There was some interesting discussion in this thread, but as a kind of shortcut, here are what I think are the best Charlestons:
First, two danced by Ginger Rogers, starting with a Charleston scene from Roxie Hart (1942):
Originally Posted by
kassieq:
“Love the Charleston, great fun, great music. Here is an argument for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myq6h...eature=related”
Then one from one of the Lucy shows:
Originally Posted by
BuddyBontheNet:
“I don't want graceful, I want fun!
I like this one!”
They have: plenty of dancing, no rubbish non-dance acrobatics, minimal (for a Charleston) gurning and ham acting, and no irritating criss-cross hands on knees nonsense.
I do not think there will be any Charlestons like that in SCD, but I'd love to be proved wrong.
Originally Posted by
BuddyBontheNet:
“LOL! I do know what you mean!
This couple dancing a Lindy Hop and Charleston routine make it look smooth and effortless - it doesn't have to be chunky and angular. There are no fancy frills and you can't even see the dancers faces, just their silhouettes. See what you think (ignore the weird start).
”
That one's also relatively good, and well worth watching, though I can't help thinking it would have been better of they'd left out the Charleston aspects. Also, since it's silhouettes, it takes out much that comes with gurning and over-acting.
If someone on SCD did a Charleston in that style, that well, I'd at least have to admit it deserved high marks.
But as other Charleston clips show, a Charleston can have a lot of ham acting, gurning, pointlessly exaggerated and distorted positions, and even acrobatics, rather than dancing.
I thought
Ali and Brian's was
by far the best of last year's SCD Charlestons.