Top 10 Best Jazz Dance Scenes in Movies

Choreographer Mandy Moore mostly lets vocals lead Damien Chazelle’s masterful revival of the Hollywood jazz musical. The opening number, however, is a glowing tribute to its dance tradition. “Another Day of Sun” tells the stories of everyday Angelenos stuck in one of their infamous highway traffic jams. They may as well step out of their cars and break into mostly separate dances that run the gambit of jazz styles. There are even a number of other genres thrown in. The sequence, edited to look like a single tracking shot, is a whimsical celebration of Los Angeles’s cultural diversity. With all of it pivoting on old-school jazz romance, it's also the perfect leap into “La La Land”.

Bob Fosse first brought his inventive sense as a choreographer to the screen with “My Sister Eileen”. He also stars as Tommy Rall’s mild-mannered rival for the title character’s hand. It's a mostly civil feud, until the tension is creatively displayed on a rooftop for the movie's standout dance number. Fosse somewhat ironically imitates Rall’s increasingly flashy feats of style and physicality. Both virtuosos eventually mirror each other's slick or acrobatic moves, with explosive solos. On top of this spectacle, there seems to be an ingenious satire to expressing masculine competition through flamboyant grace. This revelation of the future filmmaker’s imagination and performance was just the beginning of him transforming the movie musical.

Bob Fosse sadly didn't get to see his Broadway masterpiece on film. Rob Marshall’s Oscar-sweeping “Chicago” thankfully does his groove justice from the beginning. Velma Kelly is introduced performing “All That Jazz” on a nightclub stage, literally carried by mostly male backup dancers. She leads the ensemble into a steamy, worshipful routine that intensifies with the song. Catherine Zeta-Jones’s flow is so mesmerizing that you can understand Roxie Hart briefly imagining herself as Velma. Marshall pulls you into the action with intimate cinematography and intercuts of Hart getting intimate. This may make the scene more uniquely cinematic than the equally popular “Cell Block Tango”. All the same, “All That Jazz” is an unshakably alluring hook.

John W. Bubbles’s versatility beyond tap dance could not be underestimated. You certainly couldn't underestimate his Domino Johnson in “Cabin in the Sky”, as both a ruthless gambler and a dazzling showman. Vincente Minnelli let choreographer Busby Berkeley direct a performance of the jazz standard “Shine”, the only word to describe what Bubbles does. Johnson works an entire club in a cool promenade with a hat and cane. The smooth motion suddenly breaks into a flurry of poses and footwork that almost defy physics. This popping and gliding would be popularized by Michael Jackson as the moonwalk four decades later. While Bubbles is remembered for his virtuosity in tap, “Cabin in the Sky” recorded his greater inventiveness in jazz dance.

Bob Fosse is in top form throughout his meta masterpiece “All That Jazz”. “Take Off With Us” is perhaps the film’s finest display of raw jazz, plus the choreographer’s raw sensuality. Sandahl Bergman leads rehearsals of the ensemble centerpiece for a musical about air travel. The once-wholesome number has been reframed as a burlesque seduction that runs jazz ballet through Fosse’s not-just-literally snappy signatures. After the song, the dancers pile into an almost poetic rut. No wonder the number is subtitled “Airotica”. Of course, the elaborate coordination and editing are no joke. As frantic as each dancer’s unique moves are, they make a consistently smooth landing. Tongue-in-cheek as it is, Fosse’s spectacle still rarely flew higher than “Take Off With Us”.

The 1980s was a new golden age for pop dance films. What set “Flashdance” apart was how choreographer Jeffrey Hornaday incorporated more classical forms of movement to capture the intensity in Alex Owens’s underdog story. Those fundamentally jazzy instincts culminated with the titular number, named for a style of jazz dance, for the hero’s big ballet audition. Jennifer Beals and three body doubles seamlessly combine the various styles that Alex observed throughout the story. Between the ballet foundation and the disco soundtrack, it all flows through breakdance, gymnastics and jazz. This goes to show Hornaday’s genius with improvisation in the purest jazz tradition. It also produces one of the most exhaustingly triumphant and iconic dance scenes of the decade.

The Tony Award-winning “A Chorus Line” is a classic look at the intensity of the Broadway auditioning process. The film adaptation makes audiences feel that from the opening scene. After a series of fast-paced solo and group performances, over two dozen dancers are gathered for an audition observed by a major Broadway director. It’s hard to pick a standout in this painstakingly synchronized symphony of jazz ballet. The dynamic camerawork and John Bloom’s Oscar-nominated editing make the visuals all the more visceral. Few dance films have staged a jazz set piece this elaborate, let alone pulled it off with an army of virtuoso performers. The overall sequence also effectively sets the stakes for the characters we follow throughout the movie.

The dance troupe Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers gradually popularized their namesake routine after its origin in the 1920s. After they appeared in the film adaptation of the Broadway hit “Hellzapoppin’”, everyone wanted to join in. The troupe portray musically gifted laborers who hop onto a stage for an impromptu swing concert. As the band blasts out, the dancers toss each other around the stage in a fast-paced ballroom boogie. Some acrobatic fusion of breakaway, the Charleston, and other jazz styles deliver the musical’s most physically extravagant number. While Herbert White's troupe appeared in movies before, “Hellzapoppin’” arguably made the lindy hop a permanent pop culture phenomenon. Just don't count on perfectly replicating the movie at your next soiree.

Bob Fosse’s incredible “Cabaret” is a mostly somber affair between Sally Bowles’s nightclub numbers. The brilliance of “Mein Herr” alone is more than enough to get hung up on. Sally leads an ensemble in a seductive sequence of precisely coordinate poses around chairs. Slowly but surely, the number escalates in tempo and percussive backup dance to a fiery finale. Fosse's choreography is a masterclass in intensifying minimalist staging through detailed movement. His direction and David Bretherton’s groundbreaking editing enhance this sensation. Never mind Liza Minnelli’s astonishing vocals and physicality. “Cabaret” is full of scenes that earned each of these visionaries an Oscar. But few dance scenes can match “Mein Herr” as a visceral experience.

For the first adaptation of “West Side Story”, choreographer and co-director Jerome Robbins moved the “Cool” number from before the bloody rumble to after. With the story’s tension at its highest, Ice leads the Jets to expel their rage with enchantingly slick jazz ballet. Their poetic movements hit even harder for dramatic, often violent gesturing to convey both trauma and savagery. The film set’s boiling heat surely served this drama better than the sweaty actors. Yes, the 2021 film’s more faithful rendition of “Cool” is full of drama for Justin Peck’s gunplay motif. But Robbins’s revision encompasses the tension and tragedy of the whole story. It’s also one of the defining displays of jazz dance as cinematic spectacle and storytelling combined.

What are your favorite jazz dance scenes? Bounce into the comments.