Friday Dance Party: Jukebox Tap

The stars of this week's Dance Party have both appeared in these pages before, though never together. If you are interested in even more Astaire-style partnering than is illustrated below, you can see Fred with Ginger here and here, and Fred with Leslie here, and Fred with Betty here. But I think the real star below is Eleanor Powell, considered the preeminent tapper, male or female, of her generation. Her previous appearance here is stolen by her costar, a dog, but she holds her own with Astaire in this clip from Broadway Melody of 1940. Though Ginger Rogers became far more famous as Astaire's dance partner, Powell teamed with him many times, and is clearly the superior hoofer. She died 29 years ago today.