Famous People/ Talented Dancers?

[pygmalion]

what do you think? There are a lot of entertainers out there who make their living by singing, and who, oh, btw, dance as a part of their stage show. People like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Cristina Aguilera, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, heck, even dancers way back in history, like the Motown groups of the sixties, incorporated dance into their singing careers.

Just curious. What do you think is more important? Singing ability or dancing ability? Do you think any of the folks on the entertainment scene today are truly talented dancers? Or are they just well coached to make up for deficiencies? (Keep it nice, please LOL)

[Phil Owl]

Shirley McLaine used to dance fabulously.before she became the "New Age Guru"

[peachexploration]

These are just my opinions:
Well, looking at "talent" only and out of the group, the unquestionable talent would be Michael. Singing and dancing at the same time is very hard. Both talents demand alot from the body so it is very rare to be able to to them both, at the same time, "well". Janet is a better dancer than a singer though she has a good voice. Christina is a better singer than a dancer but she gets too caught up in tricks of her voice than actually singing. Britney's talent is "stage appeal" and is only passable in singing and dancing. Justin is pretty good in both areas.

There used to be a time where you had to be a triple threat to be successful but none of that matters anymore. There are so many talentend people past and present: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Chita Rivera, Gregory Hines, Vanessa Williams, and a whole slew of others ..............................

As far as what do I think is most important? I think it depends on what the focus is suppose to be at that time or what you're trying to interpret. Since I'm a dance nut and a singer of sorts, both are important to me.

[pygmalion]

That's a good point, peachexploration. I left out acting. Which brings to mind Rita Moreno, a beautiful dancer, good actress, and only passable (IMHO) singer, but still a triple threat, as you mentioned. Then there's Julie Andrews. Other than Victor Victoria, I've never seen her dance (and that dancing wasn't all the challenging, so who knows.) But she was a very, very good actress and singer, at least in the productions I've seen.

I often wonder how much technology and persistence contribute to the whole mix. Talent, yes, but, these days, some amazing things can be done in the engineering booth. Hmm.

[peachexploration]

........I often wonder how much technology and persistence contribute to the whole mix. Talent, yes, but, these days, some amazing things can be done in the engineering booth. Hmm.

Yeah, this is very true. The sad part is, people like Milli Vanilli would have fit in nicely now if they had only used their own voices. 8) Poor guys were destroyed/exposed because of something that's done all the time.

[pygmalion]

Yup, it's sad. One of them died, right? And the other, I believe, is trying to get a recording contract, using his own voice, of course. (VH1 Where are they now? is an informative show)

I was thinking about the scandal around Ashanti's first tour. The reviews were horrible, and the speculation was that she had some, uh, shall we say, engineering assistance in the vocal department. LOL.

I was also thinking that, given the high level coaching and choreography, plus the extensive practice sessions these singer/dancers have, a lot of people could be made to look like good dancers, whether they come into the equation with raw talent or not.

[peachexploration]

Yup, it's sad. One of them died, right? And the other, I believe, is trying to get a recording contract, using his own voice, of course. (VH1 Where are they now? is an informative show) Yeah, unfortunately. Poor guy, got caught in all that chaos and it threw him for loop and got the best of him. So sad....

I was thinking about the scandal around Ashanti's first tour. The reviews were horrible, and the speculation was that she had some, uh, shall we say, engineering assistance in the vocal department. LOL. Hey, that's right, I heard the same thing. But I had since heard she has gotten alot better. Although, she did a Christmas CD this past year and I thought it could have been better. :?

I was also thinking that, given the high level coaching and choreography, plus the extensive practice sessions these singer/dancers have, a lot of people could be made to look like good dancers, whether they come into the equation with raw talent or not.This is true. I'm sure if you were to put these guys against a trained dancer, they would barely be able to move. In my opinion, if we use someone in present day, a prime example would be Madonna. She's okay with a choreographed dance but put her against JLO or Paula Abdul in a free dance setting and she wouldn't be able to do it. 8)