Gene Kelly grew up in a working-class neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where instead of playing out with his mates, spent his free time in dancing classes. Trained in Classical Ballet and after working as both a dance teacher and a successful Broadway musical actor, Gene Kelly hit Hollywood with a bang in the 1942 film “For Me and My Gal” opposite Judy Garland.

Perhaps reflective of his working-class roots, Gene was famous for his distinctively relaxed dance style and favoured regular clothes and every-day settings for his routines over extravagant costumes and fancy sets. This common-man’s approach to choreography created some of the most memorable movie dance scenes of all time, like the unforgettable puddle-splashing, lamppost-swinging sequence in “Singing in the Rain”.

Gene was also the master of dancing with props which added technical complexity and humour to his choreography in equal measure. Take the amazing scene from the 1943 movie “Thousands Cheer” for example, in which Gene dances with both a mop and a broom. And you don’t get more complex than his outstanding tap dancing on roller-skates routine from “It’s Always Fair Weather” released in 1955. OK, so dancer and regular co-star Donald O’Connor may have tap-skated on film first, but Kelly’s interpretation a couple of years later completely blew it out of the water IMHO.

Click here to watch a video of Gene Kelly’s amazing tap-skating routine.

His technical brilliance, combined with comedic delivery and a knack for connecting with the audience, underlines Gene’s genius and puts him (now I’ve had chance to think about it), right at the top of the SK Dance Studio Top 10 Dancers of All Time list.