"Nobody puts Baby in the corner...."

All my life I've had an interest in dance movies... I think it began with Flashdance. Those legwarmers... that music... I remember trying to imitate the dance moves to her audition dance in my living room watching my reflection in the picture window. Thank goodness we lived on a farm so there were no neighbors to stop and stare! I never mastered dancing like that, though I did learn how to weld in high school. God bless rural America... somehow I managed to take that class but missed Geometry... What the heck?

I digress. Fame, Dirty Dancing, Strictly Ballroom, Swing Kids, Save the Last Dance, Honey, Center Stage, Dance With Me, Saturday Night Fever, Shall We Dance, The Full Monty, Coyote Ugly, The Company, Billy Elliot, and Footloose (the last two being favorites). These shows vary in worth to me. Some are iconic dance films, filled with memorable lines and imitated scenes that impacted my childhood and teen years... others are just corny or dumb with one redeeming factor: dancing that enchants. Billy Elliot is an amazing movie that is probably one of my all time favorites. I have friends who know all the lines to Dirty Dancing and I'll admit I rarely watch the actual movie but fastforward through the film creating my own "good parts version" which includes such lines as....

"I carried a watermelon. "

"Me? I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you."

"Oh, yes, as a matter of fact it is. We're supposed to do the show in two days, you won't show me the lift, I'm not sure of the turns I'm doing all this to save your ass when what I really want to do is drop you on it ."

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Dirty Dancing did less for informing my dance style.... but it was entertaining. If anything I simply gained a quality soundtrack and discovered some wonderful songs. Another inspirational film that lives on for the ultra cool rhythm of Kevin Bacon is Footloose. This film's soundtrack also is one of the most listened to soundtrack's I own. The words on the cassette are worn off!


One film that has failed to draw the attention of many is Strictly Ballroom an early film by Baz Luhrman. It feels like a combination of Dirty Dancing and The Cutting Edge set in Australia. I loved this. When I saw the film, the idea of ballroom competitions was an unusual one... However, I just finished watching the results show from Dancing With the Stars and I am ready to admit I am hooked. I can't get enough. It's painful to watch in a way, because I realize I will NEVER be that good of a dancer, nor will I EVER have that good of a body. If you watch you'll know what I mean when I say that Drew Lachey and his partner and Stacy Kiebler and hers are absolutely phenomenal. They really have all the appearance of professionals. Lisa Rinna is a favorite because of her terrific attitude. She can really move too. This week though I did the unthinkable... don't judge me please... I VOTED for one of the couples. I couldn't resist. I voted for Jerry Rice and his partner. He was lower in the points than the true greats but I really liked his performance and I respect this NFL player getting out there and shaking his booty! It was great fun to watch. Last night nightline did a feature on ballroom dancing too!

A few years ago I stumbled upon a foreign film called That's the Way I Like It and my friends and I simply watched it for the dance sequences... from that show we learned a kind of hustle that has entertained us and others at wedding dances ever since... simply play "Night Fever" and look out! It really doesn't matter that in college I took a ballroom dance class and even stayed on the next semester to volunteer as as teaching assistant. Without anywhere to actually dance I have forgotten the little I once knew. Watching films and reality TV might be all I can ever expect when it comes to dancing. I may never dazzle the masses like Fred and Ginger, but I do still long for the magic one feels stepping to the rhythm, flowing, twirling in the arms of a man. Sigh. Meanwhile I understand one can now take pole dancing lessons.