She is amazing. Absolutely, no question. Didn't get enough credit.. But what about the Nicholas Brothers?

@@soniasonia2518 I actually believe the fact they were black may have "held them back" to some degree, you know? But among their fellow tap dancers, their name always come up on top. They were absolutely BRILLIANT.

you knew your stuff

The fact that Gene Kelly said she's the best dancer. Says a lot. Not one dancer male or female at that time could compare to Vera! She's the best of the best and my dance idol.

@@soniasonia2518 I agree! They didn't get the recognition they deserve. They are my #1 best male dancers of all time.

Agree! She was amazing!!

How when I received world champion dancer

That particular toe stand tap move is not as difficult as is looks! But she is so immensely talented. And she makes everything look seamless and flawless.. Love her

Well, not underrated by one Fred Astaire. He did several movies with her. Some of Fred’s most exciting and innovative dances were with Vera-Ellen, i.e., the Mr & Mrs Hoofer number in “Three Little Words”. She was remarkably strong, the head spotting in her turns is like magic. In this number here, she has to jump-step up onto the first tier of the platform she will dance on. That first step is almost up to her waist, and her step-jump-step up is completely effortless. Thanks for posting, I’ve never saw this one. She was a gift to us.

I believe Irish dancers go en pointe regularly on their tap shoes 🤔

And an acrobat !!

And insanely cute! I wish I had Time Machine so I could travel to the past and kiss her!

​@@armandoacevedo6978 I'd like to do that too !

As I watched this, I was thinking the very same thing. This isn't just a great solo, showcase performance of Vera Ellen's talent, this is one of the greatest solos ever filmed! Excellent design, choreography, technique, and production. Amazing!

Boy do I miss the old Time dance editing.

What's the title of this film?

@@shoshishoshi127Wonder Man from 1945

the best

@@htatsios This one was amazing. I wonder how I never heard of her until lately?

Her dancing makes me so happy! She was a great all-around dancer (and, from what I've read, put in a LOT of hard work).

Her name is up there with the best dancers not just of her era, but of all time. They just don't show movies from her era that much anymore which is a shame since they made far better films back then (the musicals they made back then in particular are fantastic). And unlike a few of the other great dancers from that era (like Ginger Rodgers and Rita Hayworth to name two) Vera never did much in non musical, non dancing roles, so that limits her exposure to modern audiences. But she was an absolutely brilliant dancer.

Her name IS up there with the best--trouble is, she came up towards the end of the dancing /musical era--catch her in "On the Town" w/ Gene Kelly

Fred Astair always demanded that he be filmed in his entirety.

I did notice that. Lot's of long shots. And when edits happen it could (probably not) be going from A cam to B cam. It doesn't seem like any 'time' jump. Very hard to do and well done! Back then, they seemed to just shoot it and not 'fix in post."

So the dance may be seen in its entirety. The sequence is in pretty much one take with moving camera.

I can't watch a modern Hollywood film, the cuts are just too short. You're just noticing something on the screen and it's gone. I'd rather watch old black and white Japanese films

I can't watch current dance pieces either because of the frequent cuts. Every 1 or 2 seconds these days camera angles change. It started happening because of MTV music videos and now that's all camera people think of.

Amphetamines(excessive diet pills) and cocaine were fairly common and promoted to be used by actresses to increase stamina, lose weight, and perform uninhibited by fears because of studio production pressures. She is extremely talented regardless, but who knows whether or not all that "energy" and those fearless stunts were done naturally or "enhanced" with common pills etc given to actresses back then...:/

@@csky123hello3 us soldiers were given amphetamines in that time as well

@@csky123hello3 cant blame herif she did, would probably have been pressured to or forced

@@csky123hello3 agreed but you still have to be SO physically fit to perform the way she does on amphetamines lol

It wasn't really one shot, but it is great. I love it.

That part really made my jaw drop! I could do a little but NOTHING like her. That was mind blowing.

Makes you wonder. When she did "White Christmas"and they got to the "Choreography" number, did they add this in for her?

yea, its too bad she had an eating disorder. She was brilliant

I agree Scott. As a former dancer I must say that she was the finest.I have always felt she surpassed even Eleanor. A very light style. Just for fun; try one of those moves...just one.He he...

Im a pro tap dancer and teacher and I definitely can't compete. she was amazing

Unfortunately...she had an eating disorder which took her too soon.

I wonder what causes such disorders--certainly the studios contributed as they wanted dancers thin as rails--tragic!!

Gene Kelly's widow recently stated that Gene thought Vera was the best female dancer in Hollywood.

Vera Ellen

@@tarnsand I see her as the female version of Gene Kelly. Both were athletically inclined and unbelievable perfectionists.

I like the way they filmed thus better. Didn’t like the way they filmed The dance numbers Chicago

🙏🙏👋🏽👋🏽👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Can not compute how she turns her foot into a humming bird

Ann Miller was fast, too.

I'd say MIss Ellie was far more better in tap dancing

Lightening fast, indeed

Hmm, I think that was Ann Miller 😁.

Thank you! I was wondering which film this was from!

+Equestrian Sofia some? Shes awesome!

angle a obtuse haha yeah, but you can see she had room to grow. idk i'm nto a tapper so i'm not an expert but i do dance with the abt

Equestrian Sofia room to grow???? Can you do any of what she did??

Yes I believe she had. If you watch ' On the Town' it shows her doing a lot as part of her character.

In Carnivale in Costa Rica she danced with Leonide Massine, who choreographed the ballet. It was certainly acceptable technique, though like most of Massine’s work it was more character dancing than straight ballet. They were actually a good match, extremely talented and agile performers would could quickly adapt to many styles, while still featuring their own physical style. It would have been very interesting to see her perform in one of the films Balanchine choreographed. Btw, in White Christmas her duet tap routine to Abraham was choreographed by a very young Bob Fosse.

chris green Philly Hello Chris, Vera Ellen was extremely talented unfortunately she had a hard life. My Grandmother was friends with her as a child and they remained friendly until the death of her only child. (Both of them born somewhere in Ohio.) Her first husband was physically abusive and she divorced him. His name was ? Hightower he was a dancer too. Not as good as her. I was told that’s why he was abusive to her. (Professional jealousy) Her second husband was Victor Rothschild, multi millionaire. They has a daughter who died before six months old. Vera had a very hard time even getting pregnant. My grandmother thought it was because she was entirely too thin. She suffered from Anorexia before the disease had a name. After her baby’s death she gave up her career. Then she started drinking and had a lot of mental problems. (That’s what they called the in the Olden Days. BTW I’m 56, so all of these things happened a long time ago. My Grandmother has been dead for 37 years.) Back to Vera Ellen her “Mental Problems” caused her to have a lot of marital problems and she wound up getting a second divorce. At the age of 58 she got cancer. IDK what type. But she died at the age of 60. I was about 16 watching an old movie of her’s called, “Three Little Girls in Blue”. My Grandmother was over, saw Vera Ellen on the Television and she just told me the whole story. I never got to see the rest of the movie. It’s not on KZfaq or on DVD and it’s such an obscure movie it’s not on TCM either. Oh well at least I know something about Vera Ellen. Take care & God Bless. Janey

Brain Tumor If that is true, that’s an amazing story!

She was killing it!!! I’m a fan of old Hollywood movies and i have to say that her legs were the only muscular ones i saw on an actrice/dancer of that time! You don’t have to be an expert to see how complex her choreographies were and how perfect she danced!

The complaint about her that she was TOO technical. I mean really?

@@janedoe805 wow thanks for that post, very interesting.

"amazingness" ? Honestly !!

I think the eating disorder and the tragic loss of her infant child was very very hard to recover from. sad that she didn't have a longer career.

@@LenHummelChannel among friends who knew her well, Vera-Ellen did NOT have an eating disorder. she did lose a child to SIDS though and losing a child is a grief like no other.

Thank youuuu ❤️