Verlyn Klinkenborg appreciates Cyd Charisse. Who among us doesn't? However, I majored in critical studies of cinema, and I still have no idea what he means when he says:
The song is “Dancing in the Dark,” the setting is Central Park, and, as usual, the overlapping illusions are nearly confounding. There they are — two professional dancers, carefully choreographed and rehearsed, playing two professional dancers dancing spontaneously on a soundstage that is meant to be Central Park, and all the while they are feigning an almost reproachful, amorous awareness of each other that conceals the hard-working awareness of two pros on the job. It was Cyd Charisse’s remarkable gift to move through the hall of mirrors that is the American movie musical and never be caught glancing at herself.
Oh well: if it made sense, it wouldn't be Verlyn Klinkenborg.
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