Famous works

• Singing in the Rain (1952)

• Hello Dolly (1969)

• It's Always Fair Weather (1955)

Life Story

• Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he majored in Economics (1933) from the University of Pittsburgh

• Introduced to dance by his mother, he later toured with his brother and ran a dance school before getting into the film industry

• In the film industry, he brought athleticism to classic dance styles and made dance a more vibrant part of Hollywood

World Context

• With King Louis the 14th, ballet became known as something that was only for the elite. This was further instated by 20th century Hollywood films in America, which posed dance as elegant and elitist. 

• Ballet was male until the 1800s, but the idea of dance belonging to the female was intensified during the 19th and 20th centuries. During this time, men were ridiculed for being dancers and a low percentage of dancers were men.