Cowboys & Dancing sequences - Cinematic Americana video essay HD

In these 10 films we see; Go-Go dancing of the late 60s in Midnight Cowboy, the Twist of the early 60s in Hud, a real country string band playing a 50s square dance waltz in The Last Picture Show, Layla tap dancing to King Crimson in Buffalo ‘66, Kit and Holly dancing to “Love is Strange” by Mickey and Sylvia on a radio in the woods or slow dancing to Nat King Cole “A Blossom Fell” in their headlights at night, and Bud and Sissy proving they know the 2-step. It is what Maris Crane from Frazier calls, “public displays of rhythm”, and it can be difficult to find in real life, but in films it is a clear and fluid way of expressing a thought, moment, or emotion. In The Loveless, the waitress from the beginning of the movie does a strip dance to a rockabilly song by Robert Gordon, who plays Davis in the film. The camera is inches off the platform covered in a white tiger print, she’s wearing stylish early 60s clothes, making minimal dance moves in a bizarre sequence, leaving all but her dress on. Though they tease her for her squareness, in the broad spectrum of film history this is one of the oddest and coolest dance sequences ever filmed. On par with Godard’s “Madison” dance scene in Band of Outsiders (1964), Pee-Wee’s Tequila dance in the biker bar in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985), the dance of the little man or Lil the dancer in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and I would also put Layla’s dance in Buffalo ‘66 on that list. Layla was first introduced to us in a tap dancing class though it seemed like she was falling behind, but when the lights dim in the bowling alley, with the spotlight on her, and the music starting, perhaps in her mind and not his, like in a dream, she is graceful and flawless in her magical performance due to the glittery lights and reverberated sounds. We see here that she has her own unique style and coolness, she has talent, promise and value. He ignores this and continues bowling, telling her to stop dancing and sit down. In Urban Cowboy Bud and Sissy couples dance to the “Orange Blossom Special” played by Mickey Gilley himself and the Charlie Daniels Band, but as the song picks up into a frantic pace, Bud breaks off into a solo hoedown country jig. Bud breaks into it as if he had never danced like this before but it was coming out of him as an uncontrollable reaction to the music and seeing others do it. He steals the show by the end of the dance. The scene represents the final peak of the good times that Bud and Sissy have. Though it isn’t cowboy music in Midnight Cowboy, Joe is there to have a good time. The hippy, artsy, psychedelic individualism somehow makes room for his cowboy look and he fits right in with all the people trying to express themselves in different ways. For the first time he is seen and appreciated. The rodeo is in town and a dance contest is one of many events in the night. A group of kids are dancing on several 4 by 8 boards in the middle of a paddock surrounded by people wa