STEP BY STEP BALLROOM FANS FINDING INSPIRATION IN FILMS AND ON THE DANCE FLOOR.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

They're tango-ing on the tube and merengue-ing in the multiplex. When they're not watching, they're getting up and moving themselves, one laboriously learned box step at a time.

From the painfully shy 10-year-old learning where to place his hand on a partner's back, to the San Diego Realtor looking to chuck mortgage applications for a career as a professional ballroom dancer, folks are dancing - with the stars, with double left-footed partners in church halls - with everybody but themselves.

And Pierre Dulaine - the subject of the new film "Take the Lead" - now has dance classes spreading through New York City's public school system and out of state with such nimble-footed urgency that he now oversees 42 teachers and three supervisors working in 120 schools.

Has the seemingly outdated art of ballroom dance ever been "madder" or "hotter"? For the sake of their respective movies, the makers of "Take the Lead" and "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School" certainly hope not.

"The TV coverage has been a big deal," says JoAnn Jansen, who choreographed both films. "People get reminded about how much fun it is to watch it and have it be part of storytelling. Those people on `Dancing With the Stars' are on such a high. Lots of endorphins are being released, and they're communicating."

Inspired by Dulaine, "Take the Lead" finds an inspirational dance instructor leading a bunch of New York City high-school misfits from a detention classroom to a citywide ballroom dance competition. The kids get so caught up that they incorporate hip-hop moves and music into the routines, creating a fusion of old and new.

In "Marilyn Hotchkiss," the dancers are adults. Widower Robert Carlyle grants a dying man's request by keeping an appointment at the titular ballroom and charm school. There he meets Marisa Tomei and gets swept into the world of the waltz and - by extension - the "dance of life."

That the two films are in theaters simultaneously is a quirk of timing rather than of trend capitalization. "Take the Lead" waited for its coveted star, Antonio Banderas (who plays Dulaine), to finish filming "The Legend of Zorro" before going into production. The small-budgeted "Marilyn Hotchkiss," meanwhile, was made a year and a half ago, debuting at Sundance in 2005, the same year as Marilyn Agrelo's hit documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom."

Timing notwithstanding, between "Mad Hot's" heat and the twin successes of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" - a pair of "American Idol"-like shows that reward the fleet of foot - the ballroom climate is at a peak.

Her participation in "Dancing With the Stars," which does not have a return date, prompted actress Lisa Rinna to open a dance studio with her "DWS" partner, Louis van Amstel. And for all you men who think this is gender-specific terrain, no less a person than football player Jerry Rice (another "Stars" celebrity ballroomer) made a point of noting that dancing was tougher than the gridiron.

"Take the Lead" director Liz Friedlander's theory of why ballroom dance is so much in swing is that it's about making a connection. When we spend so much of our existence isolated in an office or in front of a computer, Friedlander figures, who wouldn't jump at the opportunity to get out into the mix and actually touch somebody and not get slapped.

"It's very easy to be isolated and alienated from the rest of the world," says Friedlander. "When the world is at war and everything is just off, there's something about dancing - and I think it's subconscious - there's something about being 3 inches away from someone and looking them in the eye and holding their hand."

Randall Miller, "Marilyn Hotchkiss'" writer and director, can relate. He's a self-described "really bad dancer," but he gets it anyway.

Fifteen years ago, Miller, a USC film school graduate, made a 16mm short film about a 9-year-old boy dragged kicking and screaming to cotillion class in Pasadena only to realize that maybe being allowed to hold a girl close isn't so bad after all.

Although he would go on to direct urban comedies like "The Sixth Man" and "Houseguest," Miller discovered that his short film - also titled "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School" - had somehow become the project that landed him jobs.

Miller and his wife/co-writer/producer, Jody Savin, decided to return to "Hotchkiss" to expand the story into a full length feature. Savin and Miller had each recently lost a parent, and the concept of reaching out through grief made sense to them. (In the film, Carlyle's character ends up dragging his entire bad dancing support group to the Hotchkiss school.)

"In a dance hall, you have to dance with somebody. You have to physically go through the moves to figure it out," says Miller. "And it's all about community, having a place where you can actually connect with other people.

"What I think is really beautiful about the movie is that good or bad dancers are connecting with each other," he continues, "and that's what this sort of fable is."

The 6-foot-5 Miller, and Savin, his 5-foot-tall wife, went the Arthur Murray route prior to their wedding, and demonstrated a few steps for the "Marilyn Hotchkiss" cast and crew during the filming. Their own moves didn't improve, but, as Miller notes, "You don't have to be a great artist to appreciate great art."

Mary Murphy, a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" and founder of the Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego, operates on the principle that anybody can learn to dance. Murphy, who trained Mary Steenburgen and Donnie Wahlberg for "Marilyn Hotchkiss," works with a lot of couples seeking pre-wedding waltz instruction.

"I can pretty much guess in about three lessons how they're going to do in their marriage," says Murphy. "I can see how they communicate. All of a sudden, they're affecting each other's balance. One may be more dominant, then the other starts talking back. It's just really interesting to me."

For those who meet through the activity, says "Take the Lead's" Friedlander, ballroom dancing is an activity that forces them to overcome any preconceived ideas based on a partner's appearance. So your partner has a receding hairline or sweaty palms? Doesn't matter, since the two of you will soon be figuring out ways to quit stepping on each other's feet.

"You're learning together and you're laughing together and it's this weird thing," says Friedlander. "You kind of have to shed some of the (expletive) just by being in such close proximity to another human being."

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Randall Miller, director of ``Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School''

(2) Antonio Banderas as ballroom dance instructor Pierre Dulaine and Katya Virshilas as his eager student do the tango in ``Take the Lead,'' which opened Friday.

(3) New York City grammar-school students swing dance in the documentary film ``Mad Hot Ballroom.''

(4 -- 5) Mary Murphy, left, a judge on ``So You Think You Can Dance'' and founder of the Champion Ballroom Academy in San Diego, trained Donnie Wahlberg and Mary Steenburgen, right, for their roles as student and instructor, respectively, in ``Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School.'' Murphy also offers pre-wedding waltz instruction: ``I can pretty much guess in about three lessons how they're going to do in their marriage.''

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer