When beginning to research Gower Champion’s lifetime of work, I could not help but notice his impeccable musicality, intricate use of space, and complex directional changes. Each of the pieces that I watched had all of these aspects as well as their own individual flair. The first clip that caught my attention was that of a scene from the 1940s MGM film, Showboat. Champion performs this piece alongside of Marge Belcher or better known as Marge Champion, his dancer partner for the majority of his performance career. This duet has moments where each performer moves separately as well as together, providing dynamic choreography as well as developing their relationship with each other. I particularly loved the use of musicality as the performers accented certain aspects of the music with their movement, making the piece that much more entertaining. I loved the balance of slow and quick movements with the constant directional changes that added an element of surprise for the audience, allowing them to wonder how the dancers would move next. Even though this piece is performed on a small stage, the performers use the space to the best of their ability and allow it to appear to be much bigger than it actually is. One last aspect that I enjoy from this duet is how the performers are always invested in their movement with each other and never lose the chemistry between them.

Another piece that I took notice in is a scene from the 1952 film, Lovely to Look At. This piece is another duet between the Champions’ but has a more romantic feel to it. I found there to be many similarities in the use of directional changes and musicality as other works but just with a change in music tempo. The aspect that I love from this piece compared to the piece from Showboat is the aspect that the dancers move as though they are weightless. The performers have the ability to appear as if they are floating or dancing on clouds. Being a romantic piece, perhaps this is portraying how it feels to be in love. A reoccurring theme throughout Champion’s movement is the balance of slow and quick movement that directly relates to the accents in the music. I love pieces that showcase the dancer’s ability while also complimenting the beauty of the music they are dancing to simultaneously and Champion executes this in both of these pieces. I have fallen in love with how attentive Champion is to detail of musicality, space, directional changes, as well as the chemistry between performers, allowing his work to be complex and entertaining.