During the very popular 'Dancing in the Dark' scene from the film "The Band
Wagon", the director, Vincente Minnelli manages to foreshadow the fact that Fred
Astaire's character, Tony Hunt, and Cyd Charesse's alter ego, Gabrielle, will
succeed in becoming a couple by the film's conclusion. Up until this particular
scene, the audience has been led to believe through a series of misunderstandings
and petty arguments that there will be no hope of romance between the featured
couple. How then does Vincente Minnelli accomplish his task of foreshadowing,
despite all of the pre-ceding narrative information? Minnelli does not simply use a
dialogue full of admissions of love or admiration, instead he uses much more
unique cinematic tools. By employing the myth of spontaneity, numerous allusions
to marriage, a very popular contemporary love song as well as having the number
choreographed using a combination of the two protagonist's dancing styles; all
framed within the first complete and uninterrupted number that includs the two of
them, Minnelli effectively foreshadows their success in overcoming their
differences in an effort to find love.
In Jane Feuer's article " The Self-Reflective Musical and the Myth of
Entertainment ", she writes " perhaps the primary positive quality associated with
musical performance is its spontaneous emergence out of a joyous and responsive
attitude towards life. " ( Feuer, p. 331. ) Following this train of thought, it becomes
logical to deduce that if any one character introduces any other character to a world
filled with spontaneity this would instill a life affirming connection between the
two, a chance for romance. Therefore, spontaneity can be viewed as a signal for the
possibility of amour. In The Band Wagon Tony manages to persuade Gabrielle to
practice their dance routine in the park. Until this point Gabrielle has shown...