As much as people like to make fun of Bollywood movies for all the random singing and dancing, it's not like American movies are completely free of dance scenes. Below, I've compiled the top 50 movie dance scenes, based on my own entirely subjective evaluation (which should be obvious when you see the Labyrinth in the top 5).
Enjoy the videos, and feel free to add your favorites in the comments. I'm sure I missed plenty of good ones!
1. Singin' in the Rain: The fact that this scene is so highly recognizable, even decades later, should be all the evidence needed to give it number one.
2. Stormy Weather: Fred Astaire called it "the greatest dance number ever filmed". We think he was just being modest.
3.The Labyrinth: This may not have the most conventional appeal, but anyone who can pull off that hair, and that outfit, with those gnarled little puppets deserves a mention.
4. Grease: Upbeat, a little bit risqué, and set at a high school fair unlike any high school event I've ever seen - if you haven't seen this dance scene, you've been missing out.
5. Flashdance: Girls in the 1980s put on legwarmers and dreamed of being Jennifer Beals, and boys of the 80s...well, I think we all know what they were dreaming about when they saw this scene.
6. Clerks 2: It may have been one of the most vulgar, disgusting movies ever to get such a wide release, but this dance scene is happy, upbeat, and only mildly offensive.
7. Mac & Me: If you were a kid in the 1980s, there's a pretty good chance that you have fond memories of this movie. I'm still not entirely sure how this dance scene fit into the movie, but I do love it when uniformed football players break out into dance in the middle of a McDonald's. I'd definitely eat there more often if the one near my house was that fun.
8. Scent of a Woman: If this doesn't make you want to learn to tango, nothing will. Scent of a Woman is also the only place I can recall having seen Gabrielle Anwar outside of the new USA show Burn Notice (which, by the way, is awesome).
9. American Wedding: Gay humor, 80s songs, and ridiculous dance moves - what more could you ask for?
10. Dirty Dancing: Easily one of the most famous movie dance scenes of all time.
11. Sister Act 2: Whether or not you agree with the religious theme, this is a great example of what can happen when filmmakers focus on a positive, uplifting message instead of just churning out trite teenage angst/sex scenes.
12. Sister Act: Singing and dancing nuns are always fun.
13. Happy Feet: Somehow, that's not the kind of music I would have imagined penguins listening to, but it works.
14. Saturday Night Fever: A classic. Actually, I probably should have ranked this one a little higher, but I'm too lazy to go back and change it now...
15. 13 Going on 30: Speaking on imitations, this one does a reasonable job of paying tribute to Michael Jackson's Thriller.
16. A Knight's Tale: Awkward and a little slow at first, but ultimately a fun dance scene. Whoever decided that David Bowie music belongs in a medieval movie is either completely insane or totally brilliant.
17. Pulp Fiction: Pretty much everyone born prior to 1990 is familiar with this scene, featuring Uma Thurman and John Travolta.
18. Kickin' It Old School: Pretty much every dance scene in this movie was great, but this one came up first on YouTube. Around 1:48, the homeless guy dancing with the "Funky Fresh Boyz" really seals the victory.
19. Napoleon Dynamite: Sadly, the studio that owns the rights to the real Napoleon Dynamite dance scene doesn't want to share. That means you'll just have to settle for a lousy imitation video instead.
20. Mannequin: This spectacularly cheesy 80s dance scene lets us dwell on our wildest fantasies of spending a night in a department store.
21. West Side Story: Let me sum it up for you: lots of snapping, "When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way...", and some gang posturing. Now watch it an recognize that I'm doing it a major disservice with such a simplistic summary.
22. Breakfast Club: Why don't movies do this any more? Or am I just watching the wrong movies?
23. Austin Powers: Retro cool and incredibly perky, it's hard not to like this opening.
24. Coyote Ugly: This one may not be *my* favorite, but I can think of a lot of men who will vouch for it.
25. Big: If you've ever walked through the keyboard section of a music or electronics store and heard yet another person tapping away at Heart & Soul, you can blame this scene.
26. Shall We Dance: This is just one of many recent movies that make dance lessons look awfully good.
27. Chicago: While we're on the subject of tango, how about this one with Catherine Zeta-Jones?
28. Can't Buy Me Love: This is a classic example of 80s teen awkwardness that miraculously turns out to be cool.
29. Strictly Ballroom: This scene should make every man long to prance around in sparkly jackets and dance with beautiful women.
30. Center Stage: To be honest, I've never actually seen this scene prior to sticking it on the list. Combining Michael Jackson music with ballet is a pretty good idea, though.
31. White Nights: Before someone asks if this video features "The Russian" from Sex & the City, the answer is yes. And by the way, he (Mikhail Baryshnikov) was a world-class dancer long before he was reduced to appearing on the female cautionary tale that was Sex & the City.
32. Pee-wee Herman's Big Adventure: This isn't the first time I've posted Pee-wee's dance to Tequila, and it may not even be the last. This is one of my all-time favorites.
33. Billy Elliot: I've never seen Billy Elliot, but this is a cool scene all the same.
34. The Company: As expected this dance movie has more than one great dance scene. Filling the list with dance scenes from dance movies along wouldn't be fair, though, so just one entry will have to suffice.
35. Take the Lead: If you're trying to get a man to sign up for tango lessons, this may very well be the video to show him. Of course, he may decide to sign up with the blonde in the video instead of you, but that's just a risk you have to take.
36. Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo: If this doesn't make you miss synthesizer music and neon colored clothing, nothing will.
37. Xanadu: Gene Kelly on roller skates? What could be better?
38. Wizard of Oz: The Wizard of Oz is strong in a lot of areas, but the dancing isn't quite "Top 10" material. Case in point...
39. Charlie's Angels: Sometimes, the dancing is so bad, it's good.
40. Teen Wolf: Giant 80s hair, a bad werewolf costume and some outstanding synthesizer music make this scene a classic.
41. Legally Blonde: Seriously now, who came up with this bend & snap nonsense?
42. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: As dorky as it may look, it's hard not to be impressed by the synchronization involved in this dance scene.
43. Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights: It may not be as popular as its predecessor, but it's every bit as hot.
44. Zorba the Greek: A light-hearted, fun scene between two men.
45. Girls Just Want to Have Fun: What could be more fun than sweaty, leotard-clad, big-haired 80s dancers? Oh yeah, a lot of things...
46. Once Bitten: Long before we saw Jim Carrey wearing a woman's swimsuit, we saw him in this campy 80s film.
47. A League of Their Own: Swing dancing always looks like so much fun, and this video is no exception.
48. Risky Business: I've been forever scarred by the image of Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear. I can't say that I'm a fan.
49. Reality Bites: This is another one of those scenes that obnoxious drunk people feel the need to recreate whenever the song plays. For that, I've relegated this scene to the 40s.
50. Young Frankenstein: It's not my brand of humor, but it's definitely entertaining.
What an awful list. How the hell does the shit from Knight's Tale, Happy Feet, American Wedding, etc beat out classics like Pulp Fiction, Risky Business, etc?
You should add the dance scene from The Mask of Zorro. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones' tango scene is amazing.
Also add the tango scene from Moulin Rouge. It's just amazing with so many couples.