Let's Talk About All That Dancing at the Oscars

February 24, 2013

I expected the borderline-inappropriate jokes. I expected the appearance by Ted (sighhhhh). I even kind of expected the tribute to boobs on film.

But what I didn’t expect from Seth MacFarlane’s turn as host of the Academy Awards was a whole bunch of dance numbers. Dance! And here I was thinking the Busby Berkeley-style opening to “Family Guy” was a joke! Who knew that Mr. MacFarlane, the modern master of the fart joke, was a legitimate song-and-dance man?

Anyway, I think I’m not alone in feeling that the dancing elevated what could otherwise have been a very “meh” Oscars show. Let’s run down all of the fun dance-y numbers, shall we?

We got off to a strange but, let’s be honest, hilarious start with the boobs song. I know, it’s terrible and tasteless and everything everyone hates about Seth MacFarlane, but c’mon. It was funny, and not less so thanks to the troupe of tux-clad backup dancers.

Next up, my personal favorite: Charlize Theron (who studied at NYC’s Joffrey Ballet School!) and Channing Tatum channeling Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in an elegant foxtrot that was even better for being totally unexpected.

Then we were treated to a cute little softshoe by Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Harry Potter’s dance skills could use a little polishing, but points for effort—and Gordon-Levitt looked pretty darn legit. (Remember that time he redid the entire “Make ‘Em Laugh” number from Singin’ in the Rain on “Saturday Night Live”? I’m striking out in my search for video of the performance, but trust me: It was amazing.)

And then there was that big ol’ reworking of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. It wasn’t the biggest hit of the night, but I’m never really going to knock any production of a classic Disney song. Plus it featured some of DS‘s fave dancers, including Alex Wong, Spencer Liff, Cody Green and Jaimie Goodwin.


(I can’t find any good video of this number, so you’ll have to settle for a screenshot from the original instead. Just pretend Lumière is Seth MacFarlane. Not such a stretch, actually.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last but certainly not least: Catherine Zeta-Jones and a Fosse chorus in “All That Jazz” from Chicago. Girl’s still got it! And it was another chance for our dancer friends to show off a little, too.

My only regret is that Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence didn’t get to re-enact their so-bad-it’s-awesome dance from Silver Linings Playbook. But I guess the two of them had other things on their minds, what with being nominated for Academy Awards and everything.

(Side note: Jennifer Lawrence. You are amazing. You basically fell on your face last night and it only made everyone, myself included, love you more. I feel like you and Emma Stone and maybe Sandra Bullock should hang out and be awesome and funny and super-stylish together.)