For sure!

Wrong! It's Ginger all the way! Personality and acting skills and beauty count along with the dancing. No contest there!

But Fred thought she was so "masculine" for his tastes as a dancer. Just as he thought Cyd was too "athletic."

@@HolgerRuneFan That may be his opinion, but she was still an amazing dancer. If she was considered to be "dancing like a man" imagine what he would think of the female tap dancers of today.

Agree, but Ginger partnered him on screen from 1933 to 1938/39 (and then a reprise 10 years later) during his formative years as a dancer in film. I suspect he felt comfortable "teaching" and directing female partners. Can't help but think that Eleanor and Cyd were technically superior to him. He often admitted that he had to practise whereas his sister Adele (his original dance partner) just did it all naturally. Although I love Fred's peerless charm and vocabulary of steps, coupled with first class execution of dance. That said, just look at Ginger's development from being Charleston champion of Texas through to her tours de force in Carefree (The Yam and Change Partners are just brilliant).

@@TellyWatcher1997 When you watch Astaire with Eleanor Powell or Cyd Charisse or Rita Hayworth (why no mention of her?), you see them connecting first and foremost as marvelous dancers, enjoying the shared energy of highly honed skills. I think the secret to the great success, artistic and public, of the Astaire-Rogers partnership is that they always appear to be relating above all as human beings who happen at that moment to be expressing through dance, rather than through spoken dialogue or song. Silly as the plots of their movies together are, we enjoy them because we care about their characters, and want them to end up together. When she dances, Rogers retains a great down-to-earth, relatable persona, whther doing elegant ballroom moves or comedy turns. And yes, she improved and grew as a dancer as their partnership continued. That said, it says a lot for Astaire that he worked so well with such diverse partners. I only wish we had film footage of him and Adele!

True. She said tapping was like ditch digging.

You mean that no one could portray him on screen?

Yes, it sort of undermined her ability to showcase her work. I know they got special permission for an award show provided nothing was televised but still...

@@JoJo-ie8sl Apparently a biopic about Astaire is going to be made.

@@ppuh6tfrz646 his widow and/or kids must have finagled a way around it. good to hear.

It was his widow that orchestrated the copyright issues, I believe.