Dancing in a kaleidoscope

When mathematics and dancing collide.

Alex Q. Arbuckle

1930-1941

Busby Berkeley stands at the end of a tunnel of dancers on the set of the film "Dames." Credit: Visual Studies Workshop/Getty Images

Watching Busby Berkeley's choreography was like looking at dance through a kaleidoscope, with complicated rhythms of mathematical precision.The son of stage actress Gertrude Berkeley, Busby first appeared on stage at age five, and went on to become the dance director for numerous Broadway musicals, garnering praise for arranging large numbers of dancers into elaborate geometric formations.Berkeley brought this signature style to the big screen, choreographing dances for Eddie Cantor’s musicals. Expanding beyond the limits of the stage, he took advantage of top-down camera angles to transform groups of dancers into shifting kaleidoscopic works of art.Berkeley choreographed numerous musicals for Warner Brothers throughout the 1930s, and directed several as well.His personal life was as complicated as his choreography. Berkeley was married six times, and was tried three times for second-degree murder stemming from a 1935 car crash before being acquitted.By the time he left show business in 1962, Berkeley had credits on nearly 80 films.

A line of pianists in a musical interlude from the film "Gold Diggers of 1935." Credit: Vintage Images/Getty Images

A musical number from the film "Footlight Parade." Credit: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

A musical number from the film "Footlight Parade." Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The "Remember My Forgotten Men" musical sequence from the film "Gold Diggers Of 1933." Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

James Stewart sits surrounded by dancers in a scene from the film "Ziegfeld Girl." Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images

Dancers descend next to a staircase in a scene from the film "Ziegfeld Girl." Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images

Dolores del Rio performs a Polynesian dance choreographed by Busby Berkeley in the film "Bird of Paradise." Credit: John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images

Dancers form up during the production of the film "Stage Struck." Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Berkeley directs a scene with Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey and Mickey Rooney from the film "Girl Crazy." Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images

Busby Berkeley poses with a group of dancers. Credit: Margaret Chute/Getty Images

Busby Berkeley. Credit: Evening Standard/Getty Images