Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest

You know when you like something but you just don't realise how much you like it until it suddenly hits you? Well I've just realised that dance scenes in films are probably one of my favourite things. It's just a bit great when a good song starts and the characters boogie along. In a way it sort of gives you some relief or a break from the story while at the same time still telling the story. So in no particular order here are some of my all time favourite movie dance scenes...

In Romy And Michele's High School Reunion, right after Romy and Michele redeem themselves after lying about what they've been doing for the past ten years (inventing post-it notes in particular) Alan Cumming's character asks to dance, and of course they do, to Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, and it is hilariously good. Their dance moves are so fucking corny and fantastic (as we've seen earlier in the film when Romy and Michele are dancing at a club together) and the finishing pose just tops it all off. And then they hop into a private helicopter! It is a gleefully great way to end what should have been a tragic high school reunion.



Little Edie's flag dance in Grey Gardens is obviously not a completely pre-planned effort considering the film is a documentary, but that doesn't mean it's not fantastic. Poor Little Edie just wants to be a star and this scene really shows that as she's fantasising about the life she could have had. She looks like she's having so much fun, when in other parts of the film she looks so sad trapped in that house with her mother.



The prostitutes in David Lynch's three hour film Inland Empire dancing to The Locomotion seems to come out of nowhere and then ends so abruptly. It's just so bizarre! But what else would you expect from the wonderful Mr. Lynch? I find it so great that he added this little scene into the long film (which seems to follow similar themes of Hollywood disillusionment as the earlier Mulholland Drive), it helps to add a bit of contrast to the dark film.



Another favourite of mine is the ghost-controlled dance to Harry Belafonte's Day-O (Banana Boat Song) in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice. Alex Baldwin and Geena Davis' ghost characters are trying to scare the people who have moved into their house out of their house by puppeteering them in a song and dance, but it all goes wrong when the guests enjoy it. I've watched it countless times on YouTube and I always somehow believe that they're not controlling their own actions. This is not the only fantastic dance scene in Beetlejuice. A very honorable mention goes to the final scene with Winona Ryder's character Lydia Deetz floating in the air and dancing to another Harry Belafonte song, Jump In The Line (Shake, Senora) along with household items and the dead football team.



And finally, of course a very famous dance scene, arguably one of the best ever, is from the Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest scene from Quentin Tarantino's cult classic Pulp Fiction. This scene has become iconic and Uma Thurman and John Travolta are absolutely magnificent in it, all the while being assisted with a great song by Chuck Berry. The dance moves in this scene have become synonymous with Pulp Fiction, and to put it simply it's just fucking cool.



In my opinion a dance scene can just add a little something extra to a film, so I think it's always fantastic for a film maker to chuck a dance scene in, as long as it has a great song and great choreography like the ones I've mentioned. I'd like to know what are some of your favourite movie dance scenes?