My Top 5 Favorite Fred Astaire Dance Scenes

This was originally going to be a celebratory birthday post for Fred Astaire’s birthday in May…I think I missed the boat on that just a bit. (I had originally-originally planned on writing a post ranking all the Fred Astaire movies I’ve seen, which would have taken many times longer to write, so we can just imagine how late that post would have been.) So instead, I’m posting this in early August to celebrate when I first began The Great Fred Binge, just about exactly one year ago.

There are still plenty of Fred Astaire movies I intend on watching, so this list will probably become obsolete before too very long…but here are my top 5 favorite Fred Astaire dance scenes that I have yet encountered, at least. With the caveat, of course, that favorites are inherently nigh impossible to pin down, my opinions could change tomorrow, there are other dance scenes that I honestly like just as well as some of the ones listed here, &c. All the usual.

Oh, and also, just because I liked the particular dance scenes that I’m highlighting doesn’t necessarily mean that I liked or would wholeheartedly recommend the movie that the scene comes from. If you’d like to hear more of my thoughts on any particular movie as a whole, I’ll be more than happy to oblige.

Without further ado, here goes!

5. “Let’s Kiss and Make Up” from Funny Face

(dance begins at 1:11)

This dance feels a bit less cohesive than others, I admit; the doing-cool-stuff-with-an-umbrella bits and the miming-a-bull-fight bit don’t seem terribly connected. But I love this scene anyway, and no one can do cool stuff with an umbrella like Fred Astaire can.

4. The piano dance from Let’s Dance

This is the only scene on the list where I haven’t watched the movie it comes from. Usually I try to avoid watching dance scenes until I can see them in their proper context within the movie (though let’s be honest, I break this rule quite often), but Youtube kept tantalizingly shoving this video in my face for months, and I finally caved…and as soon as I did, I knew that I needed to re-arrange my top 5 to include it. The vibe of this scene is utter and complete chaos, and it’s fantastic. One of the things I love about Fred is his ability to not take himself seriously, and that’s definitely highlighted here.

(And in case you were wondering, he did indeed play piano himself!)

3. “I’ll Be Hard to Handle” from Roberta (with Ginger Rogers)

(dance begins at 0:58, but personally I would watch the part before as well, since the bantering leads into the dance and sets up the dynamic between the characters)

As I mentioned before in my recap of new-to-me movies of 2025, I did not like Roberta. In fact, it’s one of my least favorite Fred Astaire movies I’ve seen so far. And yet, it contains my favorite Fred and Ginger dance number. It’s just a really impressive tap duet, and I love how creative it is – I don’t recall ever seeing banter-through-dance done anywhere else in quite this way. And more than anything, I love how playful and fun it is. Watching it just makes me happy.

(Fun little tidbit is that apparently this was the first time in Fred and Ginger’s movies that they were dancing together on a wooden floor and could therefore use the actual sound of their tapping – usually it wasn’t loud enough and needed to be dubbed. And you can tell how excited they were about it, because if you listen carefully you can actually hear them giggling a couple times. Pay careful attention at 1:54, 2:11, and 2:38.)

2. “The Shorty George” and “I’m Old-Fashioned” from You Were Never Lovelier (with Rita Hayworth)

I’m cheating a bit here and doing a tie for number two. You Were Never Lovelier holds a very special place in my heart, and though I was trying to avoid including more than one dance from the same movie, when it came right down to it I found that I couldn’t pass up including either of these dance duets.

(dance proper begins at 2:07, though Fred is doing some solo stuff beforehand during the song)

The Shorty George song and dance was the one scene that I had cheatishly watched prior to watching YWNL, and I became pretty obsessed with it. (To the point that eventually – after I’d watched the whole movie – I began teaching it to myself by watching it at half speed, even buying on-clearance tap shoes for the purpose.) The dance, again, is just so joyful and playful and fun – it’s a joy to watch it. And it’s so fast-paced and intricate, and they make it look so easy!

(dance begins at 2:05)

The “I’m Old-Fashioned” scene had to grow on me a bit, but by now I absolutely love it. I think it’s one of the most beautiful and romantic dance scenes I’ve ever seen, and has a kind of innocent sweetness to it that I love and find very endearing. (I’ve seen this one so much that I can always tell by the music when the scene is nearing the end, and it always makes me sad…I wish it went on longer!)

1. “Begin the Beguine” from Broadway Melody of 1940 (with Eleanor Powell)

(dance begins at 0:59)

And finally we come to the very top of my list. This dance is number 1 for me because, in short, it’s just so breathtakingly good. Eleanor Powell was another one of the absolute top tap dancers (I think it’s such a shame that she isn’t better-remembered nowadays) and I believe this is fairly widely-accepted as one of the best tap scenes in film. With reason, because it’s magnificent. Just watch how lightning-fast their tapping is, and how perfectly they stay in time with each other even when the music stops. (This movie, by the way, had so many dance scenes that I had a very, very hard time keeping off my list. Some of the songs are a little meh, in my opinion, but the dancing itself is absolutely fantabulous.)

Also, I love the set for this dance. All the shiny reflective black combined with their white clothing is very visually pleasing.

Also-also, can I mention in passing how much I love Eleanor’s dress? It’s one of my absolute favorite movie dresses. It is an ambition of mine to make a tweaked version for myself one day.

Well, there you have it! That was much harder than you might think, and all the honorable mentions of dances that I almost put on the list are enough make their own list. (And perhaps some day they will. Compiling lists of dances could easily become a habit, I fear.)

Which of these dance scenes is your favorite? Have you seen any Fred Astaire movies? What are some of your favorite classic Hollywood musicals?