Cavalcade of Dance is a 1943 short film (11 minutes) directed by Jean Negulesco.
It is a history of early 20th century American dance. After a short prologue in which regular people are shown dancing in the regular, fairly awkward way, Real Life professional dance team Veloz and Yolanda
are introduced. The rest of the short is fairly simple, as a narrator discusses various dance crazes and how they became popular, while Veloz and Yolanda perform that dance on the screen.
Tropes:
- Billed Above the Title: Veloz and Yolanda were fairly well known back in the day, as shown by how they are billed above the title as "Veloz and Yolanda, World's Finest Ballroom Dancers, in Cavalcade of Dance."
- Book Ends: After the prologue showing regular middle class folk dancing, Veloz and Yolanda are shown with a Dramatic Spotlight on a darkened set. They are shot the same way when they are doing the rumba at the end of the film.
- Documentary: A documentary short portraying the history of "modern American ballroom dance."
- Dramatic Spotlight: Veloz and Yolanda are introduced with a spotlight on an otherwise totally black set. They are framed the same way for the closing "The End" shot.
- Narrator: Narrator Art Gilmore talks about various dance crazes. World War I brought about a fad for fast dances.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Yolanda Casazza wears a backless dress for pretty much every dance.
- Shout-Out: A picture of Rudolph Valentino credits Valentino with starting the tango craze in the United States.
- Tango: One of the dances that Veloz and Yolanda demonstrate. Veloz wears an outfit similar to the one Rudolph Valentino wore when he danced the tango in his first movie.
- The X of Y: Cavalcade of Dance
