Strictly Ballroom [DVD] [1992]

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Strictly Ballroom has been a family favourite here for most of the thirty years it has been around. It was my daughter who saw the 30 th anniversary announcement from the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and passed it on to me. She also loves this film and I think my grandchildren will be being introduced to it before too much longer. Just to embarrass her…we went through a period of finding lip marks on the same spot on the TV screen every day. We were watching Strictly Ballroom and noticed a point when Paul Mercurio filled the screen and his lips matched up with the smears that kept appearing on the TV! There is a delightful reworking of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time sung by Tara Morice. It’s used to link the early “getting to know each other” scenes between Scott and Fran. It drifts in and out between shots of Scott and Fran and whatever else is going on around the dance studio. It starts at 21:38 and finishes at 31:15; the ten minutes fly by! Directed and co-choreographed by the hard-to-please King of the Saturday night put-down, Craig Revel Horwood, and co-choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing’s creative director Jason Gilkison, the production is due to launch in Portsmouth on 26 September 2022, before dancing into venues across the UK with the tour taking its final bows in Bristol in July 2023.

What is Strictly Ballroom all about? I suppose this is the time that I should be issuing spoiler warnings. But, as the great man himself once said about his work, “within the first ten minutes you know how it’s going to end.” I think I can be allowed a bit of latitude when it comes to a thirty year old film! A Beginner Has No Right To Approach An Open AmateurStrictly Ballroom is the story of Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio). He is the son of ballroom dancers and has been dancing since he was six years old. He looks destined to be the next Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Amateur Five Dance Latin American champion but he is not a happy bunny. He’s mastered all the official dances and has won all the local area competitions but he’s become bored with all that and has started devising his own steps. Scott and Fran learn to dance together. Brookes dazzles as Fran (‘Just Fran’), a relative beginner who wants to twirl with golden boy Scott Hastings (Clifton) after he loses longtime partner Liz. She’s flounced off, after the dance floor rebel Scott’s insistence on using his own, crowd-pleasing moves in their routines loses them competitions. It’s strictly ballroom, you see. For full terms and conditions and information on the application process please visit our Strictly T&Cs.

There then follows all manner of completely predictable situations. Fran teaches Scott something. Things start to go right but get dashed. Fran gets more and more beautiful. Scott learns the true spirit of Latin American dance. Barry Fife’s lies are uncovered. Ultimately, everything resolves to a happy ending. There is trope upon theme upon motif but, guess what…IT DOESN’T MATTER!!! Doug and Shirley Hastings Strictly Ballroom competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival and won the Youth Award for Foreign Film. It received thirteen nominations at the 1992 Australian Film Institute Awards and resulted in eight wins, including Best Film. The film earned eight nominations at the 46th British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film; it won Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Film Music. It was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 51st Golden Globe Awards. In the next round, Scott and Fran make a dramatic entrance and begin dancing, immediately riveting the audience. Fife tries to disqualify them, but Scott's friend Wayne Burns, having overheard Fife's treachery along with his partner Vanessa Cronin, disconnects the PA system, allowing Scott and Fran to dance a Paso Doble routine that impresses the audience. Desperate, Fife tries to turn off the music, but Scott's younger sister Kylie and her partner Luke interfere until Fife's girlfriend Charm Leachman disconnects the sound system. Fife then disqualifies Scott and Fran, but Doug begins clapping out a beat to enable the pair to continue dancing. The audience claps along, as Scott and Fran resume dancing. Liz, having had a change of heart, turns on Fife and Leachman and restores the music, and Scott and Fran's spirited dancing brings down the house. Doug asks Shirley to dance with him and the whole audience joins them on the floor. As the performance finishes, Scott and Fran kiss. During its successful run at the Wharf, the play was seen by an influential Australian music executive. Ted Albert was a leading record producer and music publisher, best known in Australia as the discoverer and original producer of 1960s pop sensations The Easybeats. By the time he saw Strictly Ballroom, Albert was the managing director of his family-owned music publishing company Albert Music (formerly J. Albert & Sons) and its subsidiary, the highly successful record label Albert Productions, which scored a string of hits in the 1970s and 1980s with acts including John Paul Young and AC/DC.Plot: What’s it about? Video: How does it look? Audio: How does it sound? Supplements: What are the extras? Plot: What’s it about? One of the best scenes is when his character's taught how to do the Paso Doble as it was intended. The man teaching him is the man who choreographed it for the movie, a truly great dancer in his own right. And the g irl playing Fran, a non-dancer in real life, learned all the dances just for this film. The show received its British premiere on 30 November 2016 at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. The show had its North American premier in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre on 25 April 2017. Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" " (PDF). Film.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011 . Retrieved 21 March 2011. Smith who is due to remain with the production until 25 March 2023 added: “Dancing in Strictly has been a huge part of my life, and been so much fun. I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to continue that journey in Strictly Ballroom The Musical. Not only do I get to make my musical theatre debut with my former partner in crime, Kevin Clifton, but I get to work with Craig Revel Horwood and Jason Gilkison again too – I can’t wait.”

a b c d e f g h i Albert, Jane (2010). House Of Hits: The Great Untold Story Of Australia's First Family Of Music. Richmond, Australia: Hardie Grant Books. pp.316–331. ISBN 978-1740668811. It plays with the concept. Sets up jokes, telegraphs them even but, when the punch line arrives, it’s still funny. That’s down to the delivery and acting skills of the cast particularly from youngster Kylie (Lauren Hewett). But all the cast are excellent; both the seasoned veterans and the relative newcomers. Despite this being a debut feature for the director and some of the cast they all perform as naturally as if this was a documentary or a news report.The feel-good story of the rule-breaking dancer and the shy outsider who transforms into the perfect partner first hit the stage as a student play. The play was then transformed into a film by Luhrmann and designer Catherine Martin before the duo working with Terry Johnson, who joined the team to adapt the original book, to return to the stage in its musical incarnation at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in 2014. During the competition, Doug explains to Scott that Fife lied: Fife had convinced Shirley to dance with Les instead of Doug so that Fife could win the competition. It is also revealed that Fife is plotting to sabotage Scott in favor of audience favorite, Ken. Scott runs after Fran and persuades her to dance with him. With glittering costumes, a clever, adaptable set, and sharp lighting, the designs match the performances. The players make the most of an occasionally hilarious script – Clifton’s comedy moves are used to great effect – while the band led by Dustin Conrad is on fire. Commenting on the production, Revel Horwood added: “I’m delighted that the super talented Maisie Smith is joining Kevin Clifton on the Strictly Ballroom UK tour. I can’t wait to see them dance together again. Expect some sexy moves, sizzling costumes and a simply sensational evening! I know that they’ll both be FAB-U-LOUS!” Dean, Jodie (10 September 2015). "Strictly Ballroom the Musical sweeps Brisbane QPAC crowd off their feet". Brisbane Times . Retrieved 17 August 2017.