no one puts baby in a corner

One of the most classic film quotations of cheesey(/great) chick flicks of all-time. Period.

I still remember the first time I saw Dirty Dancing. I must have been ten, and I don't think I'd seen any movies classed as PG-13 before. I was over at a friend's house for a sleepover party with some 5-6 other girls. The racier components/innuendo flew over our heads. We were much more interested in the love story, the music, and of course the dancing.

I remember us rewinding the part where Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey sing Mickey & Sylvia's "Love is Strange" and singing at the top of our lungs. How do you call your loverboy? We thought we could mambo just like they did in the movie. The most complicated decision of the evening was who would lead, as we tried to immitate a much more simplistic form of the basic dances we saw on-screen.

Granted, we most definitely didn't try the lifts. [That would come later in college in the prime of my swing dancing kick, with the low point being my head on the cement of the fraternity house basketball court -- ooops]. But we sure had fun.

Deep Thoughts on Life... by Johnny Castle...
I'm gonna do my kind of dancin' with a great partner, who's not only a terrific dancer; somebody who's taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people no matter what it costs them; somebody who's taught me about the kind of person I wanna be...

Never had I seen DD on the big screen. Until today. Oh yes. In honor of the 20th anniversary of its release, DD was re-released. There were only 2 showings, one today at 7:30PM and the other yesterday at the same time. Along with some friends, our tickets were purchased on Fandango last week in advance to ensure no issues with getting in.

Little wimp. He wouldn't know a new idea if it hit him in the pachenga...

Yeah, so excellent call Dr P on the Fandango-ing. Some of us started off the evening at the Green Turtle (formerly Drinx). Not half-bad, although you could instantly tell they'd just opened and were sorting out the little kinks here and there. It was a short visit though, as we had our minds on the important part of the evening.

As we walked up to print out our tickets from the machine, we saw "SOLD OUT" flashing up on the display. Yeah. Three cheers for planning. The Writer and I jetted ahead to secure a block of seats for the crew. We were in the very back row, which proved to be key for stashing our random pile of daily odds and ends along with allowing us to dance, gesture, and comment to our hearts content with minimal disruption to those around us. Fabulous. Dr P was the last to arrive, but she brought her newest Southernly proper hat purchased for the occasion along with other "squire-ly" items for the evening.

Once the movie started though, the audience participation was clearly fully supported by the crowd. Granted, it was not to the extent of Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it was fun. Acording to Em, it was officially a return to "Patrick Swayze: The Hot Years". Oh yes. The cheering was frequent, with the exception of the initial tension. Gasp. The movie was started much um stretched horizontally. It was like Dirty Dancing meets the Big Screen meets Laffy Taffy. No. It soon flicked off the screen and the screen came in a bit and all of the sudden, things weren't distorted. Much appreciated, Regal.

Back of Audience Member's Shirt:
"I carried a watermelon?!?"

The best though had to have been when the final number came on. Of course the crowd was in an uproar as Johnny declared "no one puts baby in a corner". But the best had to have been as "I've Had the Time of My Life" came on and that final dance number began. A group of about ten audience members were on their feet and dancing all along in front of the front row of chairs.

I can't remember the last time I've had this much fun at the movies. What a fun girl's night out. Refreshing to feel ten all over again, if only for an hour and a half.