Umbrella, Up Close and Personal (Photo)
One of 3,500 umbrellas used in the University of Pittsburgh’s world-record breaking tribute to Gene...
Read MoreUniversity of Pittsburgh Freshman Honor Gene Kelly’s 100th Birthday
For fear that it will be erased from the ‘Net one day, I’ve pasted the full story below. Dancin’ on the lawn: Pittsburgh Freshmen Set a World Record August 24, 2012 12:03 am By Molly Born / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette More than 3,000 black umbrellas dotted the green outside the University of Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center Thursday even though it wasn’t raining. Pitt’s freshman class descended on the lawn, popped up umbrellas and performed a six-minute...
Read MoreThe Basics: Did Gene Win Awards for His Work?
This entry is part 7 of 16 in the series Gene Kelly: The Basics.Oh, yes, Gene won plenty of awards. First, he was given an Honorary Academy Award “in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film.” This was one of the seven awards given for An American in Paris (1951). Sadly, the Oscar was lost in a house fire in 1983, but it was replaced at the 1984 Academy Awards. In...
Read MoreThe Basics: How Did Gene Get Into Show Business?
This entry is part 5 of 16 in the series Gene Kelly: The Basics.Gene got his first real taste of show business by performing in the Pittsburgh “cloops” (cheap clubs) with his younger brother, Fred. They tried all sorts of gimmicks — dancing while wearing roller skates, for one (sound familiar?) — to make their acts all the more appealing. It was in the “cloops” that Gene gained much of the experience that would serve him well when he made the move to New York in a few...
Read MoreThe Basics: How Did Gene Start Dancing?
This entry is part 3 of 16 in the series Gene Kelly: The Basics.Gene Kelly is often quoted about his start in dancing: “I got started dancing because I knew it was one way to meet girls.” The quote tells more about Kelly’s wit than about how he truly began dancing. Actually, Kelly’s mother Harriet made sure that all her children took dance lessons, believing that dancing would develop poise. From the age of seven, Gene attended dancing school in downtown Pittsburgh, but he was not fond...
Read MoreSand Castle Featuring Gene Kelly
Using over 150 tons of sand dredged from the Ohio River, two sculptors have created a huge sandcastle in Pittsburgh, PA. The piece features several American art icons: recreations of paintings by Norman Rockwell and Keith Haring, Warhol’s silk-screened Marilyn Monroes, the famed American Gothic painting, and Rosie the Riveter. But, of course, most interesting to us is the portion of the sand sculpture that captures Gene Kelly swinging on a lamppost (below). More in this Beaver County...
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