Top 10 Movie Musical Dances That Defy the Laws of Physics

#10: Rich Mans Frug[a]

Sweet Charity (1969)
Bob Fosse is considered a genius for a reason. Not only did he direct Sweet Charity on stage and screen, but his choreography for this lengthy dance sequence showcases his signature style. The performers are made to contort and bend their bodies at extreme angles and make it all look smoother than silk. Fosses moves are mysterious, seductive, and even eerie at points. There doesnt seem to be a single joint that goes unactivated. No neck, shoulder, elbow, or knee is spared. Theres probably enough future hip replacements in this ensemble to keep a surgeon in business for decades.

#9: Ive Gotta Hear That Beat

Small Town Girl (1953)
Ann Miller performed her fair share of tap dancing miracles in many MGM musicals. But watching her impossibly crisp moves in this vaguely surreal number from 1953s Small Town Girl is like watching a masterclass in technique - and precision. Her steps really have to be precise, as throughout the stage, dancers disembodied arms are poking through the floor. Some are even holding huge brass and string instruments. With footwork this fast and free, Miller might do some serious damage if she misplaced just one step. Like the very best performers of the era, she makes dancing up huge staircases and twirling past the sea of arms look completely effortless.

#8: Another Day of Sun

La La Land (2016)
Director Damien Chazelle shut down an entire stretch of highway outside L.A. to film this opening number. The amount of movement in this scene is amazing, with the ensemble dancing and jumping over cars while strategically placed stunt people adding their own magic. Its not just the dancers that are doing amazing work here. The camera is moving in ways that almost feel impossible. Constantly swooping, tilting, and weaving through the mass of bodies and cars, the deft camera maneuvers help make the whole thing feel even more dynamic. Due to the limited number of cuts and takes, this number required precision on a mass scale. If one person was off-beat, it would ruin the sequence.

#7: When the Sun Goes Down

In the Heights (2021)
The fire escapes of Washington Heights are the setting for this romantic duet between Benny and Nina. As actors Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace start their song, they begin to defy gravity. Framed by the George Washington Bridge and a sunset in the background, they dance horizontally along the side of a tenement building as the camera shifts around them. It becomes a dizzying and impossibly smooth number thanks both to striking visual effects and a rotating set. The actors did their own dancing here, having to shift and acclimate quickly to compensate for the constantly shifting direction of gravity.

#6: Make Em Laugh

Singin in the Rain (1952)
Sometimes, musical comedy is no laughing matter. Singin in the Rain was notoriously hard to make, and Make Em Laugh is musical comedy at its most extreme. Donald OConnor literally throws himself into the song and dance. Working his own body like a ragdoll, he twists and flings himself across the set with reckless abandon. He engages with a variety of props, visual gags, and pratfalls the whole way before ending in a series of increasingly punishing flips. But all that physical comedy came at a cost. OConnor was put on bedrest after the scene, and couldnt return to set for days afterward.

#5: Jolly Holiday

Mary Poppins (1964)
Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, and the two child actors disappear into a chalk drawing for the Jolly Holiday number. It doesnt just defy physics. It defies reality. The blend of real world actors and constructed worlds and characters allows for the whole sequence to take on a surreal quality. At one point, Bert lifts Mary Poppins clear off the ground like its nothing at all. Although it was far from the first time Walt Disney Productions created a hybrid live-action and animated sequence, Mary Poppins is considered a landmark in the field. This blend of styles and worlds won it the Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects.

#4: Finale

An American in Paris (1951)
The final 17 minutes of this Best Picture winner features some of the most elegant, graceful, and astounding dancing ever seen in a film. Co-stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron[b] dance through a series of French-themed sets. One segment features Kelly carrying Caron through a fog-filled representation of the fountain at the real-life Place de la Concorde. In a lot of ways, Kelly was ahead of his time. Some of his moves look like they were ripped right out of the 90s. This sequence was so demanding, the films director, Vincente Minnelli, actually had to leave and fulfill another obligation before coming back to complete it.

#3: Dancing Through Life

Wicked (2024)
Elphaba[c] may have defied gravity, but Fiyero and the students of Shiz University are the ones who get to dance like gravity doesnt apply. Dancing Through Life makes use of the schools innovative bookcases, which look more like gears and rings than shelves. Jonathan Bailey and the movies ensemble of dancers spend the number swinging from ladders, spinning, and flipping as they sing about living a carefree life. Given the movies heavy special effects, its kind of amazing to find out what was and was not created in post-production. One dancer actually performed that iconic jump over the camera into a roll on set.

#2: Jumpin Jive

Stormy Weather (1943)
The Nicholas Brothers didnt just fly in the face of physics. They also did things that looked like they hurt really, really bad. Their acrobatic prowess and astounding flexibility are on full display in the Jumpin Jive sequence of Stormy Weather. There are more splits in this routine than seems humanly possible. But Fayard[d] and Harold Nicholas continue to up the ante. Each time, their stunts get more thrilling and complicated. They do it all without ever missing a single beat. The climax of the number involves the brothers leaping over each other from the top of a large staircase. Fred Astaire himself was a huge admirer of the routine, and thats high praise.

#1: Youre All the World to Me

Royal Wedding (1951)
When it comes to dancing on film and defying the laws of gravity, physics, and what we thought was possible, few performers can hold a candle to Fred Astaire. In Royal Wedding, he plays a Broadway star whos so in love with a dancer he actually starts dancing on the ceiling. Audiences in 1951 must have thought they were dreaming when they first saw it. But if they thought anyone could master anti-gravity, Astaire was probably at the top of the list. It was actually the combination of innovative filmmaking, a rotating set, and Astaires complete command of his body that sold it.

Did your favorite musical make the list? Tell us in the comments.

[a]FROOG https://www.dictionary.com/browse/frug

FAWSS-see https://youtu.be/7uIPkwCYxKU?si=bVemqkJtADEWofE1&t=35
[b]care-OWN (it's french so you kind of stop halfway through the "n") https://youtu.be/-EvUONhEYg8?si=sPyxlbgXHg-u7KOd&t=10 or french https://forvo.com/search/caron/fr/
plass duh lah con-CORD https://youtu.be/KxTYKX0O2lo?si=Aw8UD42NrEhVgZQH&t=2
vincente = vincent https://youtu.be/jPfXAfKH-ps?si=-zW60Kp2XwyRWi-a&t=14
[c]ELFA-buh https://youtu.be/KBmkyB0bPQI?si=wVCCT3RkhuRxZvXz&t=5
fee-YARE-oh https://youtu.be/Qs1LqMKBU28?si=Dt56DMJB3TGOLmTT
shizz https://youtu.be/KBmkyB0bPQI?si=vkRrWRacVA3z97AU&t=18
[d]FAY-ard https://youtu.be/jTmJowrBwOY?si=qUsRYiYnwQW_piHR&t=51