This search for what you want is like tracking something that doesn't want to be tracked. It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable.

His dance partner was Petula Clark who portrayed his skeptical daughter. The end of the partnership was traumatic for Astaire but stimulated him to expand his range. During 1952 Astaire recorded The Astaire Story a four-volume album with a quintet led by Oscar Peterson.

Beyond film and television many classical dancers and choreographers Rudolf Nureyev Sammy Davis Jr. Gene Kelly another major innovator in filmed dance said that "the history of dance on film begins with Astaire". Michael Jackson Gregory Hines Mikhail Baryshnikov George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins among them also acknowledged his importance and influence.