Come Dance with Me Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vernon and Irene Castle

Vernon and Irene Castle were celebrity darlings in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Vernon, who was born Vernon Blyth in Norwich, England, in 1887, emigrated to the US in 1906 and joined his sister and brother-in-law in the theatre. He was a dancing comedian in Lew Field's review.

Irene (1893-1969) and Vernon met at the New Rochelle Rowing Club in 1910. Irene, who had theatrical ambitions of her own, was the daughter of a prominent physician and her parents did not approve of either her ambitions or of Vernon. Despite her parents' opposition, the couple married in 1911 and set sail for Paris to appear in a short-lived show there as dancers. The show might have flopped, but Vernon and Irene were a hit and were offered a contract by the celebrated Café de Paris. They became instant stars and the rage of Paris.

On their return to the US in 1912 Vernon and Irene went about cementing their celebrity status. They starred on Broadway in hit show after hit show, they opened a chain of ballroom dancing schools and a nightclub, endorsed any number of products, including the Victrola gramophone, and became fashion icons. In the latter category, Irene led the way to shorter skirts for women (her clothes were copied everywhere) and bobbed hair (the Irene Castle Bob encouraged women all over the world to cut off their long tresses for the freedom of shorter hair).

The couple introduced the Tango to worldwide audiences, and also introduced their own signature dance the "Castle Walk", the" Turkey Trot" and the oddly-named "Grizzly Bear". Moreover, they made 'close dancing' respectable, and dancing cheek-to-cheek was no longer considered scandalous!

When the Great War broke out in 1914, Vernon and Irene took part in benefits for the European war effort, and Vernon eventually returned to England to join the Royal Flying Corps. After flying several missions over France and scoring two 'downs' of enemy planes, he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre. A wound put paid to his stint as a combat pilot and he was transferred to Canada as a flying instructor. When the US entered the war in 1917, he was sent to Texas to train American pilots. He was killed in a crash during a training flight on February 15, 1918.

In 1939 RKO Pictures made 'The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle', starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Irene acted as consultant for the project and it is one of the few film biographies that is relatively faithful to the events it depicts. However, when Walter Brennan was cast as the Foote family servant, Walter, who became general factotum in the Castle household when Irene and Vernon married, Irene was most upset. She pointed out most emphatically that Walter was black! Hollywood at that time was not nearly as advanced in its understanding of equality as Vernon and Irene had been. The Castles were the first to appoint a black musical director for their shows, with an orchestra made up of musicians from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and their agent/manager was openly lesbian in an era when gays were ostracized by society.

With regard to the other choices: Fred and Adele didn't make their Broadway debut until 1917, Fred and Ginger didn't dance together until 1933, and Marge and Gower Champion weren't even born when Vernon Castle was killed.

Answer: Marge and Gower Champion

The routine to which the question refers occurs in the MGM musical 'Jupiter's Darling' (1955) and the dancers were Marge and Gower Champion. The film, which is pure Hollywood cotton candy, starred Esther Williams as a Roman patrician, and Howard Keel as Hannibal (somebody should have told the producers that Hannibal was black). The film was fluff, but the singing was great, even though the songs were mediocre (this is Howard Keel we're talking about, after all. He could sing the telephone book listings and I'd get shivers!). Esther had a couple of great swimming sequences (including one with statues-come-to-life), and the Champions' dance number with elephants was worth the price of admission.

Marge (nee Belcher) and Gower Champion were married in 1947 and danced together for 25 years before their 1973 divorce. During their marriage they appeared in several films, including a remake of the Astaire-Rogers hit 'Roberta' (re-make title: 'Lovely to Look At'). MGM wanted to remake all the early Astaire-Rogers films with the Champions, but after 'Lovely to Look At', the Champions decided against the project. They also co-starred in a prime time TV show.

Gower had a successful career on Broadway as a director and choreographer and as a director/choreographer. He won Tony awards for directing and choreographing the hit shows, 'Bye Bye Birdie', 'Hello Dolly' and 'The Happy Time', and garnered numerous other awards and nominations. He died of a rare blood disease in 1980 at the age of 61.

Marge, who was born in 1919, went on to a successful career as a choreographer and dance pedagogue following her divorce from Gower. Her last performance was in an episode of the TV show 'Fame' playing an instructor with a prejudice against African-American dance students.

To my knowledge none of the other choices ever did a dance routine with elephants.

Answer: Ann Miller

Ann Miller was one of those stars who seemed always to have been a presence in Hollywood. Not surprising since she made her first film in 1934 when she was 11.

According to studio publicists, Miller's fast tapping feet had been clocked at 500 taps a minute. Actually, she danced in rubber-soled shoes because the floors were too slippery for someone dancing at her speed, and the sound would be added later when Ann danced on a piece of plywood, synching her taps with the filmed dance.

My favourite Ann Miller roles came in 'On the Town' (1949), with Betty Garrett, Vera Lynn, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin, and in one of my all-time favourite musical films, the 1953 production of Cole Porter's 'Kiss Me, Kate'. Miller turns in a superb performance as Lois Lane/Bianca, dancing with such brilliant male dancers as Bob Fosse, Tommy Rall, and Bobby Van. Her 'Too Darn Hot' number is a classic.

Ms Miller died in 2004 in her 81st year.

None of the other choices, good dancers though they were, were as fast on their feet as Ann Miller.

Answer: Vaslav Nijinsky

Nijinsky was born in Kiev in either 1888 or 1890 (nobody seems to be sure of the actual year). His parents were Polish and he was always proud of his Polish heritage (Polish was the language he used in prayer). He began his ballet training at the Imperial School of Ballet in 1900 and in 1910 he was chosen by the Marinsky Theatre Ballet's Prima Ballerina Assoluta to dance the part of the Wind God in a revival of Marius Petipa's 'The Talisman'. His athletic-yet-lyrical style and wonderful high leaps electrified audiences and he was an instant star.

Later in 1910 he was invited by impresario Serge Diaghilev to join Les Ballet Russes in Paris. Diaghilev saw it as his mission to showcase the marvels of Russian ballet to a wider audience (his Prima Ballerina was the incomparable Anna Pavlova), and was successful. Nijinsky drew accolades, and later,when he created and danced the lead roles in 'L'Apres-midi d'un Faune' and 'Le Sacre du Printemps', he scandalized audiences with his sensual dancing.

Nijinksy's marriage to Hungarian countess Romola Pulsky caused a rift with Diaghilev (there were rumours that Diaghilev and his male star had been lovers, and that Romola had chased Nijinsky and worn him down to the point where he agreed to marry her). The marriage had more than its share of ups and downs. In 1919 Nijinsky suffered a nervous breakdown and Romola whisked him off to a sanatorium in Switzerland where he was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. His amazing career was over. For the rest of his life he underwent treatment in a series of clinics and eventually died in a London clinic in 1950.

Even though his entire career spanned a mere nine years, the name of Nijinsky still inspires awe in the ballet world.

Answer: Fred Astaire

According to fellow-dancer and friend Gene Kelly, "The history of dance on film begins with Fred Astaire." Kelly also said that "Fred is the Cary Grant of dancers and I'm the Marlon Brando."

The epitome of elegance, Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899, and in his teens he formed a dance team with his sister Adele. The pair made their Broadway debut in 1917 and were an immediate success.

When Adele married in 1932, Fred began life as a solo dancer. Hollywood beckoned and despite that lousy screen test, Fred landed a contract with RKO Pictures because David O. Selznick, then head of RKO, countermanded the original assessment of Fred's screen potential with a memo that read: "I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test." (That original assessment, Astaire maintained, actually read: "Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances.")

That "tremendous charm" did indeed come through and Fred Astaire continued to charm audiences for the next 50 years.

His first film, was "Dancing Lady" in 1933, and in the same year he was paired with Ginger Rogers in 'Flying Down to Rio'. Even though the pair played supporting roles to stars Gene Raymond and Dolores del Rio, they captured the attention of audiences with their dancing and their obvious chemistry. For the remainder of the 1930s, Fred and Ginger danced their way through a series of hits (in all, they made ten films together, the last one being 'The Barkleys of Broadway' in 1949) and set the bar high for any other dance teams.

Composers like George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and others of their calibre fell over themselves to write songs for Astaire because they knew that, with his excellent diction and innate musical sense, he would put their songs over better than anyone else.

Fred was also a fashion icon and men everywhere strove to emulate his ability to wear clothes as if they had been moulded to his slim frame.

In the late 1950s Fred branched out into serious acting roles, the first of which was 'On the Beach' in 1959. In the 1970s he and Gene Kelly starred in 'That's Entertainment I and II", films which paid homage to screen musicals. In 1978, Astaire was the first recipient of the Kennedy Centre's Life Achievement Award.

Astaire died in 1987, leaving a great legacy of style and dance-on-film. Don't look for a movie about him, though. A provision in his will forbids any such endeavour. Fred had seen enough over-romanticized versions of lives of his friends to ever allow his own life to be misrepresented on the screen or anywhere else.

I have not been able to find any comments on the screen tests of Dan Dailey, Bob Fosse or Gene Kelly.

Answer: Moira Shearer

Red-headed Scottish dancer Moira Shearer enchanted balletomanes with her grace and lyrical dance style. She was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1926 and began her ballet training in 1936 under Flora Fairbairn. Later that same year she became a pupil of famed Russian dance teacher Nicholas Legat. In 1939, she joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet School and made her debut with the International Ballet Company in 1941. In 1942, she joined the Sadler's Wells company.

In 1948, Shearer starred in the film 'The Red Shoes' and this remains the primary film for which she is remembered, even though she acted in many other films and on stage. She retired from ballet in 1953 to raise her children but she continued to take on the occasional acting job.

In 1950 she married journalist/broadcaster/writer Ludovic Kennedy, whose powerful book '10 Rillington Place' and other investigative pieces into miscarriages of justice that resulted in the hanging of innocent people helped to bring about the end of the death penalty in the UK. The couple had one son and three daughters.

Moira Shearer died 18 days after her 80th birthday in 2006. Kennedy survived her by three years.

The other ladies mentioned as choices were never married to Ludovic Kennedy.

Answer: Michael Kidd

Director Stanley Donen had to twist Michael Kidd's arm to get him to agree to choreograph 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' and I, for one, am grateful that Kidd succumbed. Kidd's vigorous style was well-suited to the film and while he used dancers who had appeared in musical theatre and films (Tommy Rall, Matt Mattox and Marc Platt), he also cast a ballet dancer - Jacques d'Amboise, a baseball player (Jeff Richards) and a gymnast (Russ Tamblyn - hard to believe that Russ Tamblyn had never danced before 'Seven Brides for Seven Bothers' when you remember what a great performance he turned in as one of the Jets in 'West Side Story'!)

Kidd (1915-2007) was born in New York, and studied at the School of American Ballet. His first professional job was as a dancer in the ballet 'Filling Station' (1939) and he continued to work as a dancer in ballet until 1947 when he took on his first stint as a choreographer. The show was 'Finian's Rainbow' and he won the Tony Award for his efforts. In all, he won five Tony Awards for choreography ('Guys and Dolls' in 1950, 'Can-Can' in 1953, 'L'il Abner' in 1956, and 'Destry Rides Again' in 1959) and numerous Tony nominations for choreography and/or direction.

In film, apart from 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers', he choreographed 'Guys and Dolls', 'Merry Andrew', which he also directed, 'Star!', and 'Hello, Dolly!' and appeared in five films, the most memorable of which is 'It's Always Fair Weather' with Gene Kelly and Dan Dailey. Who could forget the three male stars dancing with trashcan lids on their feet?

Surprisingly, there was no Oscar for choreography during Kidd's lifetime (there used to be an Oscar for dance direction but it was discontinued after 1937. How dumb is that?) Had there been, Kidd would have won it in 1954. As it was he won an honorary Oscar in 1996 for his 'services to dance'.

Kidd died of cancer in 2007.

Backwoodsmen from Oregon never featured in any of the movie dance routines choreographed by Fosse, Pan or Robbins.

Answer: Gene Kelly

In 2006, the American Film Institute cited 'Singin' in the Rain' as the number one choice on its list of the Greatest Movie Musicals. A delightful spoof of the silent movie era, the film starred Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen and newcomer Debbie Reynolds, and has been delighting audiences ever since it was released in 1952.

Kelly (1912-1996) was a native of Pittsburgh and was enrolled in dance classes when he was eight, along with his older brother. Kelly did not take to the dance and was constantly engaged in fisticuffs with neighbourhood boys who teased the Kelly boys for being 'sissies'. After refusing to continue to attend classes, Kelly resisted the lure of Terpsichore until he was 15 when he took up dancing again because he thought it would be a good way to meet girls!

A plan to study journalism was crushed by the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and Kelly had to drop out of college to get a job in order to keep the family afloat. In 1930, the family opened a dance studio and in 1931 Kelly returned to university and earned a degree in economics, graduating in 1933. He enrolled in law school, but dropped out after two months because it was obvious that he was meant to be a dancer.

He first appeared on Broadway in 1938. In 1939 he got his first assignment as a choreographer for 'Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe' and in 1940 he was cast in the lead role of Rodger's and Hart's 'Pal Joey'.

In 1941 he signed on with MGM and the rest is history. Apart from enlivening a myriad of movie musicals with his athletic dancing style, Kelly has taken on directing and choreography chores for both film and Broadway.

One of his greatest films is 'An American in Paris' (which co-starred a very young Leslie Caron in her first film) which is notable for a 20 minute ballet sequence, a heretofore unheard-of innovation. He and his great friend Fred Astaire also appeared in Jack Halley's affectionate look at movie musicals 'That's Entertainment' and the sequel 'That's Entertainment II', as the main hosts.

Among Kelly's accumulated honours and awards are the 1982 Kennedy Centre Lifetime Achievement Award, Chevalier of the French Legion d'Honneur (1960) and Life Achievement Awards from the American Film Institute (1985) and the Screen Actors Guild (1989).

Kelly died following a stroke in February 1996. At the Academy Awards ceremony in the following month, Quincy Jones, the show's director, presented a moving tribute to the late dancer who was ranked in 1999 as #15 on the American Film Institute's list of 'Greatest Film Legends'.

I don't really have to tell you anything more about Fred Astaire, do I? Tommy Rall was a superb dancer who strutted his stuff in such film hits as 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers', 'Kiss Me Kate', and 'Funny Girl'. James Cagney is better known as the star of gangster films, but he was also a dancer with a very idiosyncratic style and had a huge hit in 1942 with 'Yankee Doodle Dandy', the biopic about George M. Cohan

Answer: Rita Moreno

Jennifer Lopez? Oh, puhleeze. Jenny from the Block has nowhere near the talent of this star. Irene Cara? A better guess, for sure, but not the right one. Rita Hayworth? Well, she started her career as dancer Margarita Cansino (her real name), but she's not the one either. The correct answer is the beautiful and talented Rita Moreno. Moreno has shown her chops as a dancer, a singer, a dramatic actress, a comedienne in a career that began when she was 11, dubbing American films in Spanish, and continued into the 21st century. She will always be remembered by most of us for her Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winning role as Anita in the movie 'West Side Story'.

Moreno was born in Puerto Rico in 1931 to Rosa Maria, a seamstress, and Pablo Alverio, a farmer. In 1936, she and her mother moved to New York and later Moreno took the last name of her stepfather, Eduardo Moreno. In her 68 year career, she's done it all - theatre, film, television (did you know that she was the voice of Carmen Sandiego for 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?') including appearances with 'The Muppets' and playing Goren's mother Frances on 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent', and she has a plethora of awards to her credit, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2004).

In 1965 she married her manager Leonard Gordon and the couple has one daughter and two grandsons.

Answer: Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev was the rising star of the Kirov Ballet and Margot Fonteyn was the reigning Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Royal Ballet (if not the world) when they met in 1961. He was 23 and she was 43.

Nureyev, who had long chafed under the restrictions imposed on him by the traditions of the Kirov and Soviet attitudes toward artistes, had defected to the west (this was back in the old Cold War days and that wall had gone up in Berlin, remember?) and he was promptly invited by Dame Margot to take part in the annual Royal Ballet gala that she was organizing in 1961.

Their partnership actually began the following season when Nureyev appeared with Fonteyn in 'Giselle', and dance history was made. Nureyev had found the perfect foil for his tempestuous, exotic style in the cool, assured and experienced Fonteyn, and for her part, Fonteyn credited Nureyev with challenging her to imbue her dancing with more sensuousness and passion.

The ballet world was rife with rumours that the pair were involved as partners off-stage as well as on. No one who knew either of them well gave the rumours any credence but believed fervently that it was their shared love of dancing that made them the perfect partnership. Frederick Assheton, a long time friend and colleague of Fonteyn, said that Dame Margot tended to treat the Nureyev like a naughty boy whenever his temperament got the better of him.

Whatever, the fact is that onstage they created magic. Their performances in 'Romeo and Juliet' are electrifying. Rent the movie of the ballet and see for yourself.

The partnership ended when Dame Margot retired, although they remained close friends until her death of cancer in 1991. Nureyev died of AIDS in 1993.