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The Morning GIF: Pas de deux

This minor scene with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse really sings.

 

Lorraine Murphy

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Posted on Jun 21, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 3:30 pm CDT

Here at the Daily Dot, we swap GIF images with each other every morning. Now we’re looping you in. In the Morning GIF, we feature a popular—or just plain cool—GIF we found on Reddit, Canvas, or elsewhere on the Internet.

A minor scene. A major movie. Two legends locked in eloquent embrace, dancing out the dreams of Depression-era millions.

This is the pas de deux from Singin’ in the Rain. Almost a throwaway scene, irrelevant to the major plot points, this delicate dance between ballerina/starlet Cyd Charisse (born Tula Ellice Finklea) and Gene Kelly highlights the sheer joy of dance and its erotic potential, even while remaining technically chaste.

Charisse famously had the best legs in show business, and Kelly the best feet, next to Fred Astaire.

This GIF, from the Always Fair Weather Tumblr, is tagged “courtney learns new tricks in photoshop!“ and Courtney, you done good, girl. The post’s 297 notes are a testament to the fact that this embedding of two separate mobile images within a larger, static one, evoke all the grace and emotion of the immortal silver screen performance.

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*First Published: Jun 21, 2012, 7:16 am CDT