Best or Most Iconic Dance Sequences in Films
by CuratingAesthetics | created - 30 Sep 2021 | updated - 3 weeks ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Approved | 102 min | Musical, Romance, Western
When a backwoodsman in 1850s Oregon brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 27,113 | Gross: $9.40M
barn dance
2. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
PG | 96 min | Comedy
A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.
Director: Jared Hess | Stars: Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell
Votes: 237,900 | Gross: $44.54M
talent show
3. Flashdance (1983)
R | 95 min | Drama, Music, Romance
An 18-year-old female amateur dancer who performs nightly at a dancing bar, and works as a welder during the day, dreams of joining the Pittsburgh ballet school.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri, Lilia Skala, Sunny Johnson
Votes: 59,589 | Gross: $94.90M
What A Feeling
4. Dirty Dancing (I) (1987)
PG-13 | 100 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Spending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
Director: Emile Ardolino | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach, Cynthia Rhodes
Votes: 256,560 | Gross: $0.62M
The Time of My Life
5. Grease (1978)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Good girl Sandy Olsson and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway
Votes: 300,729 | Gross: $188.76M
Hand Jive
6. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
G | 144 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
A down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Benny Hill
Votes: 50,732 | Gross: $7.50M
- Toot Sweets
- Me Ol’ Bam-Boo
7. Mary Poppins (1964)
G | 139 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns
Votes: 186,129 | Gross: $102.27M
Step In Time
8. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
A newly-engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must seek shelter at the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-n-Furter.
Director: Jim Sharman | Stars: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien
Votes: 167,008 | Gross: $139.88M
- Time Warp
- Rose Tint My World
9. Practical Magic (1998)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Two witch sisters, raised by their eccentric aunts in a small town, face closed-minded prejudice and a curse which threatens to prevent them ever finding lasting love.
Director: Griffin Dunne | Stars: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 93,109 | Gross: $46.68M
Lime in the Coconut
10. Annie (1982)
PG | 127 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A spunky young orphan is taken in by a rich eccentric, much to the chagrin of the cantankerous woman who runs the orphanage.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking
Votes: 49,541 | Gross: $57.06M
- It’s the Hard-Knock Life
- Let’s Go To The Movies
- Easy Street
11. Beetlejuice (1988)
PG | 92 min | Comedy, Fantasy
The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Annie McEnroe
Votes: 340,342 | Gross: $73.71M
- Day O! (Banana Boat Song)
- Jump In the Line
12. Labyrinth (1986)
PG | 101 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old Sarah must solve a labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is taken by the Goblin King.
Director: Jim Henson | Stars: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson
Votes: 149,661 | Gross: $12.73M
As The World Falls Down
13. The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
Approved | 128 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A poor, uneducated mountain girl leaves her cabin in search of respect, a wealthy husband, and a better life in this fictionalized biopic of Margaret "Molly" Brown, who survived the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Director: Charles Walters | Stars: Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley, Jack Kruschen
Votes: 4,259 | Gross: $13.17M
- Belly Up to the Bar, Boys
- He’s My Friend
14. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
PG-13 | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy
A world-class playboy and part-time secret agent from the 1960s emerges after thirty years in a cryogenic state to battle with his nemesis Dr. Evil.
Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Mimi Rogers
Votes: 257,276 | Gross: $53.88M
Opening credits sequence
15. She's All That (1999)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
A high school jock makes a bet that he can turn an unattractive girl into the school's prom queen.
Director: Robert Iscove | Stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker
Votes: 103,867 | Gross: $63.37M
Fatboy Slim - Funk Soul Brother
16. Grease 2 (1982)
PG | 115 min | Comedy, Music, Musical
A British student at a 1960s American high school must prove himself to the leader of a girls' gang whose members can only date greasers.
Director: Patricia Birch | Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, Lorna Luft, Maureen Teefy
Votes: 38,582 | Gross: $15.17M
Cool Rider
17. The Greatest Showman (2017)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Musical
Celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.
Director: Michael Gracey | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Zendaya
Votes: 311,712 | Gross: $174.34M
Rewrite the Stars
18. Ready, Willing and Able (1937)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Two songwriters want to cast a British star in their new show.
Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Ruby Keeler, Lee Dixon, Allen Jenkins, Louise Fazenda
Votes: 323
typewriter scene
19. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Approved | 91 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Showgirls Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw travel to Paris, pursued by a private detective hired by the suspicious father of Lorelei's fiancé, as well as a rich, enamored old man and many other doting admirers.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid
Votes: 43,046 | Gross: $12.00M
Diamonds Are a Girl’s Beat Friend
20. Chicago (2002)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
Director: Rob Marshall | Stars: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Taye Diggs
Votes: 243,457 | Gross: $170.69M
- All That Jazz
- Cell Block Tango
- Hot Honey Rag
- I Can’t Do It Alone
- Roxie Hart
- We Both Reached For the Gun
Honestly, all of them! This movie is great!
21. Footloose (1984)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 92,406 | Gross: $80.04M
- Never (warehouse dance scene)
- Footloose (final scene)
22. The Breakfast Club (1985)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
Votes: 436,782 | Gross: $45.88M
We Are Not Alone by Karla DeVito (detention dance scene)
Tell Your Friends