May 10, 2018

"But the problem wasn’t the unsexy sex, or not mostly. It was that, the 1960s and 1970s having passed, people began to notice..."

"... that Fosse didn’t really have many steps at his command—characteristically, he acknowledged this—or, in the end, many emotions. He remained very influential. In the 1980s, you could barely see a dance in a music video—let alone a TV commercial or a Cirque du Soleil number or a dancercise routine—that wasn’t filtered through his style. But an influence is not necessarily a good influence.... It is Fosse’s comment on both his fears of being second-rate and his cynicism about his ability to manipulate an audience. 'I hesitate about a movement and think: Oh no. They’ll never buy that. It’s too corny, too show-biz. And then I do it, and they love it.' So he does it again, and he hates himself, and hates them."

From "Crotch Shots Galore" a review by Joan Acocella of 2 books about Bob Fosse in the NY Review of Books.

23 comments:

madAsHell said...

Wut?

Yancey Ward said...

Hard to believe he has been dead for over 30 years.

mikee said...

I read the name Bob Fosse but in my head I see the guy from Jaws doing a dance number.
Ah, the influence of movies on my world view!

Ann Althouse said...

If you don't know who Bob Fosse is... think of the dancing in "Caberet" and "Chicago." If you don't have anything in your head already that lets you do that, just move on to another post. This one's not for you.

Sebastian said...

What are the chances he would have been in the #MeToo crosshairs?

john said...

Hw would have danced at Trump's inaguration. Maybe not, he would have been 90.

rehajm said...

If you don't know who Bob Fosse is...

...let this help you out: A crash course by Robin Williams

tcrosse said...

If you don't know who Bob Fosse is...

Here he is in 1953.

Darrell said...

He won eight Tony Awards for choreography, more than anyone else, as well as one for direction. On film, he worked on everything from White Christmas to Star 80. Yeah, he wasn't all that. Just ask the NY Review of Books.

MadisonMan said...

Bob Fosse was great in Kiss Me Kate.

Ken B said...

Here is a clip of Althouse and her ex discussing artists of the past. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fOyw6Q8qWpM

Ken B said...

Tcrosse
That and Steam Heat are the most fosse Fosse.

SGT Ted said...

The movie All That Jazz was about Bob Fosse.

Bill Peschel said...

I read the review. The books look like they're pretty good. Joan had to get her shots in, ending with his death at 60: "For his reputation’s sake, this was not a moment too soon."

Fuck you, Joan. In his movies, he laid bare his life, his fears, his highs and his lows, and created great, fascinating art. Fosse's work has been and will be remembered, and has been and will be plundered for ideas, long after your collection of reviews and articles have been pulped.

David Begley said...

Loved All That Jazz. Hated Star 80.

rcocean said...

I've seen some of his film work in the 50s. He was a great dancer - but lacked the star power of a Gene Kelly and the likableness of a Danny Kaye or a Donald O'Conner. So he became a director/producer.

Caberet has some great musical numbers - but the non-music stuff is boring as hell.

rcocean said...

Evidently, he hated Gower Champion his big Broadway dance rival - who no one remembers because he didn't do any Oscar Nominated movies.

rcocean said...

As for the raunchy sex stuff - if you can't top the old stuff, go with sex.

That always works.

tcrosse said...

The trouble with being a dancer is that eventually the instrument wears out.

William said...

He was a big deal, but posterity has given Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly the legs.

glam1931 said...

I did extra work on his film LENNY in the early 70s, and he looked like he might drop dead right on the set...he never stopped smoking for a second. I played the Emcee in CABARET on stage in the 80s and Billy Flynn in CHICAGO in the 90s. He certainly had an influence on my life. But he always struck me as a rather sad character.

Rick.T. said...

JAZZ HANDS!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuPSIbABYVU

Merricat said...

Joan Acocella: Now, kids, you stay away from that Bobby Fosse! He's a BAD INFLUENCE and he won't get off my lawn.

Young choreographers, in dutiful chorus: Yes, Mrs. Acocella.

In addition to what Darrell wrote, Fosse also created the innovative television special Liza with a Z, winning the Oscar, the Tony, and the Emmy all in one year. He made only five feature films and was nominated for Best Director for three of them, winning once. The guy had nothing going for him.

Acocella should go back to slobbering over noted feminist Mikhail Baryshnikov.