"Never Gonna Dance" is a song performed by

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

and danced with

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

in their movie ''

Swing Time In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...

''. The lyrics were written by

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...

and the music was by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...

. This dramatic dance was performed at the end of the movie after John 'Lucky' Garnett (Astaire) finds out Penelope 'Penny' Carroll (Rogers) is engaged to Ricardo 'Ricky' Romero (played by Georges Metaxa). This is a dance of desperation, despair and love. It starts slowly, Lucky not wanting Penny to leave. As she is walking up the stairs, he begins his serenade to her in hopes that she will understand how heartbroken he is over losing her. After he is done singing, he tries to win her back one more time dancing. So, elegantly and desperately, he pulls out all the stops, hoping to change her mind. At first, the dance is slow and somber, but eventually the pace and tempo pick up, and Lucky and Penny seem to be together again. However, in the final movement, Penny twirls out of the room and doesn't come back, leaving Lucky standing there forlorn. Fred Astaire recorded the song commercially (Brunswick 7718) and it proved popular. Other recordings in 1936 were by

Ted Fio Rito Theodore Salvatore Fiorito (December 20, 1900 – July 22, 1971),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 95. known professionally a ...

and His Orchestra,

Shep Fields Shep may refer to: People Given name * Shep Fields, American band leader *Shep Goodman, American music producer and songwriter *Shep Gordon, American talent manager, Hollywood film agent, and producer * Shep Mayer, Canadian ice hockey player *Shep ...

and His Rippling Rhythm, and by Ruby Newman Rainbow Room Orchestra.

References

Songs with music by Jerome Kern Songs with lyrics by Dorothy Fields Fred Astaire songs 1936 songs {{pop-song-stub