John Travolta has ripened like a fine wine, as have all legends. The 65-year-old offered James Corden a cheeky dancing lesson to show he still had the moves. In the episode’s opening topic, Corden asked English power couple Aaron and Sam Taylor-Johnson about their Halloween costume transformations into Uma Thurman and John Travolta’s Pulp Fiction identities. Then Sam and Corden were enthused about the popular film, which included a well-known dance routine between Travolta and Thurman.

Then Corden demanded that Travolta teach them how to dance. Travolta controlled the dance floor in his heyday, as shown in Saturday Night Fever and Grease, and demonstrated that he could still shake a tail feather. Travolta taught the other three a variety of dance movements, including the mashed potato, hip shaker, twist, swim, and, of course, Batman. Even though the plot was simple, Travolta’s magnetism made the movie immensely interesting to watch.

On December 5, 2019, Travolta taught a dance lesson during an episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden. With 18.9 million views on Corden’s YouTube channel, the heartfelt video was a huge success. Positive reactions greeted Travolta’s return to the dance floor, with supporters declaring, “You never lose class, John Travolta,” and “John Travolta deserves recognition as a national treasure.” I admire the guy; he is charming, legendary, powerful, and optimistic.

The dance sequence between Travolta and Thurman in Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction is one of cinema’s most iconic moments. In the film, Travolta plays a career criminal named Vincent Vega, tasked with entertaining Thurman’s character, Mia Wallace, the boss’s wife. When they get to the venue, Mia is eager to compete in the dance competition, so they begin dancing to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell.” In the original scenario, Travolta’s stunts on Corden’s program are included.

The Corden segment revealed intriguing insights about Travolta’s role in creating the dance scene in Pulp Fiction. “Quentin was dead set on both of us doing the twist, which is a very fun dance, but there’s a limit to how long one wants to watch someone doing the twist,” the director explained.

“So I told Quentin that there were novelty dances like the swim and the Batman when I was growing up,” Travolta said. “Perhaps we should broaden the spectrum on this,” I offered. Travolta’s distinctive dances captured the director’s attention, leading to the creation of the classic dance sequence.