Choreographic Collaborators
Astaire nearly always collaborated with other choreographers, and except for the choreography of choruses which Astaire avoided, it is generally not possible to determine with any certainty the extent of Astaire's contribution vs that of his collaborators. This is particularly true in the case of his principal collaborator, Hermes Pan, where the seamless nature of the collaboration has been described by Astaire's rehearsal pianist Hal Borne, the only independent witness present throughout the entire process of dance creation of the Astaire-Rogers films: "It was hard to figure who contributed what to the choreography". Borne also describes the working atmosphere of such collaborations: "It was always pleasant. Never a hint of unpleasantness."
Given the consistency of Astaire's dance style in subsequent films made with or without the assistance of Pan, and the fact that he choreographed all the routines during his Broadway career with his sister Adele, dance historian John Mueller is of the opinion that, on balance, Astaire probably acted as lead choreographer in his solos and partnered dances throughout his career. Later in his career he became a little more amenable to accepting the direction of his collaborators, however this was almost always confined to the area of extended fantasy sequences, or "dream ballets".
Occasionally Astaire took joint screen credit for choreography or "dance direction" as it was known in the 1930s and 1940s but, as was the custom in musical films of the period, he generally left the screen credit to his collaborator. This can lead to the completely misleading impression that Astaire merely performed the choreography of others. The only occasion he worked without any collaborator was in The Sky's the Limit (1943).
- Robert Alton in You'll Never Get Rich (1941), Ziegfeld Follies (1944/1946), Easter Parade (1948), The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), and The Belle of New York (1952).
- Nick Castle Snr. in Royal Wedding (1951).
- Bobby Connolly in Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940).
- Danny Dare in Holiday Inn (1942).
- Dave Gould in Flying Down to Rio (1933) and The Gay Divorcee (1934).
- Michael Kidd in The Band Wagon (1953).
- Sammy Lee in Dancing Lady (1933).
- Eugene Loring in Ziegfeld Follies (1944/1946), Yolanda and the Thief (1945), Funny Face (1957) and the numbers not involving Astaire in Silk Stockings (1957).
- Hermes Pan in Flying Down to Rio (1933) (as assistant to Dave Gould), The Gay Divorcee (1934) (as assistant to Dave Gould), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), A Damsel in Distress (1937), Carefree (1938), The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Second Chorus (1941), Blue Skies (1946), the "Shoes With Wings On" number from The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), Three Little Words (1950), Let's Dance (1950), all numbers involving Astaire in Silk Stockings (1957), An Evening with Fred Astaire (1958), Another Evening with Fred Astaire (1959), Astaire Time (1960), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Episode 30: "Think Pretty" (1964), The Hollywood Palace Episodes 60 (1965), 74, 88 (1966) and Finian's Rainbow (1968).
- Val Raset in You Were Never Lovelier (1942).
- Dave Robel in the "Puttin' On The Ritz" number in Blue Skies (1946), and Daddy Long Legs (1955).
- Herbert Ross in The Fred Astaire Show (1968).
Read more about this topic: Fred Astaire's Solo And Partnered Dances