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Watch Choreographers Break Down the Final Dance Scene from Dirty Dancing | Movies in Motion
♪ 'Cause I had the time of my life ♪
♪ And I owe it all to you ♪
[upbeat music]
I'm Lauren Grant.
And I'm Christopher Grant.
And we are professional dancers and choreographers.
And today we're gonna break down
the Time of my Life dance in Dirty Dancing.
[Man] Mark.
[upbeat music]
We are breaking down Dirty Dancing,
which was released in 1987.
It takes place in 1963
at the Kellerman's Resort in the Catskills.
It was written by Eleanor Bergstein.
Choreographed by the amazing...
[Christopher] Kenny Ortega.
With assistance from Miranda Garrison.
When they went into making this film and even while shooting
no one really thought it was gonna be anything.
Jennifer Grey says it herself that she thought
no one would see the film.
She even saw a screening of it with her agent
and her agent was like, oh this is bad.
Fast-forward, it's like does
incredibly well at the box office.
There were even a group of women called the 100 Plus Club
that saw the movie in theaters over 100 times.
Eleanor Bergstein wrote the story of Dirty Dancing
and it was really based off of her childhood.
She grew up going to the Catskills, to these resorts.
She even based the Johnny Castle character
off of a teacher that she met
at one of the Catskill resorts.
So it was really near and dear to her heart.
We're gonna break down The Introduction of the Finale.
Johnny walks in.
He grabs Baby's waist.
She grabs his arm.
They set up for the first dip.
Brings her up.
Classic dirty dancing move.
[laughing]
Sorry.
Away.
Into full basic half basic step.
Turn.
Step away.
Shoulder check.
Then basic.
♪ Had the time of my life ♪
♪ No I never felt like this before ♪
♪ Yes I swear ♪
♪ It's the truth ♪
♪ And I owe it all to you ♪
♪ 'Cause I had the time of my life ♪
♪ And I owe it all to you ♪
[cheering]
♪ I've been waiting for so long ♪
♪ Now I finally found someone ♪
[snapping]
You know that part of the film?
You know, remember that.
[laughing]
The director of Dirty Dancing was Emile Ardolino.
And he was a great appreciator of dance.
The choreographer of the film is Kenny Ortega.
He grew up dancing.
He was a musical theater kid.
He has some Latin roots.
One of Kenny Ortega's idols was Gene Kelly
who he had the great opportunity to work with
in the movie Xanadu.
Kelly would invite him back to his home
and they would literally dissect some of Kelly's films.
And discuss why he choreographed
and how he choreographed for camera.
Emile discovered Kenny Ortega, and auditioned him,
and loved his work.
And then Emile was like, okay, Eleanor like,
you have to meet him.
They flew Kenny Ortega to New York,
to Eleanor Bergstein's apartment.
And ended up dirty dancing in her apartment for hours.
And apparently it got like super sexy and hot.
He got the job.
He just had the right flavor and it reminded
Eleanor Bergstein of her childhood and that feeling.
It was like a feeling rather than the steps.
Kenny comes in to convince Patrick Swayze
to do the film, but Patrick wanted to make sure
that he felt safe with Kenny Ortega.
He was kind of done dancing, he wanted to pursue
more serious acting roles and he didn't want to be
completely known as a dancer.
Because he felt that that would be stunting to him,
moving forward as an actor.
And he would always be cast in all those roles.
And then he ends up doing Dirty Dancing,
which became-- Thank god.
[Christopher] This incredible hit and he was able to do
sort of both things.
He did what Gene Kelly did in his time,
where it was okay for a man to dance.
And you can look super masculine and strong.
And thank god for Kenny Ortega for convincing him
to do this film because ah, we wouldn't have
this wonderful piece of art.
Jennifer Grey, she was not necessarily a dancer,
but she's a mover, you know.
And I think she's an actress first
and she went into it knowing that
she was gonna have to carry the film as Baby.
She found the character first,
and that's what we fell in love with.
They purposely didn't teach her stuff,
and only taught it to her when they were actually shooting
to keep that realness alive.
And to really witness something truly happening
versus an actor pretending she doesn't know how to dance
and then discovering how to dance.
For instance, even just the opening into the staff quarters
where she first sees dirty dancing, they purposely
kept her out of that rehearsal space.
So that when they shot, that was really her
seeing it for the first time.
Let's break down the second section,
what we'll call The Turning Section.
So Johnny's holding the hands.
Baby's thumbs are pointing in.
We're gonna do a little twist.
Jump, pivot, turn.
Grapevine.
Baby turns.
Johnny turns.
Half basic.
Crossbody lead.
Shoulder check.
It's hard to do slow.
Into a basic with a sidebody lean.
Into a basic step.
Crossbody lead.
♪ With passion in our eyes ♪
♪ There's no way we could disguise it secretly ♪
♪ So we take each other hand ♪
♪ 'Cause we seem to understand the urgency ♪
[laughing]
Your hair.
So this film is set in 1963.
And in the early 60s in America
it was definitely a little bit of a time of innocence.
In regarding dance there was like partner dancing,
but not a lot of touching.
And certainly not a lot of like
hip thrusting and hip movement.
And the style of dance at this finale scene
Kenny Ortega calls it Dirty Mambo.
Dirty Mambo.
So it's combining ballroom, it's combining mambo,
and it's combining street style.
Dances that he did as a kid that he remembers.
Some dancing that Eleanor Bergstein remembers as a child.
The beginning of the dance when we see the basic step
is mambo, also salsa.
Also ballroom.
Yeah, there's many different techniques.
And everyone has their own kind of
salsa on one, salsa on two, mambo on one, mambo on two.
But it's a blend.
We're just gonna call it a happy blend.
So now we're gonna break down the section
that we call The Carousel Section.
[humming] ♪ Open door ♪
So it's gonna start with a half a basic.
Prep for lift around.
Really supporting the lady.
We come down, we do a turn
to set up for half a basic.
Crossbody lead with a turn.
Wow, that was not it.
Let's do that again.
♪ 'Til I found the truth ♪
♪ And I owe it all to you ♪
[laughing]
You gonna do the woom, woom.
That's a dirty dancing move right there.
We got it.
The song, Time of my Life, was recorded
by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.
And it was composed by Frank Previte.
The song was such a hit it won a Grammy,
it won an Academy Award.
Yeah, it's such a classic song.
I think you hear the song and you think of the dance.
And when you see the dance you think of the song.
So it's really like so seamed together.
So the song, Time of my Life, is basically
teased throughout the entire movie
and played simply by a piano.
And we hear it in different scenes
as Baby makes her journey.
Until the very end we have it in the final scene.
We hear the whole lyrics.
[Christopher] The full connection.
The whole orchestration.
Let's break down the big finale epic Angel Lift.
She's carried down off the stage
and then she runs into Johnny.
She does a little assemble jump.
And then she just thinks about jumping
as high as she can, she arches her back.
Her right leg is on the bottom,
left leg is on the top.
And she just holds it.
So the important part for Johnny
he separates his legs to give him
a little support underneath.
Baby runs in.
Assemble.
Finds her hipbones to balance her perfectly.
And then press up through his strong space.
And then extend the arms right overhead.
Keeping the core tight.
And holding up Baby in the Angel Lift.
And then slowly bringing her down
to cap off the wonderful moment.
Let's see if we can do it.
Oh I slipped, sorry.
Not our best.
Yeah it was like.
It's like rocky, it's rocking.
That was a great jump though.
I'm doing the wrong leg.
She has her right leg forward.
Oh my god. I know.
Missed your hips.
Let me shake it off for a second.
I think I'm getting a little tired too.
You lift me next.
[laughing]
♪ I had the time of my life ♪
♪ Oh I never felt this way before ♪
♪ Yes I swear ♪ ♪ Yes I swear ♪
♪ It's the truth ♪
♪ And I owe it all to you ♪ Ta-da.
So that lift, we call it, we've heard it called
the Angel Lift, the Triumph of Baby,
just that big overhead press.
It's been such a pop culture reference.
You go on YouTube, you see about
one million videos of people's weddings
and them trying to do this lift,
or doing the lift.
Oh, the NFL commercial with Eli Manning
and Odell Beckham Junior, it's like.
There you do the lift.
The lift is also in Crazy Stupid Love
with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.
In fact, we were just at a pool the other day
and there was like a little girl, she must've been around
the age of six, and she's telling her daddy,
Daddy I wanna do the Dirty Dancing lift.
So this lift is so iconic from every generation,
every age, it is like the classic dance step of all time.
Take it from the corner.
To the top. To the top.
Out of the corner to the top.
Nobody puts Baby in the corner.
Nobody, nobody.
Favorite line.
All Dances That Should Be Recreated On Show
By Lorianne Palinkas
The Real Dirty Dancing is a series that will feature stars recreating dances from the film, Dirty Dancing.
Some iconic dances should be included.
The upcoming celebrity dance competition The Real Dirty Dancing will premiere on FOX in February, and it's time to talk about the iconic dances that should be featured on the show. The series centers around the classic 1987 film, Dirty Dancing, which starred the late Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle and Jennifer Grey as Frances "Baby" Houseman. In the movie, in the summer of 1963, Baby visits the Catskills resort, Kellerman's Lodge, and expects to spend a boring couple of months there with her parents and sister. However, she soon becomes the dance partner of Johnny, the resort's dance instructor, and they fall in love.
On The Real Dirty Dancing, eight celebrities, including Brie Bella, Corbin Bleu, The Bachelor alum Tyler Cameron, Cat Cora, Howie Dorough, Antonio Gates, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, and Loni Love, will compete to become the next "Baby" and "Johnny." They will be partnered with each other to learn the classic dance routines from the movie, and to recreate some of the scenes.
The show will be set at Virginia's Mountain Lake Lodge, which was the real location for the fictional Kellerman's Lodge in the movie. The music and fashion from the original film will be incorporated. Each week, the show will feature guest judges who will help to decide who makes it through to the next week, and who will be "put in a corner." This is a reference to Johnny's classic Dirty Dancing quote, "Nobody puts baby in a corner." At the end of the competition, one man and one woman will be crowned the winning The Real Dirty Dancing's "Baby" and "Johnny."
Related: The Real Dirty Dancing: All About The Upcoming Dancing Competition Show
There are so many memorable dances from Kenny Ortega (the choreographer of Dirty Dancing) which should be incorporated into this new show. From the powerful mambos to the sexy dances performed at the underground party, the celebrities will have so many incredible moves to learn. Sources have already confirmed that the legendary lift from the end of the movie will be performed.
The following is a list of classic dances that should be recreated on The Real Dirty Dancing.
Johnny's Mambo
The first time that Baby sees Johnny dance is during this passionate mambo, and she is captivated as Johnny and Penny set the dancefloor on fire. The crowd is enthralled by their mambo, which highlights high kicks and mesmerizing lifts.
Do You Love Me?
In the clip shown above, Baby follows Johnny's cousin Billy to a secret "dirty dancing" party for the resort's staff. Baby sees people dirty dancing for the first time. It is a much more sensual style of dance than anything that Baby has ever seen before or tried. Billy jokes with Baby, asking her if she could imagine dancing like that on the main floor, "home of the family fox trot." He says that Kellerman would close the place down first. Johnny and Penny get all of the attention once again, dancing freely without the constraints of the traditional dances that they perform at the resort.
Love Man
At the party, Johnny dances over to Baby and asks why she is there. Baby from Dirty Dancing responds with the classic line, "I carried a watermelon." Johnny then curls his index finger (his signature sexy gesture) to call Baby onto the dance floor to dance with him. He teaches her how to dirty dance.
Related: Bachelorette: Tyler Cameron Will Compete On The Real Dirty Dancing
De Todo Un Poco
In this dance, Baby stands in for Penny, performing "Mambo Magic," a version of the mambo that is similar to the one that was seen earlier in the film. It is a simpler dance for the less-experienced Baby, with fewer kicks and lifts. She makes some mistakes during the dance, and cannot complete the lift at the end of the song. However, the dance move she does instead is one of the most comical and classic in the movie.
Love Is Strange
This is one of the most recognizable scenes from the film. Baby and Johnny rehearse a cha-cha routine.
Baby is gaining confidence and mimics Patrick Swayze's character's instructions. They then lip-sync to "Love Is Strange," playing the roles of the singers, Mickey and Sylvia. The scene of them crawling toward each other on the floor is a signature moment in the film.
(I've Had) The Time Of My Life
The finale of the movie is one of the most beloved musical numbers in cinematic history. In this inspiring scene, Johnny says his classic line, "Nobody puts baby in a corner." He then makes a speech on the stage, saying that he always does the last dance of the summer, but explains that this year, somebody told him not to. He then announces that he is going to do his kind of dancing with a great partner, "Frances Houseman." Baby from Dirty Dancing is no longer a baby; she now's a strong, confident woman. They then take center stage to perform the iconic dance, concluding with the legendary lift. As all of the guests join in to combine traditional and modern dance styles, a new era of dance dawns on the resort, all thanks to Baby and Johnny.
The Real Dirty Dancing will be a treat for fans of the original film. Hopefully, the show will incorporate these dance numbers into the competition. It will be exciting to see them recreated for a new audience. The celebrities will surely have the time of their lives. This show will bring so much retro feel, and remind fans of why the original film that inspired the reality show is a true classic. By giving celebs the chance to test their mettle out on the dance floor, while calling to mind the nostalgia that so many Dirty Dancing fans feel, the series may really win fans over. It won't be long before viewers can see their favorite Dirty Dancing moves on their screens, and they may want to try them out at home.
Next: DWTS: How Brian Austin Green Feels About Ex Megan Fox's Engagement To MGK
The Real Dirty Dancing premieres on Tuesday, Feb 1. at 9 p.m. EST on FOX.
Dirty Dancing: Dance to the Heartbeat
Dirty Dancing is a 1987 cult American melodrama starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
social dances.
This is how sparingly and uncomplicatedly Wikipedia describes the film, after which the name of Patrick Swayze became the catalyst for red cheeks and stupid giggles among young ladies. Watched it in the late 80s and early 90's only in the circle of close friends and friends, hiding from their parents as far as possible. Now times have changed, but the goosebumps from Dirty Dancing continue to tickle your back.
Baby and Johnny are in the center of the audience's attention. Baby is a girl from a wealthy family of a doctor who personifies the American dream. Johnny is just Johnny. A free dancer who earns a living by entertaining the public.
What is Dirty Dancing?
Dirty dances in the film are dances performed at a service staff party in a small American boarding house where the main character is resting. There, Baby is faced with the other side of her own life: people who plow until they pass out during the day, and in the evening splash out emotions in dances.
Half-naked, tart, very intimate. There she meets Johnny, who will become her partner, first in dancing, and then in life.
“Yes, I am afraid of everything, I am afraid that I will leave this room and not feel what I feel now. Dance with Me.
— Here?
- Yes.
In fact, classic dirty dancing is shown in only one scene - just at the very party in the boarding house. They are not tied to any of the styles, although they have much in common with Latin American genres. They were performed spontaneously, many movements were invented directly in front of the camera.
Everything that starts after the party - training and performance - is a Cuban mambo with a splash of salsa and other Latin American revelations.
Mambo in Dirty Dancing
Mambo is a Latin American dance brought to the New World by African-American black slaves. It was performed in stuffy rooms to rhythmic music (4 by 4) after a hard day's work.
In the middle of the 20th century, it also spread among the white population, but until the end of the era of racism in America, it was customary to hide its social origin.
The name of the dance comes from the name of the militant deity "mambo", and some of the movements are references to the ancient ritual dance.
Dirty Dancing staging
Baby and Johnny's performances were choreographed by Kenny Ortego, the most famous Hollywood choreographer, who became famous not only for Dirty Dancing, but also for staging Michael Jackson's show tours.
The film's final dance, which is especially complex and especially intimate, used unique supports that are used in modern. These supports became the highlights of the production. The frame is rhythmic steps, rotations, hugs, characteristic of mambo, rumba, salsa.
Today the final dance was dismantled every second and put together again to be staged at weddings, festivals, dance studios. It is complex, but its beauty is worth working on yourself and your movements.
However, it is easy to create your own "dirty dance": it is enough to get acquainted with Latin American programs a little and memorize a couple of movements. Dirty Dancing is only possible when it comes from the heart.
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Dirty Dancing Style
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STYLE IN THE MOVIE:
Dirty Dancing
A 1987 melodrama about forbidden love and dancing on the edge (then twerk had not yet been invented) is one of the main cinematic guilty pleasures.
Plus a visual aid to classic American summer style.
At the end of the 80s, mass cinema was occupied by beefy guys with weapons in their hands and developed fighting skills. First, at the cinema, and then at home at the video, the audience watched with pleasure,
as alpha males like Stallone and Schwarzenegger fight for justice. In the world of this hypertrophied masculinity, women were usually given the place of the protagonist's beloved - nothing more.
Therefore, the melodrama "Dirty Dancing" with a ridiculous budget of 6 million was predicted to be a complete failure: who wants to watch how an innocent and naive teenage girl from a good family falls in love with a "bad guy" and becomes a first-class dancer for him in a short time? But marketers were mistaken: the picture instantly fell in love first with American women, and then with viewers on the other side of the ocean. The film provoked a massive interest in Latin American dances. After watching, the girls ran to dance studios and asked to be taught how to dance "like Baby". About the same a couple of years ago, after watching Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, everyone suddenly wanted to master the art of twerking.
Interestingly, Dirty Dancing costume designer Hilary Rosenfeld found a way to integrate the style of the 60s and 80s into the context of the film. Baby's personal transformation after meeting Johnny is emphasized by the change in her style: from the calm and measured 60s to the bold and exuberant 80s.
At the beginning of the tape, we have a modest father’s daughter Francis: a lush cloud of hair, a “correct” sundress with wide straps and a discreet striped print, and a voluminous blue cardigan so large that it can be classified as a “boyfriend”. Then the heroine gets to an underground party, where her consciousness changes. Baby sees liberated youth dancing an unknown dance (as the Black Eyed Peas sing in the song of the same name for the Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights soundtrack: “When I dance with you, from the outside it looks like we are having sex”). And the party-goers are dressed in a way that Baby never imagined before.
Girls in crop tops (the second wave of popularity of which came at the end of the 90s - zero, when every fashionista dreamed of a Tommy top, and the third began a couple of years ago, with the introduction of brands with street roots like Nasir Mazhar, and continues until still: girls in short denim shorts, T-shirts with thin straps, and guys in white
jeans and T-shirts - such a white mono-look gained particular popularity in the 2000s - and slinky trousers.
To her first rehearsal with Johnny, the heroine arrives in a white shirt tied under the bust and high-waisted denim shorts, a look (only with a skirt) that a few years later elevated to cult status by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman "and which designers are still inspired by (for example, Simon Jacquemus recently released similar white blouses). Another time, the girl masters pas already in an alcoholic T-shirt and a light layered peach skirt - like th, but more fluffy skirt ten years later, the heroine of Sarah Jessica Parker appeared in the credits of "Sex and the City" - and you know what effect it had. In one of the scenes, we see Baby training alone near the bridge. She is wearing a pink bodysuit with a deep cutout on the chest and back (Beyoncé and Rihanna perform in such swimsuits at concerts
and the same ones worn by fashionists a couple of years ago), short fringed denim shorts and white sneakers (and sneakers of the same color seem to have replaced the little black dress from the first line of the must-have of any wardrobe in recent years).
The style of the surrounding Baby is also, as they say, from the category of Inspirations. Here are blouses
with dropped shoulders: three years ago, designers from Kenzo to Vika Gazinskaya began to convince everyone to walk in this way and, in fact, they continue to this day - bare shoulders are in the latest collections, for example, from Proenza Schouler.
And in another frame, a girl in cropped light trousers - you can find such in the latest collection of Diane von Furstenberg, and in any mass market.
The style of the dancers also deserves close attention. Johnny's go-out uniform - black flared trousers, low-heeled shoes, a white blouse unbuttoned to the waist - migrated to the women's wardrobe. Recently in Cannes, Charlize Theron presented her new film in the same way, only throwing a jacket over her shoulders. And a reference to the form of dancers for training in the hall can be found in the collections of the Ivy Park brand from Beyoncé and Philip Green.
Costume designer Hilary Rosenfeld put together a mix of the 60s when the film was set and the 80s when the film was made. As a result of the synthesis of two important
eras for the fashion world, the quintessence of a textbook American summer style was obtained: high-waisted shorts, faded jeans, light-colored sneakers, white shirts, crop tops, etc. This “summer uniform”, although it is called American, has long been sold with a bang around the world. Girls in California and Russia dress in such a simple and easy way in the warm season.
And, of course, everyone remembers Baby's pale pink dress, in which she performs in the final dance, but we really like another one - also pink, but in a fuchsia shade and with a silver belt, in which the heroine appeared at the competition.
How many Paris Hilton and other celebrities walked out similar dresses in zero - do not count. And given the total onset of fashion in the 2000s, you can already look after something similar for yourself - it will come in handy in a couple of years.
