Dirty Dancing Analysis: "Dirty Dancing" Is White Enough -- Part 4

Sunday, March 31, 2019

"Dirty Dancing" Is White Enough -- Part 4

Continued from Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

See also:

Couples Dancing in Movies in the Late 1950s -- 1

Couples Dancing in Movies in the Late 1950s -- 2

Couples Dancing in Movies in the Early 1960s

Choreography of Bob Fosse

Choreography of Katherine Dunham

Choreography of Alvin Ailey

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In this article I use the words Negro and Caucasian, because they were the polite words in the early 1960s.

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Richard Dyer's article "White Enough" about the movie Dirty Dancing includes the following key statement:

... historically, where the [movie's] dance comes from -- albeit mixed with other sources, albeit filtered and exaggerated by white perceptions -- is African-American musical culture.

I am offering a different perspective on the importance of Negro culture in the movie's dancing. I am arguing that Negro culture was only a minor contributor to the movie's dancing.

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During the later 1950s and early 1960s, Negroes contributed disproportionately to American music, and that disproportion is reflected by the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing. However, Negroes did not contribute disproportionately to American dance in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

During the early 1960s, the Motown music company, a leader in the popularization of Negro music, was headquartered in the building pictured below.

The Motown headquarters in the early 1960s

Meanwhile, the MGM movie company, a leader in the production of movies featuring dance performances -- practically all done by Caucasians -- was headquartered in the complex pictured below.

The MGM movie company in the early 1960s

America's Negroes were able to make and sell music records, but they were not able to make feature movies or even television shows. They music was heard widely, but their dancing was not seen.

In 1963, young American Caucasians had grown up watching Caucasians dancing superbly -- creatively, intelligently, attractively, excitingly, entertainingly -- on movies and television. Negroes were not influencing Caucasian dance significantly -- except that one Negro dance, the twist, overwhelmed popular dancing.

Because Negro music was becoming disproportionately popular, Caucasians were adapting their own dancing to Negro music. That is different, however, from adopting Negro dancing, which they never or only rarely saw.

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In the movie Dirty Dancing, Baby Houseman walks into the staff quarters and sees a crowd of hotel employees "dirty dancing". In reality, however, that would not have happened in 1963. At such a party, at least 90% of the employees would have been dancing the twist.

At most, only a few would be dancing in a manner similar to "dirty dancing". These few indeed did practice dancing in their basements and so had become better, more innovative, more sexy dancers. In reality, Baby would focus her attention on those few dancers and even get a false impression that all the employees were dancing thus.

After a while, Johnny Castle and Penny Johnson come into the staff quarters, and they dance much better even than the few who practice in their basements.

Do Johnny and Penny dance so much better because they have spent a lot of time and effort learning how Negroes dance? Maybe a little. Much more than that, though, Johnny and Penny learned how Latin Americans dance.

Most of all, Johnny and Penny had learned how Caucasians like Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron and Bob Fosse danced.

The hotel employees who watched and admired Johnny's and Penny's dancing did not perceive that their dancing was basically "soul dancing" or "Negro dancing" or based on African-American musical culture -- even though Johnny and Penny happened to be dancing to a Negro song.

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Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron dancing in the 1951 movie American in Paris.