Library of Dance

The Dying Swan→

Anna Pavlova's surviving film of Michel Fokine's signature solo preserves the original interpreter whose performance made The Dying Swan synonymous with expressive classical ballet, giving LODance a direct screen record rather than a later reconstruction.

Embedded archival footage on the verified Anna Pavlova LODance Legend page was live 2026-08-08. BFI catalogs the film as 1925; Il Cinema Ritrovato documents that the Hollywood footage was shot in 1924 and digitized in HD by the BFI National Archive in 2024. No separate official public stream or current retail edition was verified.

St. Louis Blues→

Inside a 1929 rooming house and nightclub, couples answer Bessie Smith’s blues with close, weighted slow drag while Jimmy Mordecai’s sharper solo break turns the bar into a compact record of early Black social dance.

Free full-film copy on YouTube and PeriscopeFilm compilation on Internet Archive (verified 2026-08-12).

The Gay Divorcee→

The first Astaire-Rogers starring vehicle, featuring the Oscar-winning "Continental" — the first Best Song winner performed as a dance number.

Streaming (various)

An All-Colored Vaudeville Show→

This compact all-Black Vitaphone revue preserves three distinct dance traditions in one surviving short: the Three Whippets' tumbling, Adelaide Hall's high-heel tap, and the young Nicholas Brothers' early screen act.

Archived as a bonus short on Warner Home Video's 2006 The Green Pastures DVD; no legitimate current public or subscription stream or in-stock retail edition was verified as of 2026-08-08.

Legong: Dance of the Virgins→

Extended Legong, Djanger, and Barong-Rangda performances carry this Balinese-set silent drama, placing sacred temple dancing, trance ritual, ensemble tradition, and a final duet inside rare two-color Technicolor imagery.

Unknown

Top Hat→

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at their peak — the gold standard for partnered elegance on film.

Streaming (various)

Swing Time→

Astaire and Rogers in what many consider their finest film, featuring the legendary "Never Gonna Dance" sequence.

Streaming (various)

The Great Waltz→

Albertina Rasch’s ensembles turn Strauss waltzes into sweeping screen geometry across MGM’s Viennese cafés, courts, and opera stages. The Dommayer’s Casino debut makes the three-count pulse feel like a city discovering its social dance.

Unknown; Apple TV has a U.S. catalog page, but transactional playback was not verified on 2026-08-12.

Carnival of Rhythm→

Four Technicolor miniatures let Katherine Dunham's company translate Brazilian themes through grounded weight, articulated torsos and theatrical ensemble design, moving from civic spectacle through courtship, separation and reunion.

Watch TCM title page (provider authentication may be required); also available as a bonus short on Warner Archive's 2025 The Bride Came C.O.D. Blu-ray. Verified 2026-08-05.

Hellzapoppin'→

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers' 'Jumpin' at the Woodside' is among the most important surviving screen records of elite swing-era Lindy Hop.

Archive, repertory, and home-video availability varies by territory

A Study in Choreography for Camera→

Maya Deren and Talley Beatty make camera and editing an equal dance partner, carrying one continuous phrase across otherwise disconnected environments; the 1945 “choreocinema” landmark gives LODance a foundational screendance work directly linked to Legend Talley Beatty.

Available through participating-library access on Kanopy and on the official Gartenberg Media DVD Maya Deren: Dance Films; availability verified 2026-08-05.

Kalpana→

Uday Shankar's rare dance-led film treats choreography as the narrative and visual system, making it foundational for any global screen-dance index.

Archive, repertory, and specialist home-video availability; varies by territory

The Red Shoes→

A young ballerina is torn between her art and her love in this visually stunning Powell and Pressburger masterpiece, featuring a legendary 17-minute ballet sequence.

Streaming (various)

The Moor's Pavane→

José Limón and three dancers turn Othello into a sixteen-minute modern-dance quartet, using the measured order of a court dance to contain—and then expose—jealousy, betrayal, and violence.

Indiana University Libraries' Media Collections Online record provides institutional streaming access; sign-in may be required. NYPL also catalogs a streaming copy. No unrestricted public stream was verified as of 2026-08-05.

An American in Paris→

Gene Kelly stars in Gershwin's musical masterpiece, climaxing in a 17-minute ballet sequence inspired by French art.

Streaming (various)

The Tales of Hoffmann→

Powell and Pressburger recast Offenbach's opera largely in dance terms, letting Frederick Ashton's choreography and a cast of major ballet artists carry an entire Technicolor composed film rather than confining dance to an isolated number.

U.S. digital rental and purchase were available through Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Fandango at Home when checked via JustWatch on 2026-08-10; availability may change.

Singin' in the Rain→

The definitive Hollywood musical, featuring Gene Kelly's legendary choreography and the iconic title sequence.

Streaming (various)

Dance in the Sun→

Shirley Clarke turns Daniel Nagrin's solo into a foundational lesson in film-specific choreography: match cuts carry his 1950 modern-dance work between a New York rehearsal studio and Jones Beach without breaking the phrase.

Streaming by subscription on the Criterion Channel; availability verified 2026-08-06.

The Band Wagon→

Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse in a backstage musical that includes the smoldering "Dancing in the Dark" sequence in Central Park.

Streaming (various)

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje→

Kathak drives this Technicolor dance musical: Gopi Krishna and Sandhya move through demonstrations, rigorous training, mythic duets and a temple-contest finale shaped for the cinema.

Prime Video U.S. rental and purchase listing verified 2026-08-08; availability and pricing may change.

A Dancer's World→

Peter Glushanok's camera turns Martha Graham's studio method into screen choreography: her dressing-room preparation is intercut with the company demonstrating Graham technique, preserving both the movement system and the artist's own account of how dancers are made.

Streaming by subscription on the Criterion Channel and available on Criterion's restored Martha Graham: Dance on Film two-DVD edition; verified 2026-08-05. Google Play's U.S. listing was unavailable.

Appalachian Spring→

Peter Glushanok's 31-minute film preserves Martha Graham's complete frontier ballet as a screen work: Graham's Bride, Stuart Hodes's Husbandman, Bertram Ross's Revivalist, and Matt Turney's Pioneering Woman move through Isamu Noguchi's skeletal farmhouse to Aaron Copland's score.

Streaming by subscription on the Criterion Channel and available in Criterion's restored Martha Graham: Dance on Film two-DVD edition; verified 2026-08-08.

Black Orpheus→

Carnival movement carries the film's world and its international afterlife, while the record can also address the film's exoticizing gaze instead of treating it as neutral documentation.

Criterion and local streaming/rental listings

Clog Dance→

On Porthmadog stone floors, Welsh clog dancers turn wooden soles into percussion, demonstrating compact stepwork, the Toby Step and broom tricks as a local team revives a quarry-and-port tradition.

BFI Player; BFI National Archive on YouTube

America's Best Dance Crew→

Randy Jackson’s crew-vs-crew competition that made street and hip-hop dance appointment television and launched groups like the JabbaWockeeZ and Poreotics.

8 seasons

Angel's Last Mission: Love→

The series makes an injured ballerina's return to the stage, the power struggle inside Fantasia Ballet, and a full Giselle production the engine of its fantasy romance, backed by Choi Soo-jin's choreography direction and professional ballet dancers.

Backstage→

Fresh TV’s mock-documentary arts-school drama makes auditions, rehearsals, dance-offs, injuries, and multi-school competition recurring story engines, with real young dancers carrying the Keaton ensemble.

Breaking Pointe→

A reality series embedded with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, following company dancers through casting, competition for roles, and the physical toll of a professional season.

2 seasons

Bunheads→

A Las Vegas showgirl impulsively marries and lands in a small coastal town, where she starts teaching at her mother-in-law’s ballet school. From Amy Sherman-Palladino.

1 season

Come Dancing→

The granddaddy of all dance TV — a BBC ballroom competition that ran for nearly 50 years before being rebooted as Strictly Come Dancing.

49 seasons

Dance 100→

Choreographers compete by scaling their routines up to 100 dancers, judged by the very dancers who perform them — a fresh format centered on the craft of choreography.

1 season

Dance Academy→

A country girl wins a place at Australia’s National Academy of Dance, navigating training, friendship, and injury. A beloved international gateway series for young ballet dancers.

3 seasons

Dance Brothers→

This ten-part Finnish drama makes professional-dancer brothers Roni and Sakari's Laundry club both a livelihood and a rehearsal room, then carries choreography by Sanaz Hassani and Ima Iduozee through a dance-off, music-video work, and a contemporary-festival finale.

Dance Dance Danseur→

The 11-episode anime makes Jumpei Murao’s return to ballet—and his clash with Luou over instinct, technique, and the danseur noble ideal—the machinery of its coming-of-age drama, with Naoya Homan credited for ballet choreography.

Dance Moms→

Reality series following Abby Lee Miller and her young competitive dancers. Controversial but hugely influential in popularizing youth competitive dance culture.

8 seasons

Dance Monsters→

Innovative format where real dancers control animated monster avatars using motion capture technology, judged on choreography and performance.

1 season

Dancing on Ice→

Celebrities paired with professional ice skaters perform routines incorporating ballroom and Latin elements on ice, judged on technique and artistry.

16 seasons

Dancing with the Stars→

The show that brought ballroom dancing into millions of living rooms. Celebrities paired with professional dancers compete in Waltz, Foxtrot, Cha-Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, Jive, Quickstep, Samba, Tango, and Viennese Waltz each week.

33 seasons

Danse avec les Stars→

The French adaptation of the Strictly format, featuring French celebrities and professional dancers in a weekly competition.

14 seasons

Étoile→

Across eight episodes, the series makes the labor of two fictional ballet companies—casting, rehearsal, dancer swaps, repertory, and artistic leadership—the engine of its transatlantic comedy, then fills those institutions with working dancers and story-advancing choreography by Emmy winner Marguerite Derricks and Christopher Wheeldon.

Fame→

Across six seasons, Debbie Allen’s Lydia Grant turns the High School of Performing Arts into a weekly dance-training drama, while Allen’s Emmy-recognized choreography makes rehearsal, audition, injury, and performance central dramatic action.

Find Me in Paris→

Across 78 episodes, Lena Grisky's Paris Opera Ballet School training, BLOK crew membership, and final Company audition make ballet and street-dance choices—not a competition-show wrapper—the machinery of a time-travel drama.

Flesh and Bone→

A tightly wound limited series following a talented, troubled young dancer who joins a prestigious New York ballet company, praised for its unromanticized look at the art form.

1 season

Fosse/Verdon→

The eight-part drama treats Fosse's signature vocabulary as shared authorship: reconstructed stage-and-screen passages restore Gwen Verdon's coaching, editing, and performance labor alongside Bob Fosse's direction.

Hit the Floor→

Scripted drama set in the world of professional dance teams, blending competition storylines with behind-the-scenes drama.

4 seasons

Let's Dance→

Germany's version of the Strictly format, one of the highest-rated shows on German television with strong Latin and Standard representation.

17 seasons

Navillera→

An elderly beginner's ballet training makes adult learning, correction and dignity central, a perspective almost absent from the current film list.

On Pointe→

A season inside School of American Ballet provides episode-level coverage of class, casting, children's repertory and institutional progression.