2.2 Further Evolution of Dance in Film

The period after 1945 is characterized in particular by screen adaptations of numerous Broadway musicals, some of whose innovative choreographies have remained influential in the making of music videos (e.g., West Side Story, US 1961, dir. Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins). From the late 1970s onward, the genre of films featuring dance numbers received fresh impetus from films such as Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance (USA 1983, dir. Adrian Lyne), and Dirty Dancing (USA 1987, dir. Emile Ardolino). Musically, each of these films is characterized by a distinctive soundtrack on whose style the choreographies are based. In recent years, dance has featured in particular in documentary films (Rhythm Is It!, GER 2004, dir. Thomas Grube, Enrique Sánchez Lansch) and in fictional films in which it becomes an engine for social advancement (Take the Lead, USA 2006, dir. Liz Friedlander); sometimes the two elements are combined (Rize, USA 2005, dir. David LaChapelle).