MOVERS SHAKERS MAKERS

The Next Step - Saturday Night Fever (1977)

We conclude our 6 part series, The Next Step, with SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977)! The surprisingly harsh film that launched a #1 bestselling soundtrack by the Bee Gees and John Travolta to super stardom. You'll easily be able to summon the sight of Travolta strutting down the street in the opening scene and hear that thumping beat of Stayin' Alive, but did you remember that he's actually a 19 year old kid on an errand to buy paint?  In this tale set in the end days of disco, Travolta's Tony Manero learns not to treat women like an accessory, breaks away from his oppressive catholic family and ultimately makes the journey across the Brooklyn Bridge...all through dance! Justice for Annette! Guest: Jennifer Goggans from the Merce Cunningham Trust [https://www.mercecunningham.org/] Emma will also do a quick wrap up our Coming of Age mini series by collating all the overlapping themes, so many are set in New York, so many daddy issues, but only one daisy tattoo! Links Vanity Fair article [https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/12/saturday-night-fever ] The Rest Is History Ep on Disco [https://therestishistory.supportingcast.fm/listen/the-rest-is-history/439-disco-sex-and-race-in-seventies-america ]

The Next Step - Save the Last Dance (2001)

We’re making our entrance for this one running in with arms in bras bas! Was SAVE THE LAST DANCE (2001) the beginning of the dance movie craze of the noughts? With a bonus film that definitely hits right in the middle of that fad: STEP UP (2006) It’s interesting revisiting STLD on the other side of the reckonings that happened around BLM. It earnestly explores some serious topics with Julia Stiles’s white ballerina becoming a fish out of water when she moves to a majority black neighbourhood in Chicago. Julia Stiles relied heavily on a body double for her ballet, but this box office hit made her a star. Watch out for Kerry Washington in her first film role.  Sara may have learnt how to find her groove thanks to Derek, BUT WILL SHE GET INTO JULLIARD?!?! Join us and Jack Webb and Isaac Bowry, virtual guests, but real-life friends! LINKS Cheryl Edwards on STLD script [https://en.everybodywiki.com/Cheryl_Edwards ] Pierre-Émile on Instgram [https://www.instagram.com/pierreemilelv/]

Rerelease - Boys Dance Too

5 years after first recorded, we're rereleasing this episode of our first dance flavoured mini series - Ballet for the 21st Century. We've chosen to revisit the last ep in that series, Boys Dance Too, because having just discussed the film Billy Elliot we thought it was worth digging into some themes that came up in more depth. This episode has been shortened from its original length... -------------------- Why is the bullying of boys who want to take ballet so persistent? Emma Lister seeks to answer this question and why their love of dance is often defended with the usual football comparison/"real men lift women" trope.  In the final episode of of our mini-series, Ballet for the Twenty-first Century, we'll open up topics such as: body image, casting, role models, gendered ballet technique, The Billy Elliot Effect and homophobia. Special guests: Denzil Bailey, Richard Bermange, James Forbat, Matthew Paluch and Mark Samaras. REFERENCES: M. Paluch. (2019). There's an elephant in the room and it's gay.... Dancing Times. October 2019, p29-31. www.dancing-times.co.uk [https://www.dancing-times.co.uk/] This mini-series  has been made possible by a grant  using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

The Next Step - Billy Elliot (2000)

We couldn't make The Next Step mini series without including BILLY ELLIOT. Is this the seminal dance coming of age film? How does it hold up a quarter of a century after it was released and became a cultural phenomenon? Bonus film: THE FITS (2015) starts eerily the same as Billy Elliot, but steers firmly away from the predictable halfway through... I'm joined this episode by host of Drinks at the Bar podcast, Paul James Rooney...who apart from being a podcast host and experienced dancer has actually played older Billy Elliot in the very successful stage version! We muse over Thatcherism, homophobia, questionable "ballet" choreography and whether Billy would've realistically had a shot at getting into the Royal Ballet School. LINKS Drinks at the Barre Podcast on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/drinks-at-the-barre/id1745414441] Drinks at the Barre Podcast on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/7eEzP4VCDked41yKICaZXG?si=d2b681e0a61d4770] Spice Girls, Stop Right Now [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JD6ejmlpa8&list=LL&index=10 ] Indie Wire interview with Stephen Daldry [https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/interview-stephen-daldry-dances-to-success-with-billy-elliot-81337/ ]  Billy Elliot: Class Traitor [https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=1474450871&i=1000470008430 ]

The Next Step - Fame (1980)

FAME (1980) fed the world a version of performing arts schools where everyone is constantly jumping around dancing and singing. But how much truth is there in that? Our bonus film, GIRL (2018), has a very different take on the experience of dance training. We talk about the enduring genius of Gene Anthony Ray, finding your tribe in school, why the cast demanded danger pay for one scene and...did we mention Gene?! What happens in Rocky Horror stays in Rocky Horror! Guest: Cordelia Braithwaite LINKS La Guardia Alumni [https://alumniandfriends.org/our-community/notable-alumni/ ] Sanjoy Roy review of Up From the Waist [https://sanjoyroy.net/2003/03/antonia-franceschi-up-from-the-waste/ ]