Dance is in my blood – it doesn’t reach my feet!
DANCINGhas never been so popular. Perhaps it’s down to the success of Strictly or maybe men enjoy strutting their stuff on the dancefloor a bit more than we used to.
When I was growing up, it seemed dancing wasn’t a very manly pursuit – although that didn’t stop most blokes from getting down at the disco or getting wired into the ceilidh after a few Molly Weirs.
The truth is, I loved the old musicals – like An American In Paris or On The Town.
My own dancing never quite reached the footwork levels of Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, unfortunately.
I was more boogie blunder-land than wonderland.
I’d say to people that dancing was in my blood – shame it never reached your feet, was the reply.
But I’ll always be a fan of wonderful dancing on the silver screen – and if you are too, you’re going to love La La Land.
It’s due to come out in the UK in January, but I got a sneak peak last week and I also had a lovely chat with the two gorgeous stars.
The LA-set movie is stunning, full of drama, romance and, above all, beautiful choreography. In fact, La La Land is almost as handsome as its two leads, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.
Emma is very pretty but Gosling – the leading man in everyone’s favourite romantic weepie, The Notebook – was possibly designed by scientists to make the rest of his gender look bad.
They’re a fantastic screen couple and already the film is garnering some awardsseason buzz. In fact, it won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.
“As much as you could ever know, it’s impossible to predict how these things will turn out,” Emma told me.
“It was a beautiful story that Damien Chazelle wrote. We had a lot of fun.
“I learned to tap and ballroom dance, I was singing live on camera. Insane! But everybody was so supportive.”
I told Ryan the film was a really special achievement, but he was very humble about it.
“It sounds like you had a lot of fun watching it,” he said. “And what more could we ask for? I’m excited for people to see the film. It’s a great story and they’re great characters.
“But you don’t need to enjoy musicals to enjoy this film.”
He’s right – either way, you’re going to be swept off your feet!