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Academy Award for Best Dance Direction facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The Academy Award for Best Dance Direction was a special award given out by the Academy Awards for only three years, from 1935 to 1937. It was created to honor the amazing dance numbers and the people who choreographed them in movies.

This award was unique for another reason: it's the only time a Marx Brothers film ever got an Oscar nomination! Their movie A Day at the Races (1937) was nominated for its dance number called "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm".

The Short Life of the Award

The Academy Award for Best Dance Direction didn't last very long. It was stopped after just three years. This happened because other movie directors felt that dance direction was already part of a director's job.

1935: The First Winners

The first year this award was given out was 1935.

  • The winner was Dave Gould.
  • He won for two films: Broadway Melody of 1936 (for the dance number "I've Got a Feeling You're Fooling") and Folies Bergère de Paris (for "Straw Hat").
  • Many other talented choreographers were nominated that year. These included Busby Berkeley for "Lullaby of Broadway" from Gold Diggers of 1935, and Hermes Pan for "Piccolino" and "Top Hat" from Top Hat.

1936: Honoring a Classic

In 1936, another great choreographer took home the Oscar.

  • The winner was Seymour Felix.
  • He won for the famous dance number "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" from the movie The Great Ziegfeld.
  • Other nominees included Dave Gould for "Swingin' the Jinx Away" from Born to Dance and Hermes Pan again for "Bojangles of Harlem" from Swing Time.

1937: The Final Year

The last time this award was presented was in 1937.

  • The winner was Hermes Pan.
  • He won for the dance number "Fun House" from the film A Damsel in Distress.
  • This was also the year the Marx Brothers film A Day at the Races was nominated for its "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" dance, choreographed by Dave Gould.
  • Other nominees included Busby Berkeley for "The Finale" from Varsity Show and LeRoy Prinz for "Luau" from Waikiki Wedding.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anexo:Óscar a la mejor coreografía para niños

  • List of Academy Award–nominated films
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