it won't be.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56- Yeah, it looks great. - It is, it's so light.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00- It doesn't feel like it would knock anybody out, either.- Not even Fred.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02- Good old Fred.- No, exactly.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06But there's enough room under here for a couple of people.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10- Yeah, there is, yeah. - You might get lost. Beautiful.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15It's good also for your high kicks, if you decided you wanted to do any.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17The skirt goes with you, look at that.
0:57:17 > 0:57:18SHE LAUGHS
0:57:18 > 0:57:21- God, it went all the way up, your leg!- Oh, it still does.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25I'm amazed that your legs will go up that far.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28- That's very kind.- I didn't know that's where they're supposed to go.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30- Oh, really?- No.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33Downstairs, Bruce has another possibility.
0:57:33 > 0:57:38- Oh, wow!- Cos it's the same as the pink.- I love the colour.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41- It's lovely seeing it in the making as well.- Yeah.- The detail!
0:57:41 > 0:57:45- I think it will be very good for that scene.- Gorgeous.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48- Gorgeous, tell your auntie. - DOG WHINES
0:57:48 > 0:57:51- What is it, Baz, what's the matter? - Doesn't like the dress.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54Doesn't like the dress. "It's better in pink."
0:57:54 > 0:57:58Yeah, "Better in pink, why are you making another one?" It's gorgeous.
0:57:58 > 0:57:59Thank you.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05A week later, the Bruce Oldfield dress has arrived for a try-out.
0:58:05 > 0:58:06Oh, it's a bit big.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12Yeah, it could do with coming in a little bit.
0:58:12 > 0:58:16'The whole point of that Cheek To Cheek thing,'
0:58:16 > 0:58:21is that it feels like it's a floaty, fantasy, feathery thing.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26It's a little bit too structured, I think that's why.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30- So it would take away from the... - The steps.
0:58:34 > 0:58:38- I like women's backs and that completely negates...- The back.
0:58:38 > 0:58:43- I like seeing the back.- Yeah.- Cos that's the elegant part, isn't it?
0:58:43 > 0:58:45I mean, that does look beautiful, but it...
0:58:45 > 0:58:48It's pretty from the front, but it's not a dress, I suppose,
0:58:48 > 0:58:50- that you twiddle in.- No.
0:58:50 > 0:58:54So, the Oldfield dress, not so flexible in the back,
0:58:54 > 0:58:58is rejected in favour of something closer to the original.
0:59:02 > 0:59:04Cheek To Cheek is being filmed on location,
0:59:04 > 0:59:08and her new dress awaits her.
0:59:08 > 0:59:10This is the original dress that Darcey tried on.
0:59:10 > 0:59:13We've done a few alterations to it.
0:59:13 > 0:59:16We've put more feathers round the bottom,
0:59:16 > 0:59:18just to give it a bit more weight.
0:59:18 > 0:59:21Darcey felt like there should be more feathers
0:59:21 > 0:59:23around her head and shoulders.
0:59:23 > 0:59:26This has been shaken within an inch of its life,
0:59:26 > 0:59:29so we don't get any featherage.
0:59:38 > 0:59:43Take first positions. And...cue music.
0:59:49 > 0:59:53MUSIC: "Cheek To Cheek".
1:01:59 > 1:02:01By the early 50s,
1:02:01 > 1:02:05MGM was making half of all the musicals turned out by Hollywood.
1:02:05 > 1:02:09And, emboldened by success, the studio took the gamble
1:02:09 > 1:02:13of allowing one of its stars, Gene Kelly, to co-direct a movie.
1:02:13 > 1:02:15Hot dog! Hallelujah!
1:02:15 > 1:02:17Kelly jumped in with both feet
1:02:17 > 1:02:20and helped change the direction of movie musicals for ever.
1:02:20 > 1:02:24- What do you mean, the 24th? - It's 1:30 already, it's morning!
1:02:24 > 1:02:26Every person, when they wake up,
1:02:26 > 1:02:28should have Good Morning suddenly come on.
1:02:28 > 1:02:31- # Good morning. - Good morning.
1:02:31 > 1:02:33# We've talked the whole night through... #
1:02:33 > 1:02:36The third number that Darcey will be dancing is from
1:02:36 > 1:02:38one of Kelly's finest achievements,
1:02:38 > 1:02:41the ever-popular movie, Singin' In The Rain.
1:02:41 > 1:02:43# It's great to stay up late. #
1:02:43 > 1:02:46In Good Morning, she'll take the Debbie Reynolds role.
1:02:47 > 1:02:49When you compare Fred Astaire to Gene Kelly, I mean,
1:02:49 > 1:02:52Gene Kelly is more obviously handsome and hunky.
1:02:52 > 1:02:57And for that very reason, that is, apparent sexiness,
1:02:57 > 1:02:59plenty people will always prefer Gene Kelly.
1:02:59 > 1:03:03# Good morning Good morning to you.
1:03:03 > 1:03:04# And you and you and you. #
1:03:04 > 1:03:08If Fred Astaire is Champagne and caviar,
1:03:08 > 1:03:11then Gene Kelly was beer and a burger.
1:03:11 > 1:03:13He was the man's dancer.
1:03:13 > 1:03:15# New York, New York A wonderful town... #
1:03:15 > 1:03:19'The same old things are said about Fred and Gene all the time.
1:03:19 > 1:03:22'It's that Astaire was elegant and in top hat and tails
1:03:22 > 1:03:27'and Gene Kelly is the workmanlike, everyman guy.'
1:03:27 > 1:03:30'You know, he was happy being a builder or a sailor in everything.'
1:03:30 > 1:03:34The irony of it is that I think it was almost the opposite.
1:03:34 > 1:03:37You know, Astaire sort of fell into the top hat and tails,
1:03:37 > 1:03:41didn't really feel comfortable and was much more a casual kind of guy.
1:03:41 > 1:03:45'Gene Kelly was very sort of inspired by different forms of dance
1:03:45 > 1:03:49'and did look to higher things in terms of his dancing,
1:03:49 > 1:03:53'wanted to make a whole film using classical ballet dancers.'
1:03:53 > 1:03:55And you have to admire his ambition.
1:03:59 > 1:04:02Darcey will have not only to tap and use props,
1:04:02 > 1:04:06but also to follow the Gene Kelly trademark use of different levels.
1:04:08 > 1:04:12'I think this piece has great energy, it's got great wit.
1:04:12 > 1:04:16'You know, I wanted to see Darcey really have fun with it.'
1:04:16 > 1:04:18And I think that that combination, all over the set,
1:04:18 > 1:04:22with the levels would be a great challenge for her too.
1:04:25 > 1:04:30'In Good Morning, settees, mackintoshes,'
1:04:30 > 1:04:33anything you wanted, whatever was lying about, almost -
1:04:33 > 1:04:35"Let's augment that into the number."
1:04:41 > 1:04:47It's just such a unique bit cos Gene uses all these props
1:04:47 > 1:04:49as part of his choreography.
1:04:49 > 1:04:52And props terrify me.
1:04:54 > 1:04:57Three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
1:04:59 > 1:05:01Halfway through rehearsals
1:05:01 > 1:05:04and Gene Kelly's daughter, Kerry Kelly Novick, has come to watch.
1:05:04 > 1:05:07- Hello.- Hi, I'm Darcey.- I'm Kerry. - Thank you for coming.
1:05:07 > 1:05:11- I am very happy to be here. - I am Kim.- Glad to meet you.
1:05:11 > 1:05:13- This is Nathan.- Hello. - Nice to meet you.
1:05:13 > 1:05:17MUSIC: "Good Morning" by Brown and Freed
1:05:23 > 1:05:25Whoo!
1:05:25 > 1:05:27- Single!- Yeah!
1:05:33 > 1:05:34Ay-ya!
1:05:36 > 1:05:40And two, and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
1:05:45 > 1:05:47Hup!
1:05:49 > 1:05:51So we make a cut there.
1:05:51 > 1:05:55Gene Kelly had such an athletic body.
1:05:55 > 1:05:57I suppose that is why he loved all the props
1:05:57 > 1:06:01- and didn't worry about jumping off anything, but she did.- But he was 40.
1:06:01 > 1:06:03When he did Good Morning he was 40?
1:06:03 > 1:06:05- Yes.- OK, then I don't feel so bad now!
1:06:05 > 1:06:08- There's a parallel! - Yeah, there's a parallel!
1:06:08 > 1:06:13- Was he...?- Did you watch this piece on the set when they did it?
1:06:13 > 1:06:16Yeah, because Singin' In The Rain was shot in the summer,
1:06:16 > 1:06:19so I was on summer vacation so I was I was hanging out a lot.
1:06:19 > 1:06:22- I was eight... - It's amazing what you remember.
1:06:22 > 1:06:25..And Debbie Reynolds was 18.
1:06:25 > 1:06:30I thought she was the most wonderful person and she was extremely sweet.
1:06:30 > 1:06:33MUSIC PLAYS
1:06:37 > 1:06:41Singin' In The Rain - do you have any...?
1:06:41 > 1:06:43Did he tell you what that was like to rehearse?
1:06:43 > 1:06:45Doing all those dance moves in the rain?
1:06:45 > 1:06:49They rehearsed it without the rain, a lot,
1:06:49 > 1:06:52but then it took them two days to shoot.
1:06:52 > 1:06:59And he was wearing a grey tweed suit with a Norfolk jacket, a heavy suit
1:06:59 > 1:07:01and it's California in the summer
1:07:01 > 1:07:04and the rainwater was sort of tepid, I think.
1:07:04 > 1:07:10'By the end of the first day, he was running a temperature of 103
1:07:10 > 1:07:14'and getting pneumonia because he was in the wet suit all day.'
1:07:15 > 1:07:17'He shot it really sick.'
1:07:17 > 1:07:20- 'Wow.'- 'He did do it?'- 'Of course.'
1:07:25 > 1:07:29Singin' In The Rain was co-directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen.
1:07:29 > 1:07:33Now 87, he's lost none of his bite.
1:07:33 > 1:07:35Singin' In The Rain was a movie
1:07:35 > 1:07:37that you found yourself collaborating on.
1:07:37 > 1:07:40- What was it like?- Hell!
1:07:41 > 1:07:45Who could like co-directing?
1:07:45 > 1:07:49I don't want to have to prove myself to my partner.
1:07:49 > 1:07:54And he outweighed me because he was the star of the picture.
1:07:54 > 1:07:56It said "Gene Kelly".
1:07:56 > 1:08:00I was the director, at least that was my feeling,
1:08:00 > 1:08:01and Gene was the star.
1:08:01 > 1:08:05But he was the co-director and I hated it.
1:08:05 > 1:08:08- Did you co-choreograph?- Yes.
1:08:08 > 1:08:12- Was that equally difficult?- Worse.
1:08:12 > 1:08:15Yes, because that's very physical.
1:08:15 > 1:08:20Not something I enjoyed and I don't think it was something he enjoyed.
1:08:20 > 1:08:23MUSIC PLAYS
1:08:37 > 1:08:41No matter where that balance is, unless you're all taking
1:08:41 > 1:08:44the weight off the back foot at the same time...
1:08:44 > 1:08:50- Just keep the pressure going. Find where it is.- And...- Go.
1:08:59 > 1:09:01'It is not fun making movies.'
1:09:01 > 1:09:05'Even if they are supposed to be about fun.
1:09:05 > 1:09:07It ain't laughs and joy, and, "Isn't this great?".
1:09:07 > 1:09:10It's not. It's tough.
1:09:14 > 1:09:17'It was inch by inch.'
1:09:17 > 1:09:21It's, "This is good enough for a few seconds or a few bars,
1:09:21 > 1:09:23"now what?"
1:09:23 > 1:09:26And you have to come up with a new idea to carry on.
1:09:26 > 1:09:28Then you go...
1:09:30 > 1:09:34'It was a step-by-step idea.'
1:09:36 > 1:09:41'"It works up to there, but now it seems to be lousy. What's wrong?
1:09:41 > 1:09:44'"Take it out, change it, turn it upside down."
1:09:44 > 1:09:48'That's the way it is to choreograph that particular number.'
1:09:48 > 1:09:50'It's not... It doesn't...'
1:09:50 > 1:09:55The only idea behind that number is they are happy dancing together.
1:09:57 > 1:10:03'And happy dancing is not a great idea. We've all seen it a lot.'
1:10:06 > 1:10:09'So you have to come up with great invention.'
1:10:13 > 1:10:17'I don't know that it was great, but it was at least invention.'
1:10:24 > 1:10:26Singin' In The Rain was also step-by-step.
1:10:26 > 1:10:33If you look at it, you will see him dancing and splashing in puddles.
1:10:33 > 1:10:36'Those puddles have to be selected, the beat they're on,
1:10:36 > 1:10:40'how big it is, how much water it is, where does he go?
1:10:40 > 1:10:43'They have to be dug out of the cement.'
1:10:46 > 1:10:48It's inch by inch.
1:10:48 > 1:10:50It's not, "I have got a great idea,
1:10:50 > 1:10:53"he's going to splash in the puddles." Now what?
1:10:55 > 1:10:59'You have to work out exactly which puddle, how does he splash in it?
1:10:59 > 1:11:02'Where is it? What's the dance step?
1:11:02 > 1:11:03'How does it fall in the music?'
1:11:03 > 1:11:06That's choreography.
1:11:06 > 1:11:08# I'm dancin'
1:11:08 > 1:11:10# And singin'
1:11:10 > 1:11:13- # In the rain.- #
1:11:23 > 1:11:26MUSIC PLAYS
1:13:05 > 1:13:10Gene Kelly had arrived but Fred Astaire had not gone away.
1:13:10 > 1:13:14In fact, he returned with a vengeance in this movie,
1:13:14 > 1:13:17discovering in the process a whole new range of invention.
1:13:19 > 1:13:23This is from a film The Band Wagon.
1:13:23 > 1:13:25I think it's one of my most favourite scenes
1:13:25 > 1:13:29from some of these films because the choreography is just extraordinary,
1:13:29 > 1:13:30actually quite comical.
1:13:32 > 1:13:38But just perfect for the scene because it's all set in a nightclub.
1:13:40 > 1:13:43There are all these gangsters and their girls.
1:13:46 > 1:13:50Fred Astaire also found a brand-new partner,
1:13:50 > 1:13:53the extraordinary Cyd Charisse.
1:13:54 > 1:13:58Cyd Charisse plays these two women.
1:13:58 > 1:14:04The major, sultry woman - here she comes in her beautiful red dress.
1:14:07 > 1:14:10'It's very sexy, but kind of classy and sexy.'
1:14:16 > 1:14:19'Cyd Charisse is my favourite.'
1:14:19 > 1:14:24She was so tall. She had such an elegance, such a presence about her.
1:14:27 > 1:14:31'It's incredible to think that that was done in 53.
1:14:31 > 1:14:33'We're talking over 50 years ago,
1:14:33 > 1:14:36'and yet it's modern. It's up-to-date.
1:14:36 > 1:14:39'It could be a Michael Jackson number. Smooth Criminal.
1:14:39 > 1:14:43'That is one of my iconic numbers,'
1:14:43 > 1:14:45mainly because it's totally unexpected.
1:14:45 > 1:14:48It is not what you expect Fred Astaire to be doing.
1:14:51 > 1:14:54'Astaire is now in his 50s.'
1:14:54 > 1:14:56He was a workaholic, a perfectionist.
1:14:57 > 1:14:59He didn't love to give it...
1:14:59 > 1:15:02He wanted to keep it ongoing, just in the right circumstances.
1:15:02 > 1:15:04And he needed the right partner.
1:15:04 > 1:15:08In Darcey's final number, she'll be exploring the Cyd Charisse role
1:15:08 > 1:15:10In The Girl-Hunt from The Band Wagon.
1:15:10 > 1:15:12'He was inspired by Cyd Charisse
1:15:12 > 1:15:14'who had come from the classical ballet world,'
1:15:14 > 1:15:18but interestingly really blossomed in film.
1:15:18 > 1:15:21Apparently she never had any stamina at all.
1:15:21 > 1:15:25It suited her perfectly to do these shots and then have a rest,
1:15:25 > 1:15:26then do something else!
1:15:26 > 1:15:31'But she's one of the most beautiful dancers ever captured on screen
1:15:31 > 1:15:34'and probably one of the most viewed dancers of all time.'
1:15:36 > 1:15:39'Fred Astaire in his memoirs talks about Cyd Charisse.
1:15:39 > 1:15:43'He says, "When you've danced with Cyd Charisse you stay danced with."'
1:15:51 > 1:15:54- Hi.- How are you?- Thank you for coming to meet me.
1:15:54 > 1:15:57- My pleasure. - Come and sit down.
1:15:57 > 1:16:02Darcey has come to meet choreographer Lavelle Smith Jr
1:16:02 > 1:16:05who was a dancer in Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal video...
1:16:05 > 1:16:09- Right here. That was me. See that bad dancing?- No!
1:16:09 > 1:16:13- Bad dancing! - That wasn't bad. That was great.
1:16:13 > 1:16:15..which itself paid direct homage to The Girl-Hunt number.
1:16:15 > 1:16:17# Smooth criminal. #
1:16:23 > 1:16:27'Do you remember watching that with Michael Jackson,
1:16:27 > 1:16:29'that scene with Fred Astaire?'
1:16:29 > 1:16:32I remember watching it and thinking, "Wow!"
1:16:32 > 1:16:35When I started watching it with him he explained that he would go
1:16:35 > 1:16:39to this guy's house, Fred Astaire's house, and learn how to tap,
1:16:39 > 1:16:40- talk about making movies.- Really?
1:16:40 > 1:16:44Yes, Fred Astaire told him that they took their time.
1:16:44 > 1:16:46They didn't skimp on that.
1:16:46 > 1:16:48He'll do it again and again, and that was Michael.
1:16:48 > 1:16:52You would have to smile and bear it because we would do it
1:16:52 > 1:16:55until our bodies told us what was next.
1:16:56 > 1:17:00'What I notice when you see Michael Jackson's work
1:17:00 > 1:17:05'and Fred Astaire's, is that it's very clean'
1:17:05 > 1:17:09and you can actually see everything, every movement left behind.
1:17:09 > 1:17:12- Yeah, I love that. - Like a sparkler - when you do this
1:17:12 > 1:17:14and you can see the line after it's finished.
1:17:14 > 1:17:16That's a great analysis. Yes.
1:17:16 > 1:17:20Everything is so clean and, as you said,
1:17:20 > 1:17:23it does come down to rehearsals.
1:17:23 > 1:17:26Yes, to rehearsal. Smooth Criminal took three months to do.
1:17:26 > 1:17:29- Three months?- Someone reminded me this morning
1:17:29 > 1:17:32- that it was really only eight minutes.- Wow.
1:17:32 > 1:17:36- There you go. But we'll never forget it.- We'll never.
1:17:36 > 1:17:40# Then you ran into the bedroom You were struck down
1:17:40 > 1:17:42# It was your doom... #
1:17:42 > 1:17:45# So sexy
1:17:45 > 1:17:49# Tonight I am all yours... #
1:17:49 > 1:17:51And its influence continues...
1:17:51 > 1:17:56# The way your body... #
1:17:56 > 1:17:59..to Beyonce and beyond.
1:17:59 > 1:18:01HE HUMS
1:18:01 > 1:18:07In this final number, Kim Gavin is reinventing The Girl-Hunt sequence
1:18:07 > 1:18:09from The Band Wagon For Darcey.
1:18:11 > 1:18:15'This section from Band Wagon, called The Girl-Hunt Ballet
1:18:15 > 1:18:19'has riddled its way up to today,'
1:18:19 > 1:18:23and we want to try and do is take it and do our version
1:18:23 > 1:18:28with Darcey being the forefront, the Cyd Charisse character.
1:18:30 > 1:18:33'And put a new soundtrack, new dance,
1:18:33 > 1:18:39'bring in some ensemble to create a dynamic piece,'
1:18:39 > 1:18:42based on or influenced by The Band Wagon.
1:18:45 > 1:18:50'I'm hoping that we can surround her with a great team as well,
1:18:50 > 1:18:52'and that she's part of that team,
1:18:52 > 1:18:55'unlike the other numbers which are very much stand-alone pieces.'
1:18:58 > 1:19:01I wanted her to fit within the group a little bit more.
1:19:03 > 1:19:05Look at that!
1:19:09 > 1:19:12But it does not need it flatter.
1:19:12 > 1:19:16It almost needs for you to kind of go up that way.
1:19:18 > 1:19:21A different direction?
1:19:21 > 1:19:27So that I am seeing you go over there, not up there and coming down.
1:19:29 > 1:19:31That would be better.
1:19:31 > 1:19:34- Then you have somewhere to go. - It gives us more room.
1:19:34 > 1:19:38- That works. That's better. - Let him go round.- Yes.
1:19:38 > 1:19:40- Then we will have time for it as well.- Yes.
1:19:42 > 1:19:45'You do have to get yourself in a very different mindset
1:19:45 > 1:19:48'for a piece like this. It's much more grounded.'
1:19:48 > 1:19:50Nothing's ever fully stretched.
1:19:50 > 1:19:53Even though Kim has asked for a couple of things
1:19:53 > 1:19:56that are probably more authentic to me,
1:19:56 > 1:20:00'everything is very into the ground and very fast.
1:20:00 > 1:20:04'The beat is incredibly important. And it just looks,
1:20:04 > 1:20:06'when it goes like that...
1:20:06 > 1:20:09'And I am learning off the girls I'm around.'
1:20:11 > 1:20:14'I'm enjoying watching them a lot,
1:20:14 > 1:20:17'just watching their little nuances.'
1:20:17 > 1:20:19The way they touch their head,
1:20:19 > 1:20:22or move or anything like that is really nice to see.
1:20:24 > 1:20:27I will have more inhibitions about things like that.
1:20:28 > 1:20:32'I'm just finding things like putting your shoulder up.'
1:20:34 > 1:20:37In classical ballet, we'd be very inclined
1:20:37 > 1:20:41to make sure the distance between your chin and your shoulder
1:20:41 > 1:20:45is always long and if I did a move like that, I'd have distance.
1:20:45 > 1:20:48Here it's really happy to do a roll.
1:20:52 > 1:20:55'I think it's very much the flavour of the piece as well.'
1:20:59 > 1:21:05Kind of rum, dirty, but keeping it classy at the same time.
1:21:16 > 1:21:19You kind of run in.
1:21:19 > 1:21:24Finally Darcey is back on set with the ensemble of other dancers
1:21:24 > 1:21:28to shoot Kim's reinvention of the hugely influential The Girl-Hunt
1:21:28 > 1:21:31with its newly commissioned score.
1:21:39 > 1:21:41'It was late and it was quiet.'
1:21:44 > 1:21:46'The city breathed slowly,
1:21:46 > 1:21:50'caught in a dream, though nightmares hid in every shadow.
1:21:50 > 1:21:55'The name's Riley. I am a police detective.
1:21:55 > 1:21:58'I got a tip that something big was going down
1:21:58 > 1:22:00'and I wanted a piece of it.'
1:22:10 > 1:22:13'This was no place for a kid like her.'
1:22:18 > 1:22:23'She had eyes that were once bright and twice as scared.
1:22:23 > 1:22:27'She was the girl I wanted to protect and serve...forever.'
1:22:38 > 1:22:41'I knew this wasn't what it seemed, but what was it?
1:22:41 > 1:22:45'I guess there's only one way to find out.'
1:22:45 > 1:22:51# Hey, yeah!
1:22:53 > 1:22:54# Ooh
1:22:56 > 1:22:58# Yeah
1:22:58 > 1:23:01# Everybody's shaking and making those looks at you
1:23:01 > 1:23:04# I just won a bet with the band
1:23:06 > 1:23:11# Yeah
1:23:21 > 1:23:25# Ooh-oh, ow! #
1:23:55 > 1:23:59'She had legs longer than a millionaire's cheque-book
1:23:59 > 1:24:01'but no one could afford to make this mistake.'
1:24:14 > 1:24:16'You could cut the tension with a knife.'
1:24:18 > 1:24:22'This girl was bad. This girl was dangerous.'
1:24:31 > 1:24:32# Yeah, she moves with danger
1:24:32 > 1:24:36# Yeah, she talks in tongues Don't think you can change her
1:24:36 > 1:24:38# Now look what you've done
1:24:38 > 1:24:42# Now she's got the motive Now she's shot the gun
1:24:42 > 1:24:47# She could tempt you and play you and catch you if you run
1:24:47 > 1:24:50# Stop her before you fall in love
1:24:50 > 1:24:52# Because you ain't secure If you're wanting more
1:24:52 > 1:24:55# But a little unsure then you already need the cure
1:24:55 > 1:24:58# Trust me there's more there really is
1:24:58 > 1:25:00# Stirring it everywhere
1:25:00 > 1:25:02# The way she's making you stare and flicking her hair
1:25:02 > 1:25:04# Crush her now Just crush her now
1:25:04 > 1:25:08# She moves with danger Yeah, she talks in tongues
1:25:08 > 1:25:13# Don't think you can change her Now look what you've done
1:25:13 > 1:25:16# Now she's got the motive Now she's shot the gun
1:25:16 > 1:25:20# She could tempt you and play you and catch you if you run
1:25:20 > 1:25:22# Yeah. #
1:25:48 > 1:25:53'This case was closed but I still had some unfinished business.
1:25:53 > 1:25:58'The girl was bad, the girl was dangerous,
1:25:58 > 1:26:00'but that's my kind of girl.'
1:26:09 > 1:26:13Soon after The Band Wagon was released, rock and roll arrived
1:26:13 > 1:26:17and a certain romantic innocence was lost forever.
1:26:17 > 1:26:21'Dance is dependent on the music and unfortunately
1:26:21 > 1:26:25'that type of music, the foxtrots, the waltzes,'
1:26:25 > 1:26:28and the gliding glamorous dances,
1:26:28 > 1:26:33the music went and with it the dancing went, unfortunately.
1:26:34 > 1:26:36As popular music changed,
1:26:36 > 1:26:41movie musicals seemed out of tune with the times.
1:26:41 > 1:26:45But the stars of the golden age were never outshone.
1:26:46 > 1:26:49'What I learnt about Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly
1:26:49 > 1:26:51'is they were geniuses
1:26:51 > 1:26:56'and they had set a mark incredibly high for their time,'
1:26:56 > 1:26:59on their choreographic skills, their dance ability,
1:26:59 > 1:27:02that people are still trying to emulate today.
1:27:06 > 1:27:09'They had such a distinctive quality of their own
1:27:09 > 1:27:12'that they were able to create something unique.'
1:27:14 > 1:27:16'The detail, precision
1:27:16 > 1:27:20'and discipline that goes behind rehearsing these numbers...'
1:27:20 > 1:27:22# I'm happy again. #
1:27:24 > 1:27:27..Hopefully we got a little essence of that.
1:28:01 > 1:28:03I say there!
1:28:03 > 1:28:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
1:28:06 > 1:28:09E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk