Shall we dance?

Dancing can be incredibly romantic.

Today I was thinking about the sweet scene in the movie Miss Potter when the heroine dances with her book editor/publisher and everyone knows that they are falling in love.

And that made me think about Anna and the King of Siam in THE KING AND I.  What an incredible romantic rush their dance was.

Many of the Jane Austen adaptations include dance sequences as well (because they’re in the novels).   This works dramatically because the characters are in a confined social setting (the dance) where they are touching for a certain length of time.  And if they actually talk, their conversation can be more emotionally vulnerable because of that physical closeness.  I particularly liked the dance scene in the newer Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightley.

In books, I love the Richard Armitage narration of Sylvester by Georgette Heyer and the description of a particularly tense scene on a dance floor.  Richard Armitage did such a lovely job of narrating, it was easy to imagine the characters in my mind, as if I were watching a film.

What is your favorite romantic dance?

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I do.

English: Wedding cake (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is something wonderfully romantic about weddings.  Two people making a serious, legal commitment to love each other and take care of each other.  I’m in the middle of a manuscript that has a wedding (no big surprise there) and I’m thinking about some of my favorite weddings in books and film.   Many spoilers below….

♫ ‘How do you Solve a Problem Like Maria?’ ♫ (Photo credit: marragem)

Sound of Music.  Beautiful wedding scene — great dress, great church — until they sing, “How do you solve a problem like Maria??? ” I always thought that was weird.  And funny.

Pride and Prejudice.  Colin Firth finally kissing Jennifer Ehle after the minister marries the two couples and the camera cuts to a sour faced Lady Catherine de Bourgh.  Great stuff.

It’s a Wonderful Life.  George Bailey getting married in the rain.  Mary’s grumpy mother watching it all and crying because she doesn’t want Mary to marry George.

Runaway Bride.  Although I’m not sure all those fantastically overdone almost-weddings count.  But they’re fun.  I loved her escaping in the FedEx truck.

Jane Eyre.   The absolute best almost-wedding, ever.  Great in the book and all the film versions.

Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews/Jane Seymour version)  Great scene when Percy discovers on his wedding day that his wonderful wife sent people to the guillotine.   My favorite scene with Anthony Andrews.  Give me a heartbroken, angsty handsome man who must hide his feelings.  I love it.

Cropped screenshot of Myrna Loy from the trailer for the film The Best Years of Our Lives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Best Years of Our Lives.  Sweet, sweet wedding, which reminds us of what true love is.  And I will say again that I want to be Myrna Loy when I grow up.

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What are you doing this weekend?

I know what I’m doing.

I’m going to be watching North and South with everyone else this weekend.  I don’t know how to tweet yet, but I am going to escape into one of my favorite worlds.   To misquote one of my favorite movies (Sabrina 1995), “Thornton is always a good idea.”

If you don’t own it already, you can watch it on Netflix.

To read more about it, check out www.rafrenzy.com

Source: richardarmitagenet.com

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