Dance History

TBT: When Dance Magazine Gave Its Own Oscars

May 14, 2026

The May 1956 issue of Dance Magazine celebrated the artists receiving Dance Magazine Motion Picture Awards, recognizing outstanding dance work in films released in 1955: Moira Shearer (for her performance in The Man Who Loved Redheads), Gene Nelson (for Oklahoma! and So This Is Paris), and Jack Cole (for his choreography for Kismet, Three For the Show, and Gentlemen Marry Brunettes).

  • A page from the May 1956 issue of Dance Magazine features two black and white images of Moira Shearer beneath three columns of text. On the left, she is dressed for a party, one hand behind her head and the other at her hip as she dances a Charleston while a small crowd looks on. On the right, she is onstage in a classical tutu and pointe shoes, held in a fish dive by a partner during a pas de deux.
    Moira Shearer’s awardee profile from the May 1956 issue of Dance Magazine included images, courtesy United Artists, from her performance in The Man Who Loved Redheads. From the DM Archives.
  • A page from the May 1956 issue of Dance Magazine shows a black and white image of Jack Cole demonstrating moves for a male and female dancer on a film set. A column of text runs down the left side of the page.
    Jack Cole’s awardee profile in the May 1956 issue of Dance Magazine included an image, courtesy of Columbia Pictures, of him working with Betty Grable on the set of Three for the Show. From the DM Archives.
  • A page from the May 1956 issue of Dance Magazine shows two images of Gene Nelson dancing on a street in Paris. In one, he climbs up the side of a building; in the other, he is captured mid-air, legs splitting as he flies over the head of a man on a bicycle.
    Gene Nelson’s awardee profile in the May 1956 issue of Dance Magazine included images from So This Is Paris. From the DM Archives.

In an open letter to the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, editor Lydia Joel wrote: “DANCE Magazine protests. On behalf of the dancers and choreographers in the motion picture industry we hereby make the emphatic suggestion that the dance arts be included in the categories of the Academy Awards. To attempt to justify or offer evidence seems unnecessary. Some of the world’s greatest dancers perform in motion pictures and are among the most beloved stars. The public gives them full recognition, yearly paying millions of dollars at the box office to see films featuring dance…. Since you gentlemen of the Academy have left out the artists who have contributed to the dance in motion pictures, DANCE Magazine is this year deliberately making its awards in that field…in the name of the dance artists in films, and as spokesman for their millions of fans, DANCE Magazine petitions and urges the Academy to add awards in the dance to the ‘Oscar’ lists of the future.”

academy awards dance history Gene Nelson jack cole lydia joel moira shearer