BACK TO THE GRIND 'DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS' AIMS TO RECAPTURE THE ROMANCE OF THE BELOVED ORIGINAL FILM.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer Yes, nostalgia fans, Patrick Swayze does appear in ``Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,'' an unofficial second chapter in the ``Dirty Dancing'' saga. At the risk of spoiling what little suspense the film contains, we probably shouldn't tell you exactly what he's doing in 1958 Cuba, except to say that Swayze's character won't be confined to a wheelchair. ``It's a cameo cameo (kăm`ēō), small relief carving, usually on striated precious or semiprecious stones or on shell. The design, often a portrait head, is commonly cut in the light-colored vein, and the dark one is left as the background. ,'' says Swayze, ``but it's one that rocks.'' Inclined to agree with that assessment is producer/choreographer JoAnn Jansen, upon whose experiences ``Havana Nights'' is based. Jansen, who got to share some moves with the one-time New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of dancer, says that Swayze's single appearance proved so exciting the filmmakers added a second one. The film opens nationwide Friday. ``He's not the kind of guy who's going to do something he thinks is cheesy cheesy (che´ze) caseous. ,'' Jansen says of Swayze. ``He's very particular and he wants to have input, which is fine. It's not just about him dancing.'' And that ``rocking'' cameo, ladies and gentlemen, is about the only link to the 1987 movie, ``Dirty Dancing.'' Admittedly, the stories have similarities: young girl enters into a forbidden relationship, defying her parents in the process and discovering a kind of liberation through dance. And there's a high stakes High Stakes is a British sitcom starring Richard Wilson that aired in 2001. It was written by Tony Sarchet. The second series remains unaired after the first received a poor reception. dance concert at the finale. Romola Garai Romola Sadie Garai (born 6 August 1982) is an award-winning English actress. Early life Garai was born in Hong Kong[1][1] and relocated to Singapore at five before her family returned to Wiltshire in the United Kingdom when she was eight. (of ``I Capture the Castle'') and ``Y Tu Mama Tambien's'' Diego Luna Diego Luna (born December 29, 1979) is a Mexican actor. Biography Early life Luna was born Diego Luna Alexander in Mexico City, the son of Fiona Alexander, a British-born costume designer,[1] and Alejandro Luna, a set designer[2] are new partners here, taking over the roles played by Jennifer Grey and Swayze in the original. Not that ``Dirty Dancing'' is by any means a foolhardy fool·har·dy adj. fool·har·di·er, fool·har·di·est Unwisely bold or venturesome; rash. See Synonyms at reckless. [Middle English folhardi, from Old French fol hardi : formula to attempt to blueprint. The 1987 film, made for $5 million, went on to gross more than $170 million worldwide, polishing Swayze's star in the process, ushering in Noun 1. ushering in - the introduction of something new; "it signalled the ushering in of a new era" first appearance, introduction, debut, entry, launching, unveiling - the act of beginning something new; "they looked forward to the debut of their new product line" a new dance craze and making millions more in soundtrack sales. Girls dragged their boyfriends, who, apparently, didn't put up much of a fight. An innocent time In case your memory fails you, or you haven't caught the recently released ``Ultimate Dirty Dancing'' DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. , Frances ``Baby'' Houseman (played by Grey), vacationing with her family at a Catskills summer resort, partners with and falls for bad-boy dance instructor Johnny Castle (Swayze). Class bigotry Bigotry See also Anti-Semitism. Beaumanoir, Sir Lucas de prejudiced ascetic; Grand Master of Templars. [Br. Lit.: Ivanhoe] Bunker, Archie middle-aged bigot in television series. and other complications ensue en·sue intr.v. en·sued, en·su·ing, en·sues 1. To follow as a consequence or result. See Synonyms at follow. 2. To take place subsequently. as Baby is forced to break away from her parents, fall in love and grow up. ``I absolutely loved it,'' says Garai, who would have been 5 when the original was released. ``I saw it again when I was making ('Havana Nights') and I remembered why I loved it. Baby is a great character and there's a point in every young girl's life where you feel like you're Baby, or that you'd like to be Baby.'' Eleanor Bergstein was Baby. The screenwriter and co-producer of ``Dirty Dancing'' worked so-called ``dirty dancing'' steps in junior high school and won plenty of contests. She also went to the Catskills with her parents as an adolescent and danced with all the instructors. Mining her own experiences and assembling a soundtrack from her youth, Bergstein wrote a coming-of-age story set in 1963. ``This story couldn't have (taken place) the following year,'' says Bergstein, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition that she not be asked about ``Havana Nights,'' with which she had no involvement. ``I liked the period when the world had one foot in either camp. It was the summer of 1963, the summer of 'I have a dream,' before President Kennedy was assassinated as·sas·si·nate tr.v. as·sas·si·nat·ed, as·sas·si·nat·ing, as·sas·si·nates 1. To murder (a prominent person) by surprise attack, as for political reasons. 2. . ``And there were two kinds of music: clean teen music and dirty dancing music.'' Bergstein recalls standing on tables at meetings to demonstrate dirty dancing steps to potential producers. She also recalls the film being turned down by every studio at least twice. It will go straight to video, she was assured. Burn the negatives, others said. ``We had every sense that we were going to be so disgraced we wouldn't be able to show our faces again,'' says Bergstein. Needless to say, that didn't happen. The movie was a smash and an Oscar winner (for the song ``(I've Had the) Time of My Life''), spawning a TV series and, now, a sequel. The film was re-released for its 10th anniversary and regularly sold 100,000 DVDs per month even before Lions Gate Entertainment
``In reality, there are a few pictures out there in the marketplace that really kind of have lives of their own, and this is one of them,'' says Lions Gate president Steve Beeks, who chalks up ``Dirty Dancing's'' appeal to our culture's craving craving Psychology A strong desire to consume a particular substance–eg of abuse, or food; craving is a major factor in relapse and/or continued use after withdrawal from a substance of abuse and is both imprecisely defined and difficult to measure. for simpler stories. ``This is a timeless love story and it's going to be popular for many years.'' Dirtying it up ``Havana Nights'' is based on Jansen's experiences as a teenager in Cuba. Like her on-screen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. alter ego A doctrine used by the courts to ignore the corporate status of a group of stockholders, officers, and directors of a corporation in reference to their limited liability so that they may be held personally liable for their actions when they have acted fraudulently or unjustly or when Katey Miller (Garai), Jansen - the daughter of ballroom dancers - lived in a fancy hotel and fell in love with a Cuban boy who worked at the hotel. Jansen had developed her story as a small coming-of-age tale. When approached by producer Lawrence Bender to reconceive it as a ``Dirty Dancing'' chapter, Jansen - a huge fan of the original - agreed. ``I remember when I saw ('Dirty Dancing'),'' she says, ``I thought to myself, 'This is not like a lot of dance movies at the time.' I loved the fact that dance became the storyteller, the thing used to push the action forward. That film brings back every girl's first memory of first falling in love. It made me think about Cuba, which I had wiped out of my mind.'' In preparation for the film, which shot in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (pwār`tō rē`kō), island (2005 est. pop. 3,917,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. , Jansen put Luna and Garai through 10 weeks - eight hours a day - of dance boot camp Software from Apple that enables an Intel x86-based Macintosh to host the Windows XP operating system. Boot Camp is used to divide the hard disk into Windows and Mac partitions, to install the necessary drivers and to create a dual boot environment. . They learned Afro-Cuban, tango and salsa. ``Diego had played sports and Romola had done lots of yoga. She gets her body. She may not think she does, but she does,'' says Jansen. ``Partnering is a very highly skilled thing. I knew it was going to take a lot of training. But they were excited to do it, and that was half the battle.'' ``I'd say I'm an enthusiastic but a hopeless dancer,'' adds Garai. ``I feel like I came a long way. I've seen the beginning, middle and end result, and it's not too bad at the end.'' And, like Jansen, Garai got to partner a bit with Patrick Swayze, whom she calls ``a wonderful dancer, a very strong leader and a wonderful man. ``He makes you feel,'' she says, ``like you're floating.'' Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com Out of the corset corset, article of dress designed to support or modify the figure. Greek and Roman women sometimes wrapped broad bands about the body. In the Middle Ages a short, close-fitting, laced outer bodice or waist was worn. By the 16th cent. , on to the dance floor One of these days, Romola Garai may escape the bustles and flounces of period costumes. The day she actually wears jeans on screen may signal the moment when Garai - whose name is pronounced ``Gary. Like the boy's name'' - has finally relinquished her crown as the It Girl of literary films. She played Kate Nickleby, the sister of Charles Dickens' title hero in ``Nicholas Nickleby'' and starred as the unfortunate Gwendolen Harleth Gwendolen Harleth is the heroine of George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda; she acts as a foil to Mirah Lapidoth. The character was played by Romola Garai in the BBC's serialisation. in the BBC's adaptation of George Eliot's ``Daniel Deronda Daniel Deronda is a novel by George Eliot, first published in 1876. It was the last novel she completed, coming after Middlemarch and Felix Holt and the only one set in the contemporary Victorian society of her day. .'' ``I Capture the Castle,'' released last year, has Garai playing a 17-year-old daughter of an eccentric artist in 1930, and the upcoming adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's ``Vanity Fair'' - starring Reese Witherspoon - sends Garai back to Victorian London. The about-to-open ``Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights'' gives Garai an American accent and a 1958 wardrobe, neither of which were factors in Garai accepting the role. She plays Katey Miller, the bookish book·ish adj. 1. Of, relating to, or resembling a book. 2. Fond of books; studious. 3. Relying chiefly on book learning: daughter of an American businessman working in Cuba, who falls for a busboy and partners with him in a high-stakes dance competition. Much to her parents' chagrin. ``A lot of characters that go through a rebellious journey do so because of problems with their family,'' Garai, 21, says. ``Katey loves her family, and she doesn't find it easy to break from them. ``I thought the character was fun, and that was about it,'' she continues. ``I thought it would be an exciting thing to do, certainly something very different than anything I'd ever done. And nothing prepared me for it.'' Prepared her for ... what, exactly? ``The dancing, for a start. And being in a foreign country,'' she replies. ``I had never been away from home, and making a studio film is very different from making a smaller-budget film.'' The daughter of a banker, Garai spent her early childhood in Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. and Singapore. She was at the University of London For most practical purposes, ranging from admission of students to negotiating funding from the government, the 19 constituent colleges are treated as individual universities. Within the university federation they are known as Recognised Bodies when a casting director spotted her and she landed a part playing the young Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA, (born 9 December 1934), usually known as Dame Judi Dench, is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Tony, three-time BAFTA, and six-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning English actress. in ``The Last of the Blonde Bombshells.'' A couple of British TV roles later, she did ``I Capture the Castle.'' She hasn't returned to school, and hasn't missed it. ``I do miss the sense of your life being about purely playing with your mind, and not being about the real world as yet,'' she says. Co-producer/choreographer JoAnn Jansen - whose life served as the inspiration for ``Havana Nights'' - watched a private screening of ``I Capture the Castle'' and was blown away by Garai's performance. The young actress, Jansen says, has a ``from another era'' quality about her appearance and work. ``It's not that she isn't funky and cool. She is now,'' Jansen says of Garai. ``But she can also be simpler, very almost European. She lets the camera look at her, and it's so beautiful.'' Garai was only able to do a portion of the ``Havana Nights'' publicity. She's currently in rehearsal for her London stage debut in Michael Hastings' ``Calico.'' She'll play Lucia, the mentally unbalanced daughter of author James Joyce. ``I'm doing the play until May, and after that I think I'd like to go on holiday,'' says Garai. ``That's about as far as I've got.'' - E.H. CAPTION(S): 5 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) `Dirty Dancing' anew `Havana Nights' adds spice and a hot dance mix (2) Romola Garai plays an American in 1958 Cuba who falls for Diego Luna in ``Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.'' (3) ``She gets her body. She may not think she does, but she does,'' says producer/choreographer JoAnn Jansen, right, of star Romola Garai. The film is based on Jansen's own experiences in Cuba. (4) Patrick Swayze (who appears in the new film) and Jennifer Grey played the lovers in the 1987 original. (5) no caption (Romola Garai) Box: Out of the corset, on to the dance floor (see text) |
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