Solo Choice 1: Dance

 Name: Singing In The Rain (1952)

Choreographer: Gene Kelly

Rehearsal 1

Facts About Gene Kelly

• Kelly was born in 1912 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• His career began in 1938 and would continue up until his death in 1996
• Some of his most famous works are "An American In Paris" and "Singing In The Rain" 
• Kelly is credited with bringing dance to the working man and making ballet an acceptable dance form in film and TV 
• He combined Classical ballet with tap dance and became synonymous with his energetic and upbeat style of dance. 
• Over his career he won 14 awards and over 10 nominations and has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame which was placed in 1960. 

Solo Spoken Introduction

My solo is "Singing In The Rain" performed by the character Don Lockwood from the 1952 musical film "Singing In The Rain" by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown. This song reflects love in our society and how much it is valued by people. Love can change your entire mindset and outlook on life, it can make even the gloomiest day seem just that bit brighter. With the film being set in 1920s America following the difficult transition of actors from silent films to "talkies"  this was a changing time in America with the depression just around the corner; people were struggling but through this song it shows us that no matter how bad the situation became, if you had some love in your life it made everything much easier to deal with. It is also notable to mention that this film was made just seven years after the end of World War Two. This was a time in history where people were used to making the best out of a bad situation so the fact that this character of a man who was struggling to come to terms with an incredibly difficult change, was so happy in such a dismal situation was comforting to many, reminding them all of how good life is and to appreciate certain little things that before people would have thought of as unhappy and annoyance such as the rain. However, once again I feel that this would make an audience from that period feel quite comforted as for many it was love that got them through the difficult times during things like the war less than a decade previously. 

Performance of Solo