Funny Feet: The Art of Eccentric Dance

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In my next life I'm hoping to come back as an eccentric dancer. I wants me some rubber legs. I'm sure you feel the same.

I never get enough of this stuff, but if Betsy Baytos has her way, I soon will, because she's been hard at work on a documentary titled Funny Feet: The Art of Eccentric Dance. She fell in love with the subject while working as a Disney animator and has been researching it for a couple of decades now. Here's her definition:

It's the cockeyed strut of Jimmy Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy and the classic tramp of Charlie Chaplin, the wild banana dance of Josephine Baker or Groucho's zany twist kicks, the sentimental scarecrow of Ray Bolger and Goofy being, well, Goofy! The 'Lord of the Rings' Andy Serkis as dance master in TopsyTurvy and John Cleese's indomitable 'Ministry of Silly Walks', Massine's spirited Peruvian in Gaiete' Parisienne and the outrageous and impossible break dancers of today. Yep, it's ALL Eccentric and it's ALL visual 'comedy in dance', with the funniest feet, rubber legs, snake hips, and craziest legmania hi-kicks, where twists, falls and the most exaggerated and outrageous comical movement, delineate a unique character, who performs a surprising, but always hilarious, story through dance!

A lot of work has been done, but she now has a Kickstarter campaign aimed at financing the rest. Here's her pitch (click green arrow), worth watching for the footage and because if she pulls it off, it will be a valuable addition to performing arts history.




UPDATE (12-5-12): The Kickstarter campaign is over, but you can read more about the project here, and please do consider donating.