{"id":1912,"date":"2008-04-30T12:02:48","date_gmt":"2008-04-30T12:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2008\/04\/top-ten-inspiring-dance-movies.html"},"modified":"2008-04-30T12:02:48","modified_gmt":"2008-04-30T12:02:48","slug":"top-ten-inspiring-dance-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/04\/top-ten-inspiring-dance-movies.html","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Inspiring Dance Movies Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"footloosepic.jpg\"Dancing has always been a movie metaphor for celebrating your spirit and following your dreams. I think that is why shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and even the cheesy ones like “So You Think You Can Dance?” are so successful right now.
\nSo I started thinking about all the great dance movies of years gone by. Here is a list of my favorite and most inspiring movies of all time. I didn’t count Broadway musicals adapted to screen, so that leaves out classics like “West Side Story” and “Chicago,” but I still had plenty of interesting choices to consider. Feel free to add to my list by posting to in the comment box below.
\n10. “Singing in the Rain”:<\/strong> Maybe it’s not technically a dance movie, but it certainly has some of the most famous dance numbers ever put on celluloid.
\n9. “White Nights”:<\/strong> Okay, this is actually a pretty lame movie\u2014not to mention outdated\u2014but the dance sequences between Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov are unparalleled.<\/p>\n


\n8: “Fame”:<\/strong> The 80s were full of awesome, yet cheesy, dance movies and this idealized picture of life at a performing arts school in New York had energy and sass in addition to all the camp.
\n7. “Stomp The Yard”:<\/strong> Again, maybe not the best plot line but some amazing dance sequences featuring some of the folks from that hit off-Broadway show “Stomp.”
\n6. “Footloose”:<\/strong> Come on, despite the hokey storyline, no one can outdo Kevin Bacon dancing to a peppy Kenny Loggins soundtrack
\n5. “Moulin Rouge”:<\/strong> Again, perhaps it doesn’t fit the mold of a true dance movie, but that’s why I liked it. The dance numbers defied convention and were full of razzle-dazzle.
\n4. “Mad Hot Ballroom”:<\/strong> One of my favorite documentaries of all time, this movie looks at a ballroom competition for inner-city kids and how it helps them rise above their circumstances.
\n3. “Billy Elliot”:<\/strong> Boxing and ballet go toe to toe as a young Irish lad must choose between the two. It is a great story about family loyalty and going against expectations. (I also can’t wait to see the Broadway version!)
\n2. “Dirty Dancing”:<\/strong> You thought this would be the top pick, didn’t you? Yes, Patrick Swayze made girls\u2014and women\u2014of all ages swoon in one of the best coming-of-age stories with some of the funniest\u2014as well as sexiest\u2014dance numbers ever. Oh yeah, and one of the all-time classic catch phrases.
\n1. “Strictly Ballroom”:<\/strong> One of my favorite movies period, and maybe director Baz Luhrmann’s best. It takes a cheeky, eccentric look at one family who is completely absorbed by the world of ballroom dance. It also reminds that a life lived in fear is “a life half lived.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dancing has always been a movie metaphor for celebrating your spirit and following your dreams. I think that is why shows like “Dancing with the Stars” and even the cheesy ones like “So You Think You Can Dance?” are so successful right now. So I started thinking about all the great dance movies of years…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nTop 10 Inspiring Dance Movies Ever<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/04\/top-ten-inspiring-dance-movies.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top 10 Inspiring Dance Movies Ever\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dancing has always been a movie metaphor for celebrating your spirit and following your dreams. 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