First came the hit documentary that followed New York City school kids learning to fox-trot and tango.
Then there was the wildly popular reality TV show that partners celebrities with professional ballroom dancers in a weekly elimination contest.
And the latest buzz is surrounding plans for another televised dance-off to air on Fox next month, just as production on another dance-themed movie starring Antonio Banderas begins in Toronto.
Now it’s practically official: Consider this the summer of ballroom dancing.
As Howard Dashkin, a professional dance teacher, says, “People love to watch good dancing.”
More than 15.1 million people tuned into ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” last week. That’s the highest ratings for a new summer series since CBS’ inaugural run of “Survivor” in 2000; for the fourth week in a row, it was Nielsen’s No. 1-rated Wednesday show.
And “Mad Hot Ballroom” is no slouch. The film earned almost $2.5 million at the U.S. box office in limited release and has since expanded to more theaters.
Dashkin was moved to tears by the charm of “Mad Hot Ballroom” (think clumsy, streetwise fifth-graders smoothing out their tango moves, as well as their rough-and-tough spirits), and he’s hooked on the glittery, often over-the-top numbers performed on “Dancing With the Stars.”
In that show, celebrities – such B-listers as former New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre and supermodel Rachel Hunter – have a week to learn an elaborately choreographed dance and perform live for a panel of judges. The audience also votes, and the couple ranked the lowest is eliminated. (Hunter got the ax last week.) “The stars are so likable,” Dashkin says. “You really want them all to win.”
The show, which ends its run Wednesday (8 p.m., KMGH-Channel 7), is a spinoff of the BBC’s successful “Strictly Come Dancing.” ABC actually passed on piloting the British series in the U.S. a few times, says Andrea Wong, the network’s head of alternative programming. “I thought ballroom dancing was just a British thing and nobody in this country would embrace it.”
She finally watched an episode of the British show and was drawn in, even though the featured celebrities were unfamiliar. Still, it was “a leap of faith” for ABC, Wong says. “Lots of people thought we were out of our minds.”
The allure of “Mad Hot Ballroom” is perhaps more obvious. The documentary trails students at three New York schools as they learn a handful of ballroom dances over 10 weeks and prepare to compete in a citywide dance competition.
That ballroom fever is contagious hardly surprises Pierre Dulaine, the man who created the Dancing Classroom Program documented in the film. More than 7,000 students at 68 New York City public schools participate; the program’s 2005 competition was held earlier this month.
“People get inspired,” he says. “In today’s life people are playing Game Boys or watching TV,” and social graces may get left behind. Instructors in Dulaine’s program address their fourth- and fifth-grade pupils as “ladies and gentlemen” and teach them to escort their partner on and off the floor, make eye contact during the dance and say “thank you” at its conclusion.
“These are transferable skills for life,” Dulaine says. “I really don’t care whether they remember the steps or not, per se. But respecting their partner, being with their partner are important habits that do stay with them.”
Interest in ballroom dancing surged last year after the release of “Shall We Dance?,” starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. Arthur Murray, the country’s largest dance studio franchise and a sponsor of the “Dancing With the Stars” area of ABC’s website, reports business is up about 20 percent nationally this year.
Safwat Gerges, owner of several New York City-area Arthur Murray locations, says boxer Evander Holyfield spent a few hours at his Manhattan studio a few weeks ago to rehearse his “Dancing With the Stars” routine. (Apparently not enough; Holyfield has since been eliminated.) Gerges says he has been fielding more phone calls from people inquiring about lessons because they’ve been watching the show.
For the uninitiated, more inspiration is on the way. “So You Think You Can Dance,” from the producers of “American Idol,” will premiere on Fox July 20. In the forthcoming movie “Take the Lead,” Antonio Banderas stars as Pierre Dulaine (Dulaine himself gets a cameo).
