September 16th, 2009 by soullldiva

“Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” said Patrick Swayze, as Johnny Castle in the now cult classic Dirty Dancing, a movie I saw myself 4 times in the theater.

Dirty Dancing was considered, at the time, a low budget B movie, and not b-for-Blockbuster. But a blockbuster it became, hitting America in the face with fantastic bump-and-grind dancing that was born out of blues, soul and the R&B classics. It was re-released in the theaters at least once, spawned a less popular sequel (how could it be as popular? No Patrick!) and a stage version that sold out performances all over the world.

The dance sequences were choreographed by the fab Kenny Ortega (later famous for High School Musical), and I would say is respnsible for the “early wave” of this huge dance craze we are having right now. Damn right. After stopping dance when I was little, I wanted to return after I saw this move (or at least shake my thing out on the dance floor in the underage clubs).

I bring this up not only because of the dancing, but because of Johnny Castle himself. Patrick Swayze died earlier this week due to complications from pancreatic cancer. We have lost a true artist and a fantastic man. May he dirty dance straight into heaven and continue to inspire us.