Dance Off: Not too strict

Film: Strictly Ballroom
Year: 1992
Artists: David Hirschfelder & The Bogo Pogo Orchestra; the cast of Strictly Ballroom; John Paul Young
Music: Scott and Fran's Paso Doble; The Sound of 100 People Clapping; Love is in the Air





My focus this week is on Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom. So far our reviews have been mostly American centred. This is our first magic music Australian moment, which is incidentally where we are all living, maaate. Many Australian movies either play up the ockerness (Crocodile Dundee) or downplay anything distinguishing (Daybreakers, also partially filmed in Brisbane where we, incidentally, go to university). Strictly Ballroom doesn't over-stress the location of the movie, apart from a few shots of a hills hoist and a proliferation of 'bloody' in the dialogue. Instead, it speaks loudest in the language of dance.

A quick summary: Scott is under pressure to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix. He sabotages himself by using his own dance steps instead of the strict steps of ballroom dancing, causing his dance partner, Liz, to split with him. While try-outs to find a new dance partner are held, shy, ugly-duckling Fran approaches him to be his new partner and supports his new steps. He is doubtful, since she is only a beginner, but they start to practice together, and she starts to get better, more confident, and more attractive. Full synopsis here.

The climax is at Scott and Fran's final dance at the Pan-Pacific Prix. The Spanish music at the beginning is as dramatic and sexy as their dance. Love is in the Air at the end is cheesy in a perfect way for the happily ever after ending. But, truly, they were overly ornamented. They can not match the raw, driving force of the soundtrack made of a hundred pairs of clapping hands in the middle.

A few reality TV dancing competitions echo back to this movie: beginners partnered with professionals in Dancing with the Stars; and trying to stand out from the competition in So You Think You Can Dance, to name the latest ongoing ones. But in this dance scene, competition doesn't matter. Scott and Fran are disqualified, but this doesn't stop them. Whoever the winner is isn't announced and doesn't matter; it isn't the goal any more. The real goal is expression and recognition.

While this could have been one of the movies that drove the public's interest in competitive dancing, it subverts them too. There is no marks, no voting, no theme of the week, and no Simon. Strictly Ballroom shows that all you need is rhythm and your own steps to be the best dancer.