5 Modern Ballroom Dancing Movies (1987-Present)

We all enjoy watching films about ballroom dancing just about as much as dancing itself. Today we bring you our list of the best modern (1987-Present) ballroom dancing movies. Have you watched them all? If not, find them in your favourite streaming service and let some of the best dancers and actors inspire you to put your dancing shoes on.

Strictly Ballroom

• Year: 1993
• Director: Baz Luhrmann
• Country: Australia
• Cast: Sonia Kruger, Gia Carides, Bill Hunter
• Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
• “A top ballroom dancer pairs with a plain, left-footed local girl when his maverick style earns him the disdain of his more conventionally-minded colleagues. Together, the team gives it their all and makes dreams of the National Championship title come true.”
• Awards: BAFTA Award for Best Film Music

• Dirty Dancing
• Year: 1987
• Director: Emile Ardolino
• Country: USA
• Cast: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach
• Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
• “Baby (Jennifer Grey) is one listless summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she's disappointed when her summer plans deposit her at a sleepy resort in the Catskills with her parents. Her luck turns around, however, when the resort's dance instructor, Johnny (Patrick Swayze), enlists Baby as his new partner, and the two fall in love. Baby's father forbids her from seeing Johnny, but she's determined to help him perform the last big dance of the summer.”
• Awards: Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature

• Dance With Me
• Year: 1998
• Director: Randa Haines
• Country: USA
• Cast: Kris Kristofferson, Jane Krakowski, Vanessa L. Williams
• Rotten Tomatoes: 51%
• “A young Cuban dancer inspires students at a Latin dance studio with his passion and spontaneity. While there, he meets and falls for a beautiful professional dancer, but she fights her attraction towards him in order to focus on her dancing. However, as the two grow closer, she begins to realise that brilliant technique alone will not make her the dancer she wants to be.”
• Nominations: ALMA Award for Favorite Movie Actor,

• Shall We Dance?
• Year: 2004
• Director: Peter Chelsom
• Country: USA
• Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere
• Rotten Tomatoes: 46%
• “Despite having a great career and a loving family, lawyer John Clark (Richard Gere) is missing something in his life as he meanders listlessly from day to day. On his commute back home one night, Clark notices a stunning woman (Jennifer Lopez) in a dance studio and decides on a whim to join a class for ballroom dancing. While Clark finds a new spark in his life, his wife, Beverly (Susan Sarandon), grows suspicious of his frequent absences, since he decides to keep his dancing a secret.”

• Take the Lead
• Year: 2006
• Director: Liz Friedlander
• Country: USA
• Cast: Antonio Banderas, Jenna Dewan, Alfre Woodard
• Rotten Tomatoes: 46%
• “When internationally renowned dancer Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas) takes a teaching job in a New York City public school, he meets ridicule from the street-wise students, who scoff at the notion of ballroom dancing. Far from being discouraged, he melds their hip-hop moves with his classical style, helping them create a dance form and, in the process, becoming their mentor.”

 

Agree/Disagree? Is your favourite ballroom movie on this list?