Follow the Fleet Astaire, Fred performer Rogers, Ginger performer Film 1936-02-20 RKO Fred Astaire, chor; Hermes Pan, asst. chor. Irving Berlin, music Astaire and Rogers cast as former sweethearts and dance partners (in an act billed as "High-Class Patter and Genteel Dancing") who meet and quickly rekindle their romance. Dance numbers include"Let Yourself Go" performed in a dance hall in the middle of a dance competition, which forces them to invent wildly eccentric steps (fluttering jumps in place, leg wiggles, funky sidling steps evolving into mock-serious, limp-armed promenades; "I'd Rather Lead A Band" which has Astaire conducting the band through rhythmic bounces of the body and which investigates the effect on dance of various changes in tempo (running ahead of, catching up with, imitating directly the beat) and which concludes with rapid tapping and lethargic spins; "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" which begins with loose-armed shuffles (a move which becomes the signature of the dance) and wittily choreographed "mistake" steps in which Rogers gets stuck on a step and repeats its endlessly while Astaire goes on and then has to break off in order to get back in the groove (or out of her rut) and finally leads them into synchronization; "Let's Face the Music and Dance" (2'50" of dancing in one continuous shot) which combines exotic promenades, spurts of movement from expressive stillness, dashes, spins and hops as they face each other in a cascade of partnered ballroom tapping. Performing Arts Encyclopedia http://www.loc.gov/performingarts Frank, Rusty E.: Tap! The Greatest Tap Dance Stars and their Stories 1900-1955. New York, William Morrow. (1990). Mueller, John: Astaire Dancing: The Musical Films. New York: Knopf (1985). Tap Dance America http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/tda/tda-home.html Fred Astaire (biography) loc.music.tdabio.16 tda IHAS 151216 loc.music.tda.105