From dancing on ceilings to defying gravity on fire escapes, these spectacular movie musical numbers push the boundaries of what's physically possible! Join us as we celebrate the most jaw-dropping dance sequences that combine innovative filmmaking, incredible choreography, and pure movie magic.
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00:00Dancing through life, swaying and sweeping, and always keeping cool
00:07Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the movie musical numbers that combine impossible dancing skills and pure cinema magic
00:15Now you're in the world
00:2110. Rich Man's Frug, Sweet Charity
00:32Bob Fosse is considered a genius for a reason
00:35Not only did he direct at Sweet Charity on stage and screen, but his choreography for this lengthy dance sequence showcases his signature style
00:51The performers are made to contort and bend their bodies at extreme angles and make it all look smoother than silk
01:02Fosse's moves are mysterious, seductive, and even eerie at points
01:13There doesn't seem to be a single joint that goes unactivated
01:16No neck, shoulder, elbow, or knee is spared
01:19There's probably enough future hip replacements in this ensemble to keep a surgeon in business for decades
01:339. I've Gotta Hear That Beat
01:35Small Town Girl
01:36Ann Miller performed her fair share of tap-dancing miracles in many MGM musicals
01:49But watching her impossibly crisp moves in this vaguely surreal number from 1953's Small Town Girl
01:54It's like watching a masterclass in technique and precision
01:57Her steps really have to be precise
02:07As throughout the stage, musicians' disembodied arms are poking through the floor
02:11Some are even holding huge brass and string instruments
02:14With footwork this fast and free, Miller might do some serious damage if she misplaced just one step
02:19Like the very best performers of the era, she makes dancing up huge staircases and twirling past the sea of arms
02:34Look completely effortless
02:408. Another Day of Sun
02:42La La Land
02:43Director Damien Chazelle shut down an entire stretch of highway outside L.A. to film this opening number
02:55It's another Day of Sun
02:58I hear them every day
03:02New rhythms in the canyons that'll never fade away
03:06The amount of movement in this scene is amazing
03:09With the ensemble dancing and jumping over cars
03:11And strategically placed stump people adding their own magic
03:21It's not just the dancers that are doing amazing work here
03:23The camera is moving in ways that almost feels impossible
03:26Constantly swooping, tilting and weaving through the mass of bodies and cars
03:30The deft camera manoeuvres help make the whole thing feel even more dynamic
03:34Due to the limited number of cuts and takes
03:36Due to the limited number of cuts and takes, this number required precision on a mass scale
03:38If one person was off beat, it would ruin the sequence
03:476. When the sun goes down
03:49In the Heights
03:51The fire escapes of Washington Heights are the setting for this romantic duet between Benny and Nina
04:08As actors Corey Hawkins and Leslie Grace start their song, they begin to defy gravity
04:13Framed by the George Washington Bridge and a sunset in the background
04:27They dance horizontally along the side of an apartment building as the camera shifts around them
04:32It becomes a dizzying and impossibly smooth number
04:35Thanks both to striking visual effects and a rotating set
04:38The actors did their own dancing here
04:40Having to shift and acclimate quickly to compensate for the constantly shifting direction of gravity
04:566. Make Em Laugh
04:58Singing in the Rain
04:59Make em laugh, make em laugh
05:02Don't you know everyone wants to laugh
05:05Sometimes, musical comedy is no laughing matter
05:08Singing in the Rain was notoriously hard to make
05:10And make em laugh is musical comedy at its most extreme
05:13Donald O'Connor literally throws himself into the song and dance
05:16Working his own body like a ragdoll
05:18He twists and flings himself across the set with reckless abandon
05:22Make em scream
05:23Take a fall but a wall split a seam
05:26He engages with a variety of props, visual gags
05:29And pratfalls the whole way before ending in a series of increasingly punishing flips
05:33Make em laugh
05:37But all that physical comedy came at a cost
05:42O'Connor was put on bed rest after the scene
05:44And couldn't return to the set for days afterwards
05:475. Jolly Holiday
05:52Mary Poppins
05:53I did that glorious die
05:55Right as I'm moaning in my
05:57I feel like I could fly
06:00Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and the two child actors
06:03Disappear into a chalk drawing for the Jolly Holiday number
06:06It doesn't just defy physics, it defies reality
06:09It's a jolly holiday with Mary
06:12Mary makes your art so light
06:15The blend of real world actors and constructed worlds and characters
06:19Allows for the whole sequence to take on a surreal quality
06:21At one point, Bert lifts Mary Poppins clear off the ground like it's nothing at all
06:25Although it was far from the first time Walt Disney Productions created a hybrid live action and animated sequence
06:30Mary Poppins is considered a landmark in the field
06:37This blend of styles and worlds won it the Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects
06:42Oh, it's a jolly holiday with you, Bert
06:464. Finale
06:48An American in Paris
06:49The final 17 minutes of this Best Picture winner featured some of the most elegant, graceful and astounding dancing ever seen in a film
06:58Co-stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dance through a series of French-themed sets
07:02One segment features Kelly carrying Caron through a fog-filled representation of the fountain at the real-life Place de la Concorde
07:09In a lot of ways, Kelly was ahead of his time
07:23Some of his moves looked like they were ripped right out of the 90s
07:26This sequence was so demanding
07:28The film's director, Vincent Minelli
07:30Actually had to leave and fulfill another obligation before coming back to complete it
07:353. Dancing Through Life
07:44Wicked
07:45Dancing through life
07:47Skimming the surface
07:49Gliding where tough is smooth
07:53Elphaba may have defied gravity
07:55But Fiero and the students of Shiz University
07:58Are the ones who get to dance like gravity doesn't apply
08:01Dancing Through Life makes use of the school's innovative bookcases
08:04Which look more like gears and rings than shelves
08:07Wows are fleeting
08:09Bows are a-glancing
08:11When you're dancing
08:13Through life
08:17Jonathan Bailey and the movie's ensemble of dancers
08:23Spent the number swinging from ladders, spinning and flipping
08:26As they sing about living a carefree life
08:28Given the movie's heavy special effects
08:30It's kind of amazing to find out what was and what was not created in post-production
08:34One dancer actually performed that iconic jump over the camera into a role on set
08:39Let's go down to the Oz Dust Forum
08:44We'll meet there later tonight
08:482. Jump and Jive
08:49Stormy Weather
08:50The Nicholas Brothers didn't just fly in the face of physics
09:05They also did things that looked like they hurt
09:08Really, really bad
09:09Their acrobatic prowess and astounding flexibility are on full display in the jump and jive sequence of stormy weather
09:15There are more splits in this routine than seems humanly possible
09:18But Feyard and Harold Nicholas continue to up the ante
09:22Each time their stunts get more thrilling and complicated
09:37They do it all without ever missing a single beat
09:40The climax of the number involves the brothers leaping over each other from the top of a large staircase
09:45Fred Astaire himself was a huge admirer of the routine
09:48And that's high praise
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10:151. You're all the world to me
10:30When it comes to dancing on film and defying the laws of gravity, physics and what we thought was possible
10:35Few dancers can hold a candle to Fred Astaire
10:37In Royal Wedding, he plays a Broadway star who's so in love with a dancer
10:41He actually starts dancing on the ceiling
10:43Audiences in 1951 must have thought that they were dreaming when they first saw it
10:47But if they thought that anyone could master anti-gravity, Astaire was probably at the top of the list
10:52It was actually the combination of innovative filmmaking, a rotating set, and Astaire's complete command of his body that sold it
11:13Did your favourite musical make the list? Tell us in the comments
11:43Thank you
11:45Thank you