Vote For The Sexiest Tango Ever

Al Pacino shows us a blind man taking the lead in a Tango with a beautiful young woman in Scent of a Woman.

This scene was doubly challenging for the actors involved. Pacino is of course a sighted actor. Not only did he have to convincingly dance as a blind man would, coping with the issues of spatial awareness and supporting a partner, but he did so while acting the part of a man who doesn't want to appear to be blind at all. Quite how you do that as someone who can see and whose eyes are open throughout is beyond me. For his dance partner Gabrielle Anwar the challenge was to put aside all of her dance training and appear to be a novice on the dancefloor.

The music is Por una cabeza by Carlos Gardel.

Shall We Dance? was the Hollywood remake of an enchanting Japanese film. Although I prefer the original, the Hollywood version boasts Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez and still has plenty of charm.

Gere plays a rather shy and uptight married man who becomes obsessed with a beautiful dance teacher. She in turn helps him to transform that fascination into love of the dance itself, something that ultimately he can share with his own family. In this scene Lopez is teaching Gere to Tango in her dance studio.

We are all familiar with Lopez's dance skills but Gere is no stranger to song or dance either, having starred in the musical Chicago as Billy Flynn. He is, however, modest about his dancing skills, claiming that his job as an actor is to fake.

The song is Santa Maria by Gotan Project and the dance choreography has been credited to Katya Virshilas who can be seen dancing in the Take the Lead Tango video below. She is one of the professional dancers in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing with the Stars, UK).

Take the Lead is based on the true-life story of ballroom dance teacher Pierre Dulaine's efforts to transform the lives of inner city teens who have been all but written off by society. The kids and their other teachers are sceptical about ballroom dance having any place in their lives -- the glamour and glitz seem a world away from their reality.

Antonio Banderas plays Dulaine and, in this scene, he has invited a professional dance colleague to partner him in a Tango. The sensual dance sparks the interest of the watching teens who begin to see potential in learning to dance after all.

Banderas' partner, Morgan, is played by Katya Virshilas who also choreographed this dance (Katya also appears in Shall We Dance?). The song is Asi Se Baila El Tango by Veronica Verdier.

Banderas has also danced the Tango on-screen with Madonna in Evita.

Who can forget the amazing Tango scene in Moulin Rouge!?

Not only do we have a magnificent cast dance with an intense solo performance by Caroline O'Connor (playing the devious dancer Nini) and Jacek Koman singing (El Tango De) Roxanne in his gravelly voice, but the scene also features Ewan McGregor as Christian singing as he struggles with jealousy over Nicole Kidman's character, Satine.

The result is a mesmerizing piece of cinema full of raw passion.

Here's a rare treat for you. Alan Rickman hasn't, to the best of my knowledge, ever launched into a Tango in Harry Potter or any other of his distinguished list of films. Sharleen Spiteri of Scottish rock band Texas did, however, persuade him to co-star in her music video for the song In Demand in 2000.

In Demand was a hit in the UK and several other European countries. (I owned the CD single which came with this video on it -- the first time I had come across a video on a CD!)

The intentionally ambiguous story shows an elegantly-dressed couple (though she is cloaked in a scruffy-looking coat) heading out of London and down towards the south coast of England. The petrol (gas) station, a Shell garage, is reportedly in Hampshire and the final scene appears to be Brighton with the building probably the infamous Embassy Court.

NOTE: Some YouTube viewers have developed an unhealthy obsession with this video and in particular the scene at the garage (gas station). You have been warned!