Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Gwen Verdon, Dancing Queen

Some of you may be asking, who the hell is Gwen Verdon? In the 50s and the 60s she was considered the best dancer on Broadway and won 4 Tony Awards. She also won a Grammy and was nominated for 3 Emmy Awards (inlcuding one for an appearance on Magnum P.I.). She is proably best known for starring in Damn Yankees (on Broadway and in the film version) and for her marriage to Bob Fosse. Recently, someone decided that her dance moves (choreographed by Bob Fosse and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show) were a good fit to Unk's Walk It Out. I think the new version is interesting because it makes her groovy moves seem almost tawdry, but I think I prefer the original Mexican Breakfast version. I have included both. You can decide for yourself.


Gwen Verdon - Mexican Breakfast


And then she Walks it Out


4 comments:

mad said...

Heh, all along I thought you were a young pineapple. The 50s?

pineapple said...

No way! The 70s. I'm just a freak for pop culture...

Devans00 said...

Thanks for showing the original.

The fact that the choreography works for music 40 years apart is pretty cool.

pineapple said...

Devans00: Gwen Verdon and Bob fosse had a strange relationship, but put his ideas with her moves and it was pure magic.