The best things happen while you're dancing

Here is a video clip with Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen dancing and singing the song "The best things happen while you're dancing" from the film White Christmas from 1954.



I'll take a short break for a couple of days during Christmas. In the mean time, why don't you tell me what your favorite blog post of this year has been or what you like to see next year.

I wish you a Merry Christmas!

What do you think of this video clip from White Christmas? Tell me.

A Song Is Born: How to use jazz to save a damsel in distress

A bunch of music professors somehow get taken hostage by mobsters and uses swing music to get free to save the damsel in distress from being forced to marry the mob leader. That is the setup for this video clip from the movie "A song is born" (1948).

The music professors are helped by no others than Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet and Danny Kaye.



The song is the clip is Flying Home that was written by Lionel Hampton and Benny Goodman. A Song Is Born" is a remake of the film "Ball Of Fire" (1941).

Have you seen "A Song Is Born"? What do you think of it? Tell me.

Danny Kaye sings "Ballin' the Jack"

Have you ever wanted to learn to dance Ballin' the Jack? Here is your chance.

Danny Kaye shows you how it's done when he sings "Ballin' the Jack" in this video clip from the movie "On the Riviera" from 1951. The woman looking at him is actress Gene Tierney.



Ballin' the Jack is an old dance that according to the book Social Dancing in America: A History and Reference Volume 2 Lindy Hop to Hip Hop, 1901-2000 (page 7-8) was invented in California around 1901-1905 and then was popularised through the theatre production Darktown Follies in 1911.

"Another popular dance from the Darktown Follies was Ballin' the Jack. Historian Willis Lawrence stated that the term "Ballin' the Jack" was a nineteenth century railroad expression that meant "travelling fast and having a good time"."

If you know of any other sources of information about the dance, let me know.

What do you think of Danny Kaye showing how to dance Ballin' the Jack? Tell me.