One of the Best

I came home this morning after my medical visit (see the previous post if you dare), and Brigadoon was playing on Turner Classic Movies. When I first bought a DVD player years ago, one of the first movies that I and the partner-at-the-time (PATT) purchased was Brigadoon. I love that movie, and in particular, I love watching Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse dancing together in it. One of the most romantic dances in musical history is the two of them gathering heather on a hillside. Just a wonderful, magical film.

Imagine my sadness when I opened today's paper and discovered that Charisse had passed away on Tuesday. What a tremendous loss. She was always my favorite dancer at MGM because she was so lithe and sexy. She could make a mere movement of her hips into an event. She was always cast as an exotic creature, almost otherworldly in her beauty and her talent. I was always transfixed when she came on the screen.

Thankfully, we still have her performances to remember her. I will never forget seeing her for the first time in Singin' in the Rain. She has no lines in that film, just an incredible dance in a smoky nightclub with Kelly. She's terrific in The Band Wagon too, one of the best musicals ever made. Well, she was terrific in every movie she was in. She brought a sense of glamour and beauty that we won't see again.

I want to mention one of her later credits. Long after the era of movie musicals had passed--at least, in the classical sense of the genre--she made an appearance in a Janet Jackson music video. The song is "Alright," and the video is primarily a tribute to Cab Calloway, who also appears (as do the fabulous Nicholas Brothers). Charisse walks out of a dress shop and dances briefly with Jackson in front of the store. I was probably the only guy watching MTV in Mississippi who knew that it was Charisse (well, maybe not, but there weren't many of us), but just her brief moment on the screen was electrifying. Jackson was paying tribute to some of the great dancers of the past, and we've lost them all now. Go watch the video and let the smile come back to your face. (You don't need a link from me; you have YouTube as one of your bookmarks anyway.)