Dirty Dancing

August 22, 2017

OK, SheBrisbane readers young and older, today’s tunes to cook by or sip wine by have to be “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”, “She’s Like the Wind” and “Hungry Eyes” from the smash-hit musical drama Dirty Dancing.

Why? may you ask. Because today is the 30th anniversary of the release in the US of the small budget film that became a cult classic and literally took the world by storm.

Australians had to wait until January 1988 to see it, by which time the hype had reached fever pitch.

Dirty Dancing, set in 1963, quickly became the first movie to sell more than 1 million copies on video and in 2007 it was officially pronounced “Star Wars for women”.

Starring an athletic Patrick Swayze, who died seven years ago and Jennifer Grey who played Frances “Baby” Houseman, a teenager on a family vacation at a resort in New York’s Catskill Mountains.

At the age of 27, she did a very convincing job of portraying an adolescent who falls for dance instructor Swayze. The rest, as they say, is history. Especially that iconic dancing lift.

When Baby arrives at the resort at the start, audiences are not thinking of her wealth, they’re too busy transposing themselves into her experience which includes not just a romantic, sexual awakening, but a political one, too.

Dirty Dancing’s soundtrack, created by Jimmy Ienner, generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, including “I’ve Had The Time of My Life“, which won both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award for best duet.

The film’s popularity led to a 2004 prequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, as well as a stage version which has had sellout performances in Australia, Europe, and North America.

In 2011, a Dirty Dancing remake was announced with Kenny Ortega, who choreographed the original film, as the director. However, on June 8, 2012, Lionsgate announced they were postponing the reboot.

Citing casting reasons, the remake release was put off until 2014 at the earliest. In February 2015, it was scheduled to be a TV movie. The remake was officially cancelled in July 2015, but it was later picked up by ABC. It aired on May 24, 2017.

Mountain Lake Lodge, where the movie was filmed, is still taking in guests and has several “Dirty Dancing”- themed weekends throughout the year. There’s one this coming weekend and includes a walking movie tour, dancing lessons, a scavenger hunt, and a Saturday night party.

Mountain Lake Lodge still has several “Dirty Dancing”-themed weekends throughout the year. The next one is August 25-27, the weekend of its 30-year anniversary. The weekend includes a walking movie tour (like the one my family and I did), dancing lessons, a scavenger hunt, and a Saturday night party. Thousands of fans make a pilgrimage to the set to see remnants of the ’80s movie that became a cult classic.

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