Unsingin’ In The Rain

There are many times when we wish we could undo that which has been done. I won’t give any examples but some involve decisions that affect entire countries and cannot be easily reversed - the total disaster of brexit is just one. (which has bought economic meltdown, social chaos and not one American chicken boiled in Domestos)

The good news is that with a bit of work, some reversals can be generated, even though this may be a difficult process, requiring great ingenuity and recourses. One such venture involves the recreation of dancer Gene Kelly’s famous dancing sequence from the film Singin’ In The Rain except completely in reverse. Of course this can be easily achieved by simply playing the film backwards, but what is offered here is a type of live stage set version with no film effects.

The performance begins with Gene Kelly taking an umbrella from the actor who walks backwards across the set, followed by the encounter with the policeman. The rest of the sequence is then a continuation of the complete reversal of all of the actions, but also requires the person playing the role of Gene Kelly learning to sing in reverse a rendition of the “I’m singing’ and dancing in the rain” song.

The most difficult parts to create in reverse are the water cascading downwards from the broken down-spout and the splashes in the puddles on the ground. Upwardly projecting angled jets of water are required in both cases from concealed ground-level nozzles, along with a certain amount of water stored in the actual umbrella and Kelly’s hat that will also spray upwards. Most of the rain will continue to fall downwards but will be visually read as doing the opposite in the general context of the overall performance.

The sequence ends with the dancer retreating backwards up the steps of the house on the upwardly raining street. For a better understanding of the idea, simply view the video in the link and play it backwards.