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It fit into my scheme of things for many reasons. At the time it was true that male dancers were looked down upon, and it was true that a lot of the male dancers were effeminate. But what I was really trying to do was develop something that would be American.

Gene Kelly

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Gene Kelly
Age: 83 †
Born: 1912
Born: August 23
Died: 1996
Died: February 2
Actor
Choreographer
Dancer
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Singer
Stage Actor
Television Actor
Pittsburg
Pennsylvania
Eugene Curran Kelly
Eugene Curran Gene Kelly
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More quotes by Gene Kelly

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Come on with the rain / I’ve a smile on my face.
Gene Kelly
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I still find it almost impossible to relax for more than one day at a time.
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I never played a rich man, I never played a prince. And to play a sailor or longshoreman you had to make your dance more eclectic and varied, but still keep it indigenous to your nationality, upbringing, and background.
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The finest all-around performer we ever had in America was Judy Garland. There was no limit to her talent. She was the quickest, brightest person I ever worked with.
Gene Kelly
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I may be rancid butter, but I'm on your side of the bread.
Gene Kelly
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Kids talk to me and say they want to do musicals again because they've studied the tapes of the old films. We didn't have that. We thought once we had made it, even on film, it was gone except for the archives.
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I'd studied dance in Chicago every summer and taught it all winter, and I was well-rounded. I wasn't worried about getting a job on Broadway. In fact, I got one the first week.
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The only thing is that ordinarily when I do dance with [women] they think I am suddenly going to throw them over a table or twist them all around. All I want to do is one-two, one-two-three - a simple fox trot. But they're shaking with anticipation at the thought that I'm about to whip them around and then toss them on the roof.
Gene Kelly
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The way I look at a musical, you are commenting on the human condition no matter what you do. A musical may be light and frivolous, but by its very nature, it makes some kind of social comment.
Gene Kelly
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In film, a dancer should always be shot from head to toe, because that way you can see the whole body and that is the art of dancing. Nowadays they shoot the nose. Left nostril. Right nostril. Hand. Foot. Bust. Derrière. The film prevents you from determining who is a good dancer and who is not.
Gene Kelly
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There is a certain amount of pornography that exists throughout Purple Rain, but the appeal is obvious. You can really pick that picture apart and see where A fits into B and so on. It was very wisely done.
Gene Kelly
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I didn't want to be a dancer... I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.
Gene Kelly
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First of all, break-dancing has been done for years, though not all of it put together the way it is now. But, actually, the distinctions have been blurring since the 1950s.
Gene Kelly
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I don't even want to discuss Flashdance. I'm no critic, but that's an interesting phenomenon, that picture.
Gene Kelly
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Any man who looks like a sissy while dancing is just a lousy dancer.
Gene Kelly
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There's nothing revolutionary about Saturday Night Fever . You can see the same kind of movement at your local disco.
Gene Kelly
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She's one of those third year girls who gripe my liver... You know, American college kids. They come over here to take their third year and lap up a little culture... They're officious and dull. They're always making profound observations they've overheard.
Gene Kelly
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You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams.
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I don't understand the whole concept of doubles. They used to do that in the early sound films in Hollywood, but I thought we had gotten rid of that. Now not only do you have doubles, but as in Flashdance, you have triples, quadruples. From my point of view it is bad for the art.
Gene Kelly
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Like an athlete, [dance] is an everyday job. You have to stay in shape - unless you just want to loaf through a couple of hoofing routines. But that just didn't satisfy me.
Gene Kelly