As a member of the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Gene Kelly took lessons in Spanish dancing in the summer of 1933 from Angel Cansino, brother of Eduardo Cansino.

Eleven years later, Gene Kelly was loaned by MGM to Columbia Studios, where he choreographed and danced with Rita Hayworth, Eduardo Cansino's daughter, in "Cover Girl".

Child actress Margaret O'Brien, born in 1937, was the daughter of Gladys Flores, who had danced with Rita Hayworth in Eduardo Cansino's troupe. Margaret's aunt, Marissa Flores, was another Cansino dancer and also worked as a flamenco performer with Gladys.

Fred Astaire had a friendship with the Flores sisters. When Margaret began to prepare for her first dancing role, in the 1947 film "The Unfinished Dance", Fred helped her informally and arranged for her to change from her assigned Russian ballet teacher to a teacher from the more theatrically oriented Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. (The film's choreographer, David Lichine, had recently left the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.)