Spotlight on Dirty Dancing

Posted on Tuesday, 09.22.2009 02:06 PM

Tags: movies, styling, fashion, polyvore

I have a confession to make: I only watched Dirty Dancing for the first time a few weeks ago.  That's why I was pretty shocked to find out that Patrick Swayze had died last week.  Watching him dancing and so full of life in this movie was pretty inspiring; it's hard to associate it with anything tragic.  So, as a sort of tribute, today's entry is a spotlight on the sleepher hit that gave Swayze and his co-star, Jennifer Grey, their breakthrough roles.

Jennifer Grey was actually casted earlier in the movie than Patrick Swayze was, and at first wasn't too keen on the prospect of working with him.  The two had worked in Red Dawn prior to this project and had trouble getting along back then.  However, after the pair's dancing screen test, it was apparent there could be no other choice for the characters.  Although the two had reportedly made up when filming began, there were still some clashing between them every now and then.  Which wasn't exactly negative--some of these candid scenes were included in the movie because there was just so much chemistry (both good and bad) between the actors that they made for excellent material.

The contrast between characters were also apparent in the roles they assumed.  Johnny (Swayze) is always in dark colors while Baby (Jennifer Grey) is always shown in pretty, feminine frocks, often in pastel colors.  Pink, coral, and white lace and tulle.

Dance Practice by lekimumu featuring American Apparel

In this spread: Red cotton bodysuit, opaque pantyhouse, off shoulder stripe button top, white boyfriend shirt, denim capris, ballerina flats in rose, gold braided belt, polka-dot bandeau, plaid tube top, gray oxfords

The girls in this movie are insanely slender!  Check out the dance practice scenes with Cynthia Rhodes.

Other items of interest about the movie:

Kenny Ortega choreographed the dance scenes. He is later famous for the choreography of High School Musical.

Rehearsals for the film turned to music and dance parties for the cast. Writer Eleanor Bergstein decided to work this for the film's advantage, telling the dancers that none of them were to have physical contact with each other despite the intimate scenes in front of the camera (effectively building sexual tension among all members).

Dirty Dancing is the first film ever to sell more than a million copies on home video, and is often proclaimed to be the Star Wars for women.  It's one of most watched movies of all time--more than Star Wars itself.

Jennifer Grey was 10 years older than her character's age when she was casted (she was 27 years old).

Billy Zane and Sarah Jessica Parker auditioned for the leads. However, the casting director only wanted actors who could dance.

The song "She's Like the Wind" included in the movie's original soundtrack was written and sung by Patrick Swayze.

Tags: movies, styling, fashion, polyvore

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