It has been 45 years since Saturday Night Fever so Mama’s Geeky is celebrating John Travolta’s most iconic dance performances.
45 years ago, John Travolta strut down the streets of Brooklyn dressed in polyester glory. Little did we know of the stellar career awaiting him as Travolta quickly shot to superstardom, and has been floating around Hollywood’s gravity for 50 years!
45 Years Since ‘Saturday Night Fever’:
Celebrating John Travolta’s Most Iconic Dance Performances
While he’s tapped into films of every genre, Travolta is perhaps best known for stealing the show as the king of the dance floor. Overcome with a severe case of ‘Disco Inferno’, Saturday Night Fever sees Travolta flaunt his moves effortlessly. He commands your attention; all eyes fall to him as he grooves his way through a scene – and his disco debut is only the beginning of his musical venture.
‘Wear Out the Grooves’ (Perfect)
Okay, it’s technically not a conventional dance routine, but we’re willing to make an exception wherever Travolta is concerned. In an otherwise forgotten feature of the 80s, our leading man joins a fitness class run by Jamie Lee Curtis, and finds himself caught up in her high-spirited aerobics class.
He flicks, he shimmies, he thrusts, he grinds, it’s every bit as uncomfortable as it sounds, but somehow, he gets away with it. His characters gleams with pride whenever he successfully mimics Curtis’ instructions; his joyful aura radiates off-screen – fair warning, it’s contagious. Travolta looks like he’s having a blast throughout the scene, and we can’t fault his enthusiasm.
‘(You’re) Timeless to Me’ (Hairspray)
Only a few things in life are better than watching John Travolta move to the music, and throwing him in drag to groove in the 60s is one of them; partner him up with Christopher Walken and you’ve got yourself a recipe for pure entertainment gold.
The pair easily bounce off one another and keep the homely vibe flowing. Who can’t feel the love shared between their characters? It’s quirky, hilarious, cosy, romantic, and incredibly catchy. There’s also a lot of elegance and glamour propelling the performance forward, and coming from two seasoned stars, all expectations are exceeded. The song says it all, Travolta is timeless to me.
‘All Shook Up’ (Look Who’s Talking Too)
Travolta may be the only man in history to channel his inner Elvis Presley and give the late King a decent run for his money. His Look Who’s Talking character, James, is the man of every woman’s dreams; he’s charming, playful, funny, a great father, and has the ability to captivate a room full of rowdy toddlers through the power of dance.
We could spend hours watching him glide across the room. This is a guy who knows how win people over, he’s got this admirable confidence about him that makes him so loveable, and he plays into his strengths whenever the opportunity presents itself. By the 90s, Travolta has established himself with a fairly solid line of work, but it’s always a joy to see him return to the theatrics – including his comically seductive kitchen dance with Kirstie Alley in this film’s predecessor.
‘Chain of Fools’ (Michael)
John Travolta is the epitome of cool. It’s obviously second nature to him. He has an entire bar fall under his spell here and conducts a full blown routine that gets the place on their feet – it’s not even his character I’m talking about, Travolta can just do that. We’re practically watching the Pied Piper at work and we can’t take our eyes off of him.
Is it improvised? Is it choreographed? It’s hard to tell where his character, Michael, begins and Travolta ends. This could be a regular Saturday night for the two-time Academy Award nominee. His arms move one way, his feet the other, actually, I don’t think there’s a part of his body that isn’t moving. His performance is euphoric, easing into the soulful croon of Aretha Franklin as Travolta works his magic.
‘Born to Hand Jive’ (Grease)
The hand jive is a party favourite at every type of shindig – in fact, any song from the Grease soundtrack is bound to get your feet tapping. It was hard to narrow this one down considering Travolta always dances like his whole life depends on it, but the build up to his entrance with the hand jive is unmatched.
From his hot pink shirt to sweeping Olivia Newton-John around the hall, Travolta is the envy to everyone watching. A triple threat superstar, Grease lets Travolta loose to explore all performative platforms. Having already witnessed a glimpse of what his boogie shoes can do a year earlier, the 1978 musical holds back a little with his dancing in the first half, but a veil is lifted by ‘Greased Lightnin’ and the school dance reaps in all the benefits.
‘You Never Can Tell’ (Pulp Fiction)
Pulp Fiction is an artistic classic. With a cast of Hollywood elites like Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, and Uma Thurman, what’s not love about this Academy Award winning masterpiece – and that’s before we even get into the plot. As Travolta teams up with Thurman, they head to 1950s-style diner, Jack Rabbit Slim’s, and partake in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.
Competing in a twist contest, Travolta and Thurman show up every other competitor with their impromptu boogie. If anything, the scene is over far too quick, and requires multiple rewinds to fully embrace how well the pair soar in perfect harmony. Even years down the line, Travolta still has the suave charm of Vincent Vega, reciting the routine at various televised events without skipping a beat. His most recent dabble in twisting reunites him with Thurman and Jackson at the 94th Academy Awards, and it’s like no time has passed.
‘You Should Be Dancing’ (Saturday Night Fever)
No one makes you want to get up and strut your stuff the way Travolta does, and we have Saturday Night Fever to thank for that. Unfortunately, we can’t all pull off the polyester shirt as well as he does – or the moves. His role as Tony Manero really cements his status as the dance floor king; he owns the room, and is finely tuned with the genre of music.
Travolta is fluid with his movements. He steals the spotlight, literally becoming the center of attention as all eyes fall to him. What’s more impressive is that Travolta never once uses a dance double, which is commendable in itself considering how hard he works to achieve this level of choreography. He makes his mark on the filming industry almost immediately into his career. Reflecting on his earlier work to now, Travolta commits himself wholly to his craft, and it pays off immensely.
