Presco and Campo

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All credit goes to Betsy Baytos, this blogopedia's resident Eccentric Dance performer, teacher, and historian, for exposing us all to the work of George Campo. The first clip she unearthed was from 1932 and was shared in my post George Campo: Continental Eccentric Dancer, which got a very enthusiastic response from a ton of people. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out first. Right now!

Now there comes this 1940 Pathé studio recording of Campo, this time performing with a far more acrobatic partner by the name of Presco. It has some of the same chair tricks but a lot of new moves as well.

The clip is new to me, but I see that Pat Cashin beat me to the punch by four years, having already posted it here. Maybe Betsy will uncover more about Campo during her upcoming visit to London for her documentary film on eccentric dance. Keep those clips coming, Bets!

Johnny Hutch 100th Birthday Salute

Johnny Hutch at 15 and receiving his MBE in 1994.

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Johnny Hutch, one of the unsung heroes of physical comedy, would have been 100 years old today. As things turned out, he not only made it past his 93rd birthday, but remained active as an acrobatic performer until age 69, and as a teacher and choreographer late into life, last working as a stunt coordinator for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of 87. He was also married to the same woman, Jane Phillips, for 66 years, passing away — probably not coincidentally — months after she did in 2006.

Hutch had a long and illustrious career as a comedy acrobat with such troupes as the Seven Hindustans, the Seven Volants, the Herculeans, and the Half-Wits, appearing more than any other artist ever at the London Palladium, and sharing the stage with such stars as Grock, Louis Armstrong, and Bob Hope. However, he probably gained greatest recognition as Benny Hill's bald, elderly sidekick in the last two seasons of Hill's BBC comedy show.

More significant to today's performers (youse guys) is that Johnny Hutch deserves huge praise for generously sharing his knowledge with others, in the process becoming a key transitional figure between the circus/variety world of the mid-20th century and the alternative theatre world of the past fifty years. He created the Johnny Hutch School of Professional Acrobatics and Stagecraft —"Producers of High Class Specialty Acts. Knockabout and Fight Sequences. Traditional Trap Routines" and coached Robert Downey, Jr. for the title role in the movie Chaplin. He not only worked for established institutions such as the RSC, but also assisted fringier enterprises such as People Show and The Kosh, and helped establish Zippos Circus. So giving and dedicated was he to transmitting his skills  that he was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth for "service to young people of the theatrical profession."

Johnny Hutch as a clown.

As usual, you can learn more about Johnny Hutch on the excellent Circopedia site or by reading his memoir of his early days, Somersaults and Some Aren't, published as a special edition (no. 165) of King Pole, the British circus magazine.

Here are a few video clips, followed by some remembrances by two huge fans, and finally a chronology of Hutch's life taken from his memoir.


Click here to see Johnny and The Seven Volants on the Circopedia site. This is from 1965.

A year later, these are the Herculeans at the Royal Hippodrome. Click here to watch, again at Circopedia.

The Half-Wits

And in 1977, the Half-Wits on the Cliff Richard Seaside Special, filmed at Deauville, France. That's him second from left  in the photo.

This routine, by the way, reminds me of one Victor Gaona taught at Ringling's Clown College back in 1973, and that has been seen in some form in that circus many times.





A skit from the Benny Hill Show. Recognize anyone?

An obituary by acclaimed British actor Anthony Sher, which first appeared in the London Guardian. 

The acrobat Johnny Hutch, who has died aged 93, passed his skills on to actors as well as circus performers. He also became an actor himself - and was the little old man whose bald head was patted by Benny Hill on his television show.I first met Johnny when he trained me for the rope climbing and other acrobatics required for Terry Hands' 1992 RSC production of Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great. I shall never forget the surprise of walking into the gym for our first session and discovering that my teacher was a diminutive man of 79. In reply to my "Hello, how are you?" he said in a broad Yorkshire accent, "No alright, ta, just a bit of arthritis in me wrists - it stops me walking on me hands, and I always like to start the day with a little walk on me hands."

I was speechless. My own father was roughly the same age, and could barely walk on his feet. Who was this man? Quite a phenomenon, it turned out.

In the months that followed, as Johnny bullied and encouraged me through some punishing training sessions, I grew to love and respect him. He was a little gentleman entertainer who always wore a suit and bow tie to work, and who, with a twinkle in his eye, a story on his lips ("When I was on the bill with Judy Garland ..."), and with his feet constantly sliding into a soft-shoe shuffle, led me to a world I did not know but found enchanting - the world of circus, music hall and variety.

Born John Hutchinson in Middlesbrough, Johnny was apprenticed to a troupe of acrobats when he was aged 14. They became the Seven Royal Hindustans, specialising in a mixture of European and Arab tumbling, with Johnny as their star performer. At the beginning of the second world war, he was performing in variety acts at the famous Windmill theatre in Soho, but he soon signed up and became a staff sergeant in the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade, training men to drop behind enemy lines. He himself made 66 jumps, and fought in north Africa and Italy.

In the early 1950s, Johnny formed the Seven Volants, a fast-moving acrobatic act, which appeared regularly at the London Palladium. In 1957 they toured South Africa with Boswell's Circus for a year, living on a train with all the other performers: trapeze artists, clowns and animals. Johnny went on to develop two successful comedy acts, the Herculeans and the Half-Wits. They appeared in Las Vegas, and spent two years touring France with Cirque Jean Richard.

In 1976, aged 64, Johnny achieved a remarkable feat: winning the world circus championships by performing a full-twisting backward somersault. But as he finally grew too old for these physical rigours, he simply reinvented himself again and again.

He became a comedy actor - appearing in the Benny Hill Show for eight years until the star's death in 1993 - and was the stunt-choreographer for the theatre and dance groups, the People's Show and the Kosh. In 1994 he was awarded an MBE for services to fringe theatre. He helped Martin Burton establish Zippo's Circus, Britain's prime touring circus, and was a consultant on Richard Attenborough's 1992 film Chaplin, coaching Robert Downey Jr in the silent movie star's slapstick routines. He also worked on the design of the Teletubbies, creating their particular walk.

But I always think that one of Johnny's most daunting challenges in his later life was to try and turn an out-of-condition actor like me into a superman. As well as making me look good in Tamburlaine, he created some thrilling moments in our 1997 RSC production of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Johnny's name was invariably linked to that of his wife, Jean, the dancer Jean Phillips, whom he married in 1940; they were a perfect double act, one of those matches made in heaven, inseparable. He was heartbroken when she died last March. He is survived by their son Brian, daughter-in-law Deborah, grandchildren Sophie, George and Eleanor, and great-grandchildren Molly and Clara.

Don Stacey writes: Looking back on his 80-year career in show business, Hutch said, "You had to be versatile to survive in music hall. I became Britain's finest tumbler. It sounds big-headed but there was nobody to beat me." He had started work with the Seven Royal Hindustans aged 13 as top mounter in their pyramid - at only 5ft, he was too small to get a job in the local mills. In 1928 he made his first appearance at the London Palladium on a bill topped by Gracie Fields, making her London debut.

Later, as well as the Seven Volants, he trained groups, such as the Herculeans, who wore old fashioned bloomers, tights and false moustaches. These acts were always in top demand for pantomines - at the Palladium, for instance, they Volants appeared in, among others, Robinson Crusoe, with Englebert Humperdinck, and Aladdin with Cliff Richard, while the Herculeans appeared in Babes in the Wood with Frank Ifield and Sid James.

Hutch continued to arrange knockabout comedy and trapdoor routines in Palladium pantomimes, although he retired from performing them in his 70s.

The Herculeans

And a fond remembrance by our own guest blogger, eccentric dancer and eccentric dance historian Betsy Baytos:

I had the immense pleasure of not only spending time, but filming an extraordinary interview with the great Johnny Hutch back in 1994, for my ‘Funny Feet’ Documentary. Minute and adorable, enthusiastic and funny, energetic, passionate and knowledgeable, it was Johnny, as one of my early interviews and my first in England, who cracked open the door of the Eccentric Dancer’s reach throughout Europe and its strong visual comedic roots. 

The two hours on camera were pure delight and he clearly was one of my favorite interviews and greatest inspirations, and we remained in touch for years after. His demonstrations of ‘moonwalking’ and his spontaneous eccentric dance moves to deliver a point he was making, were nothing short of amazing. 

He was generous of time and spirit, driving home the importance of having a certain ‘kind of body’ as a necessity in becoming an eccentric dancer. He was also the first to make me aware of how eccentric dance evolved from early pantomine and commedia, and how the French Music Hall had incorporated dance, which led to eccentric. We talked of so many great physical comics and dancers, but a favorite to us both was Grock, which he felt as one of the supreme visual comedians, led to the Eccentric’s character. 

He spoke of working with Robert Downey Jr. and how much he enjoyed the experience of passing along Chaplin’s routines. He spoke of when Richard Attenborough called him to first request his assistance and how deflated Attenborough sounded when saying it was a shame no one remembered Chaplin’s routines. But Johnny piped in, “ I know ALL his routines! I used to watch him as a kid!” And he shared with me the incredible outtakes of his working with Downey on the set.  I recall asking who might have inspired Chaplin, when he mentioned  ‘Fred Kitchen’, whom I must research when back in the UK. 

There is so much more, and I cannot wait to transfer his interview when archived, so it will be accessible to all of you! Happy Birthday Johnny! Love, Betsy

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Thank you all! It is never too late to celebrate a life well lived.

Guest Post: A Thanksgiving Sampler of Eccentric Dance from Betsy Baytos

Little Tich

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It's almost Thanksgiving. Much to lament, much that needs fixing, much that can't be fixed, but as always ever so much to be thankful for. Somewhere on that list be sure to include all the talented physical comedians who have left us such a wonderful legacy. And to that list I'm adding guest blogger Betsy Baytos, who once again is favoring us with some more insights and fantastic footage on the subject of eccentric dance.  —jt
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Okay, guys....guess what I found and you know I'll want to join!  — http://www.eccentricclub.co.uk

"Welcome to the Eccentric Club (UK), formerly known in its various incarnations as The Illustrious Society of Eccentrics, The Everlasting Society of Eccentrics, The Eccentric Society Club and, finally, The Eccentric Club."  Is this fate?

A Quick Eccentric History:
Ever since the caveman first spoke and gestured, there must have been some sort of "silly walks" around the proverbial camp fire. Unfortunately we haven't found those cave drawings yet, but we do know that it is a genre of popular theatrical dance that can be traced from early Greek and Roman entertainment, revolving around ridiculous re-enactments of life. Back then it was surely safer not to speak (bald emperor jokes were strictly forbidden), but the visual comedian had inadvertently created a universal language, as classic mime slid into comic drama. I was amazed to learn how pantomime shaped the eccentric's path early on, through the Roman pantomimists' wearing of various masks, and the reliance on body language and gesture, which were and still are expressive and important in the eccentric's vocabulary. The Eccentric's tricks are ancient, from medieval graffiti as church carvings to English hieroglyphics....hmmm, that must be where those "wild and crazy" sand dancers, Wilson & Kepple come in!

Dancing in character has been around for centuries. Asia, India and Balinese movement can be seen in the eccentric's sometimes angular and "silhouette style. According to Lincoln Kirstein (ABT, NYC Ballet), "Noverre and the 18th century ballet masters called such work "grotesque dancing" and acknowledged it as an old and definite tradition. The French still have a recognizable vocabulary in La Danse Eccentrique. In contemporary terms it immediately suggests the can-can or chahut.... The Venetian baller master, Gregorio Lambranzi, issued his New and Curious School of Theatrical Dancing (1716). One hundred and two plates suggest all manner of acrobatic and eccentric dance combinations."

But what changed everything was the French Arlequin comic dances, which led to the English Pantomime, with commedia dell'arte characters, music, and dance.

With the advent of the music hall, specialty acts, schooled in the French and commedia slapstick tradition, flourished and provided the perfect training ground for the eccentric character. Grimaldi became a star and the "joey clown" was born! Even Charles "Boz" Dickens, whose first book was Memoirs of Grimaldi, would dance the 'hornpipe', an eccentric staple, for his friends. The music hall provided a refuge for the eccentric's development, as Dan Leno, Little Tich and countless others perfected their craft.

Here's a clip of the incomparable Little Tich:



The arrival of the American minstrel show in the mid-1800's was the turning point in the eccentric's evolution. Three distinct styles of eccentric emerged:

• Legmania — spun from the extreme French can-can kicks. Here's Melissa Mason, who could rotate her hips a full 360°!




• Classic Eccentric — Celtic influence with frenetic "below the waist" leg flips, performed here by Al Norman (entering at the 1:10 mark):




• Snakehips — with West African undulating hip swings & extreme body fluidity, performed here by Snakehips Tucker:



FYI: The word itself: So far the earliest I have found the actual term "eccentric dance" in print was 1842, in an old, little book, The Variety Stage, but I may well find earlier references when I return to the UK....I know you were all wondering....)

To me, the beauty of eccentric dance is how everything depends on the solo dancer. Their physical idiosyncracies, fexibility and comic mannerisms, make it unique to them. Add to that a character, a narrative, and a costume to accentuate or disguise the dancer's physicality, music to punctuate the routine, and you have the quintessential eccentric dancer. Eeccentrics work on the basis of deliberate caricature & parody, often bringing them in subtle conflict with classic dance, as seen in this wonderful Fanny Brice ballet parody, Be Yourself (first 2 1/2 minutes of clip):

Billy Dainty

Or spoofing any kind of "classic" dance, as seen here with the wonderful English eccentric Billy Dainty as Mr. Pastry. I love Mr. Pastry for being such a silly character, doing such a profoundly ridiculous Edwardian dance. It never fails to make me laugh!




Here's another favorite to enjoy: The Ritz Brothers in the number He Ain't Got Rhythm, from Wake Up & Live (1937)



One of my earliest research references was the first Dance Magazines (circa 1919-1934) loaned to me by the vaudeville historian, Kendall Capps, a child star in vaudeville who worked with the Marx Brothers and whose father had done an eccentric act. I was shocked at the numerous reference to eccentric dancers, documented routines & costuming ideas, sheet music and ads for Selva shoes, featuring the famous "eccentric dance" team of Fred and Adele Astaire! These magazines covered the New York Broadway stage & vaudeville houses, and boasted over 150 schools, including the Russian Ballet, which taught eccentric dance! This was a turning point and I knew this was more than just schtick!

And as they say, the rest is history! I will include another update of some of my favorite routines....but I need to say once more how wonderful it has been to meet you all! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cheers! "Your resident Eccentric"....Betsy

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Click here for Betsy's web site.

Click here for all of her guest posts to this blog.

Guest Post: Betsy Baytos on Interviewing Red Skelton

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We continue our series of popular guest posts on eccentric dance by Betsy Baytos with a piece on the multi-talented Red Skelton. I was actually on his show (in a skit with Jackie Gleason!) a few days after my seventh birthday, and 28 years later he consented to be honorary chairperson of the first NY International Clown-Theatre Festival, but (unlike Betsy) this time around  I did not get to meet him. Click here for all of Betsy's posts on eccentric dance.  —jt
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Red Skelton had always been a favorite of mine growing up, but I never dreamed I would have the opportunity to meet, let alone interview, the great comic. I had just made the decision to work on the documentary but I had no clue how I, with no financial backing or studio supporting me, could make these great artists sit down and talk intimately about their careers. But I had to try.

I was living in New York at the time, freelancing and touring for Disney, and somehow managed to get a contact to Red. He was to be my first interview for the film, but how? Aha! I knew of his clown paintings and I worked hard on a full color Goofy as Freddie the Freeloader, sending it off to Rancho Mirage, while hoping for a reaction. When I followed up with a call, an old German woman answered, "Mr. Skelton does not take interviews!" I asked her to verify that the illustration arrived safely, and she was gone a long while. Finally she returned, surprised as I was. "He said YES!" and I jumped, "I'm on my way!"

I flew out the very next day, rented a car, and spent a sleepless night at a motel near Red's house, as the interview was early in the morning. I was nervous as Red, over six feet tall,  opened the door smiling, cane in hand, and chomping on a cigar, ushered me in. His wife, Lothian, daughter of the great cinematographer Gregg Toland, walked in, curious as to my agenda.

He sat down as I babbled about eccentric dancers, and kindly listened, commenting about the dancers he knew, while signing plates depicting his clowns. I had brought footage on a small portable television but needed to somehow divert his attention. I then mentioned Charlotte Greenwood and placed my leg straight up the door frame. Red, taken aback, sat back staring, got up and left the room, leaving me alone with my leg attached to the door frame, aghast as what to do next! Minutes seemed like hours.....

Betsy & Red

Red returned, camera in hand, chuckling heartily. Whew, I did it! I quickly made space in the living room and proceeded to dance eccentric, with Red filming away in delight! He then agreed to do an interview at a later time. With the backing of the New York Performing Arts Library and a grant from Jerome Robbins, I managed to sit him down a few months later, for one of the most extraordinary interviews in Funny Feet. For over two and a half hours, Red graciously made me feel at ease, sharing his incredible background, and regaling me with timeless stories. My focus with this film had always been on a performer's technique, the process of character development, and setting up a gag, and essentially how to make a step "funny." Red delivered over and above, with insight on how he studied babies for his drunk act and how you "have to get right up on a pratfall or the audience will think you are hurt!" Pure gold and I was so grateful for this rare opportunity.

Betsy & Lothian

I kept his wife, Lothian, informed, and when Red passed, she reached out, saying how Red had planned to continue touring, and how he considered me as his opening act! What a thrill that would have been! Lothian and I have since become close friends, and that experience and interview compelled me to push on, making me realize how much these great artists have yet to give!

Here are two amazing Red Skelton clips, the classic Guzzler's Gin, followed by the lesser known dance class sequence from  Bathing Beauty (1944). Skelton's pantomime is pure "eccentric" in how he uses his character and has a specific reason for everything he does, in every gesture, every move. There is action and reaction. His body language as a ballerina, from a slumped position as he enters, to the extreme pulling up as he gets slapped around, is what makes that piece so effective.

The same in animation: it's all about the extreme pose and how you build a gag. An  eccentric dancer doesn't give away what is about to happen, instead looking just as baffled as we are at the results of their antics. Surprise is the key, and as the music escalates, so does Red. It's musicality, not just in dance but in his pantomime. Choreography is not steps, but movement; no matter how small, it's all important to the development of the routine.

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Click here for Betsy's web site.

Click here for all of her guest posts to this blog.

And stay tuned. More to come!

Guest Post: Betsy Baytos on Andy Serkis

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Pop quiz: What do King Kong and eccentric dance have in common? I had no idea, but it turns out the missing link is Andy Serkis, known to millions as Gollum in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as the giant ape in King Kong, as the chimpanzee Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and as Captain Haddock in The Adventures of  Tintin. Millions except for me, that is, but now thanks to our resident eccentric dance expert, Funny Feet director, and guest poster Betsy Baytos, I am being properly schooled. In addition to voicing these characters, Serkis' body language and facial expressions were digitized by means of motion capture technology and formed the basis for animating each one of them. Not surprisingly, this leading motion capture actor with the circus name is also a student of eccentric dance. Take it away, Betsy! —jt
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Many wonder why on earth do I need to reach across the pond for eccentric dancers, but there are several reasons, and here is only one: Andy Serkis, a celebrated actor and director, whose brilliant character work has galvanized motion capture technology! What a surprise when English actor and friend Tim Spalls suggested I seek Andy out for his role in Topsy-Turvy, the highly acclaimed musical drama about Gilbert & Sullivan. I soon came upon this blog post he wrote on studying eccentric dance for the role! He is one of many contemporary actors and physical performers the U.K. who I must include in Funny Feet!

Topsy-Turvy
Notes from Andy Serkis

In Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh's award-winning, highly authentic investigation into the lives of Gilbert & Sullivan and the D'Oyly Carte company circa 1885, I play the Savoy choreographer. The character was based on the real life of John D'Auban, an eccentric performer and consummate theatrical. Stepping into his shoes was an immensely pleasurable but physically challenging experience. D'Auban was known in his day as a grotesque pantomimic dancer, a music-hall artist, and a choreographer of ballet, of burlesques, and of practically all Gilbert & Sullivan's works. He also taught dance and invented the "star-trap," a rather dangerous piece of stage machinery.

In the six months leading up to filming, I studied ballet, Irish dancing, and (for four hours a day) eccentric dance with choreographer Fran Jaynes. Research on the Internet unearthed an extensive thesis about D'Auban, which revealed where he was born, lived, got married, died and was buried. I visited all these locales. Along with the entire company of actors researching their own roles, I delved deeply into the business of living day-to-day in Victorian London. What trams or buses did one travel on? Where did one eat? What sorts of street food existed, what were the buzzwords of the day? Etiquette, the social and political scene. Nothing that pertained to the lives of these characters was left unresearched, all so that when the actors came together "in character" they had so much ballast to sustain the imagination and keep them completely submerged in the moment, able to improvise freely for hours.

The most memorable times were when we came together to improvise the D'Oyly Carte Company "rehearsal" scenes. The Savoy Theatre (created by reshaping Richmond Theatre) was bustling with sometimes 60 or 70 actors wandering around in character, carrying out their daily business in full Victorian garb. It was extraordinary hurrying to "rehearsal", greeting members of the chorus, stage managers, principal actors such as Grossman and Temple, and then Gilbert himself would stride in and the rehearsal would commence. D'Auban would inevitably be late, having dashed from some pantomime or dance class, arriving like a whirling dervish. He was a very busy man. Egos would clash, tempers flare, life and death decisions about a particular gesture or dance step were thrashed out. Anyone walking in off the street witnessing these moments would honestly have believed they had traveled in time — it was that potent.

The scene that encapsulates D'Auban's spirit in the film revolves around a rehearsal for which Gilbert has brought in three genuine Japanese women in an attempt to authenticate the Three Little Maids choreography that D'Auban had lashed together from stock "oriental" pantomime steps. Where Gilbert wants reality, D'Auban wants comedy. It is wonderfully reminiscent of the eternal battle of "art" versus "bums on seats." D'Auban's parting shot is "I haven't laughed so much since my tights caught fire in Harlequin Meets Itchity Witch and the Snitch."

— Andy Serkis, December 2000

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Andy Serkis discusses The Art of Motion-Capture Acting
Andy Serkis to direct animated Animal Farm.

Click here for Betsy's web site.

Click here for all of her guest posts to this blog.

And stay tuned. More to come!

Guest Post: Betsy Baytos on Eccentric Dance & Animation

[post 302]

I am excited to be continuing with our series of guest posts by eccentric dancer Betsy Baytos, whose Kickstarter campaign to complete a fabulous documentary film, Funny Feet: the Art of Eccentric Dance I hope you will join me in supporting.  As you can see from the article below, Betsy truly knows her stuff. In fact, I doubt there's anyone else out there who comes close to matching her personal work experience in eccentric dance and in animation, combined with years of thorough historical research and tireless dedication to the project. In this installment, you will read  how the comic moves of eccentric dancers were directly translated into famous animation characters. Amazing stuff! —jt

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Buddy Ebsen working out 'character' movement with Walt Disney,
who often used the eccentrics for character inspiration.

When I was first hired as a trainee at the Disney Studios at age 18, I had no idea how animation worked. But my early background in dance proved to be a bonus while working with my mentor, the great Eric Larson, one of Disney's "nine old men." Not knowing any better, I would physically work out the movement (always dance), for the required personal tests. This instinctive ability to translate my extreme flexibility into cartoon characters was a match made in heaven, and I was soon hired as a full-time in-betweener on The Rescuers while assigned to a veteran animator who best suited my style, the amazing Cliff Nordberg (Three Little Pigs, alligators in Peter Pan, Evinrude in The Rescuers, etc.), renown for his over-the-top, character-driven animation.

I had just discovered and was studying eccentric dance and immediately saw a powerful connection. What astonished me most was that the process in creating character, building a gag, and making a step funny was virtually the same between the eccentric dancer and the animator. Their language was identical! I could not wait to get back to Disney and tell Eric, who only chuckled and mentioned that these dancers had been a staple of inspiration for many animated characters from the early beginnings of animation.

It made perfect sense. Windsor McCay, an early pioneer in animation, toured the vaudeville circuit in 1906 as an animated chalk talk act, and followed in 1914 with a stage performance teamed with his Gertie the Dinosaur, at that time breaking ground as one of the first developed personalities in a cartoon. Sharing the bill with the top eccentric dancers and witnessing their cartoonesque, exaggerated movement must have ignited character ideas as it had for many other aspiring animators.

Ichabod Crane

I had to learn more and was stunned when learning that my eccentric mentor, Gil Lamb, turned out to be the spot-on model for Disney's Ichabod Crane in Legend of Sleepy Hollow, as was Buddy Ebsen for Disneyland's Country Bears. The link was getting stronger, as Disney artists Ken Anderson and Joe Grant spoke of the tremendous influence Chaplin had on animation. Grant himself began his career as a Keystone Cop and had used Eddie Cantor and Charlotte Greenwood often as models. The prolific animation historian and writer, John Canemaker, clarified this analogy with his great documentary short of Otto Messmer, who first translated Charlie Chaplin into an animated character.

With Ward Kimball

As animation reflects our times, Chaplin's "tramp" character was introduced the same time as the animated personality was evolving, and much of Chaplin's movement was soon emulated by Messmer's early Felix the Cat character. Vaudeville was a treasure chest of eccentric dancers and visual comedians and a bounty for animators to use as reference in their character work and still is.

I was still processing all this when the amazing Dixieland Band, the Firehouse Five, comprised of animators Frank Thomas, Ward Kimball and other visiting musicians, began playing outside the commissary during lunchtime. I could not help myself and began executing a rip-roaring charleston on the black-top. At first a shock to the Disney employees trying to eat lunch as well as to the animation staff, it opened up a life-changing opportunity — animation choreography! I was soon working with Don Bluthe on Pete's Dragon, and dancing as the dragon Elliott in the parking lot, while tapping into the eccentric character process with a foam tail pinned to my arse. I worked again with Bluthe in Banjo soon afterwards. It was here that Disney allowed me to take an unprecedented leave to tour in Will B. Able's Baggy Pants & Co. vaudeville/burlesque show, followed by Jim Henson's Muppet Show, upon pleading how this rare opportunity would only strengthen my animation, which it certainly did!

Upon returning to Disney, I was thrilled to work on my alter-ego and hero, Goofy, the consummate eccentric dancer, in Mickey's Christmas Carol, and then, again teamed with animator Cliff Nordberg, began work on The Fox and the Hound, animating the owl, Big Mama, and using the broadest character movement we could possibly conjure. It wasn't long before the great animator Andreas Dejas called me in New York to stage the character movement in The Emperor's New Groove. I was one step closer to bringing the eccentric style back into the animated cartoon.

I continued to animate and illustrate, while researching and studying eccentric dance, and when I made the decision to make this documentary, it was vital to film the animators themselves, discussing the eccentric dancer's role in the evolution of animation.

Charlotte Greenwood

Many are represented well in Funny Feet: Richard Fleischer, son of Max Fleisher and a renown Director (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Dr. Doolittle) spoke of his uncle Dave Fleischer, a great comic dancer in his own right, as the model for the first rotoscoped character (1915), Koko the Clown. Richard spoke of his sister (then dating a young Ray Bolger), and her eccentric dance act where she popped on and off the screen, and how his father, who loved eccentric dance, most likely modeled Olive Oyl from legmania dancer Charlotte Greenwood.

Steppin Fetchit

Animator Myron Waldman's interview details watching vaudeville/burlesque shows while creating Betty Boop and Popeye, and how Cab Calloway was the model for the "old man in the mountain" and other characters. Chuck Jones' interview was wonderful, detailing how he studied Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy and Keaton, but professed how Groucho's walk became a signature in creating Bugs Bunny!

Buster Keaton

Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston spoke a great deal about the physical comedians' influence on their own work, specifically citing Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Red Skelton, and Buddy Ebsen. Ward Kimball elaborated on always searching for new walks, and how animator Art Babbitt's defining 360-degree walk for Goofy made him a star, and how Steppin' Fetchitt and Keaton played an enormous role in the development of Goofy's character movement and personality.

Joe Barbera, of Hannah Barbara provided incredible details on teaming Gene Kelly with Tom & Jerry, and later, on their ground-breaking collaboration for Invitation To The Dance. Al Hirschfeld, the renown NY Times caricaturist, eloquently spoke of observing, then capturing in line art, all the great eccentrics that graced the NY stage, and how Bolger specifically was inspired in his own movement by Hirschfeld's illustrations.

And the tradition continues, as the next generation of animators (Andreas Dejas, Eric Goldberg and others) understand the importance of observing and tapping into these great 'cartoon' eccentric dancers.

The Princess and the Frog
It all came full circle when the talented animation directors John Musker and Ron Clements (Aladdin, Little Mermaid) approached me to bring the eccentric tradition into their next animated feature, The Princess and the Frog. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to again work with a wonderful animation team, and especially, to introduce this history, a pre-cursor to their own work, to the next generation of incredible hip-hop break dancers. The surprise was instantaneous and I pushed them hard to capture the extreme movement necessary for animation.

The result was the "reference" video below, This was the "Mama Odie" number (the 200-year-old blind sorceress), with two spoonbill birds in the background, which eventually they multiplied to make it look like a flock of birds in a choir. (It was a gospel-type number.) She pantomimes her sidekick, a boa snake which I staged like a boa feather. The key for me was to hire matching body types for the animated characters....so I was very specific on the audition call. I staged seven musical numbers and six dialogue sequences over all.

Buddy Ebsen and the animation grid

Before I even began, I sat with the directors and went over an animatic storyboard, frame by frame, so I could match precisely the sound effects, dialogue and musical punctuation. (As it is all recorded prior to any animation beginning). As you see here, every gesture (head tilt, arm swing, etc....) was broken down frame by frame, (24 drawings a second for feature quality) No motion capture or rotoscope — I staged each number per frame, then one as a looser version, and then a couple of variations on walks (very important) and then one with total improv (in case the performer had an idea, so just let them do what they do best!). They used all as reference only....so they would have the freedom to play with the choreography. Everything was shot against a grid, exactly as with Buddy Ebsen in this photo. It is also filmed in every variation....(overhead, below, side views, etc....)

Choreography to me is not just dance.....it is 'character'.....it's how a character sits, walks, gestures, and even more importantly....not moves, which is sometimes more powerful. It is the art of pantomime...and I make my characters think....why do you walk over there....why do you sigh and slump....why are you jubilant. There must be a reason for the movement. It's all about action and reaction.

What the animators taught me, I heard directly from Ray Bolger when we talked about Once In Love With Amy. He said I had to have a reason for every move I made. It's all the same process, fascinating to me, between an animator and an eccentric dancer. When I worked with the clowns at Cirque, it's something I saw quite a bit. They walk out and do their schtick, but I made them think about character. How your walk on stage is different than another....how your body language defines who you are from the moment you step out onto that stage. Add to that a unique twist that becomes identifiable to your character, which your audience will identify you with. For example, for Dopey the animator Frank Thomas added a "hitch-kick" to his walk, which at first was an accident but became his trademark. All this is important: character, story, body language, and believability to your audience, so they can empathize with you. In animation and eccentric dance, the rules are the same!

Funny Feet can help me imagine a dream to strengthen the relationship between dance and animation, training the two genres to inspire each other once again!
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Click here for Betsy's web site.

Click here for all of her guest posts to this blog.

And stay tuned. More to come!

Guest Post: Betsy Baytos on Eccentric Dance

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Betsy on the Steve Allen Show

I have the honor of turning my 300th post (!) over to eccentric dancer Betsy Baytos, whose documentary film project, Funny Feet: The Art of Eccentric Dance (see two posts ago) draws upon this dance background and her work as an animator with Disney Studios. A twin threat! Betsy has graciously agreed to favor us with a few guest posts on eccentric dance. For starters, she'll share some of her own work with us and explain how she came to straddle the worlds of animation and eccentric dance. (And by "straddle" I mean a full split!) 
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There is a good reason I have followed the unchartered path of the eccentric dancer! Early on, while working as a young animator at Disney Studios, I studied dance from an old vaudevillian, Jon Zerby, who quickly noted my extreme flexibility and lack of control at the ballet barre, concluding that I was destined for another path. He taught me my first "silly walk" and talked a great deal about the eccentric dancers he worked with on the bill. And I never looked back.

Gil Lamb

I was always searching for new opportunities to apply the eccentric movement I learned from anyone who would teach me, and was stunned to observe actual steps, a repertoire of movement and routines that every eccentric dancer performed. The unique nature of the eccentric dancer is — depending on their flexibility and individual idiosyncrasies — to add their own twist to an already comical and exaggerated position.

There are three distinct eccentric styles: traditional (Cagney, Al Norman, Hal Leroy) inspired with a Celtic flavor of loose footwork; snakehips (Snakehips Tucker, Josephine Baker, Cab Calloway), reflecting a West African looseness in the hips; and legmania (Will B. Able, Gil Lamb, Charlotte Greenwood, Melissa Mason), which is rooted in the French can-can and takes the high kick to a new level! But many eccentrics excelled in all three, and along with great character and a storyline to dictate the reason for their movement, created their own signature act.

Will B. Able

My first mentor in eccentric was the great 6' 6" tall legmania dancer Will B. Able, who hired me for his vaudeville/burlesque Show, Baggy Pants & Co., followed by Gil Lamb, who I pulled out of a poker game at Milt Larsen's wonderful Variety Arts Theater in Los Angeles. I'll never forget Gil, staring at me incredulously while holding a spread of cards, cigar jutting out of the corner of his mouth and bifocals teetering low on the bridge of his nose, finally agreeing to teach me. After working with them both, I knew these legends were pure gold! It was Milt who then generously provided me with my first films to study from the old Ed Wynn Show, where many eccentric dancers were featured.

The Muppet Show! A friend provided me with a chance of a lifetime, and I was soon auditioning for a bewildered Jim Henson at the Beverly Wilshire, in front of their fireplace mantel, demonstrating my full-bodied eccentric dancing ostrich idea. Twelve weeks later, I was working in London on the Muppet Show, and the Betsy Bird was born!

 

I tried everything while working the remaining two seasons, puppeteering and exploring how the costumes could be re-designed for maximum flexibility. From there came the Muppet's first live performance at the Kennedy Center, where the Betsy Bird was featured in a bird-like, whimsical pas de deux. But London proved to be the pandora's box in my quest for eccentric knowledge, and I was stunned at the vast amount of material available and the scores of eccentric dancers abiding in this unchartered territory.

I was soon spending time with the legendary Max Wall and Benny Hill, Johnny Hutch, Norman Wisdom & Lord Lew Grade, and discovered this style was rooted in an even older European tradition. And it was here that they spoke of the "art of pantomime," the commedia slapstick school, and the advent of the American minstrel show. Here that the eccentric, the early visual comics, now integrating strong character personalities and storylines, flourished for over 200 years. It was in England where eccentric took form. I realized that eccentric dance was beyond mere satire and schtick, but a universal language, and a direct reflection of our culture.

Upon returning from the Muppet Show, I was invited to appear on the Steve Allen Show, in a sketch that was based on my actual audition. Steve, a champion of my work in this field, encouraged me to continue, as did Hermes Pann, Fred Astaire's choreographer. Hermes made clear that I understood, in one emotional moment, the torch I was destined to pass along.

More determined, I was soon back at Disney and a promotional tour for the re-release of Bambi, where I talked them into allowing me to draw, then dance with Thumper, and a 6-week tour followed.

I continued to study, learning snake-hips from Buster Brown, and doing research, whenever and wherever I could....it was while working in the basement, on a 10' x 20' mural for Disney Corporate in New York City, that a phone call changed everything. I was soon auditioning for the Broadway Show, Stardust, with an act I had been developing for 10 years. A throw-back to vaudeville, dancing with a puppet was not unique, but coming back as the puppet, and in this case, a 1920's gigolo named "Maurice" certainly was! With a desire to perform eccentric while wearing a tux, while paying tribute to Ray Bolger and Leon Erroll, I was soon featured as the physical comedienne in the show, which ran for two years, working with the great choreographer Henry Letang (Sophisticated Ladies, Cotton Club, Tap). For the first time I could pay homage to all those eccentric masters and carry the torch that much further.

I hope you enjoyed these performances. Thank you!
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Visit Betsy's web site here.

And come back soon for more eccentric posts!

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.