AustLit logo

AustLit

Strictly Ballroom single work   drama  
Issue Details: First known date: 1986... 1986 Strictly Ballroom
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Strictly Ballroom Baz Luhrmann , Craig Pearce , ( dir. Baz Luhrmann ) Sydney : M and A Film Corporation , 1992 Z922661 1992 single work film/TV humour (taught in 4 units)

A light-hearted look at the politics and intrigue of competitive ballroom dancing, the storyline focuses on Scott Hastings, who, his ambitious mother Shirley believes, will become champion with his current partner Liz. When Scott tries to introduce his own steps into their routine (against Pan-Pacific Championship rules), Liz leaves him for a rival partner. Without a partner, Scott eventually agrees to dance with Fran, a shy student at the academy run by his mother. When he meets her father and grandmother, Scott leans how to put passion into his movements, especially through the paso doble. In a last ditch effort to see her son become the Pan-Pacific Champion, Shirley convinces him to partner Tina Sparkle, which he reluctantly does. When he finally realises what he has done, he implores Fran to partner him. When they are disqualified from the competition, the audience (led by Scott's father, Barry) gives them a standing ovation and Scott and Fran go on to perform their version of the paso doble.

[Source: Australian Screen]

Production Details

  • First staged as a very short piece by Baz Luhrmann in 1986 at NIDA and then as a revised and expanded version by Lurhmann's Six Year Old Theatre Company in 1987. This production toured Australia.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Last amended 11 Feb 2010 13:41:50
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X