Huh. I thought the fad for these dance-contest movies was over. This one is fresh, I guess, because all the dance crews are exclusively male. Because that’s how you shake up a tired genre: you eliminate half the human race.
And hey, Josh Holloway has heart. Good thing they told us that, because I suspect we’d never ever figure it out for ourselves.
*shakes head*
It’s in 3-D!
Wow. I forgot about Josh Holloway because, at first, I thought he was Jaime Lannister.
Another remake, this time of Dodgeball. Who plays Ben Stiller?
So… it’s Rocky IV without the death?
When I clicked the link I thought it was going to be dudes ballroom dancing together. Oh, well.
RE: When I clicked the link I thought it was going to be dudes ballroom dancing together.
Strictly Balls Room?
During the audition phase of one season of “So You Think You Can Dance”, two men did actually audition as a ballroom couple. The judges were a bit squicked out by it, and I couldn’t disagree. I’ve spent a couple of years trying to unpack that for myself, but to this day I can’t say why it bugged me, outside of an appeal to gender essentialism.
I recall reading somewhere that in Argentina, men would practice tango steps with each other; men dancing with men may be part of the history and tradition of ballroom dancing.
And yet…
RE: But ballroom, for some reason, just looks wrong without both genders. Still no clue as to why.
Ballroom dancing reminds me of pairs figure skating. Sometimes a performance is about “presenting” the other partner. The male showcases the female in some moves, the female showcases the male in other moves. The performances are built around this opposite sex pairing. But it can work just as well for single sex couples. As an aside, some ballroom performances leech all sexuality from the performance, and you simply have hyper-stylized movements that at best parody a sexualized scenario without any eroticism at all, of any variety.
Western gender essentialism. It is very common for men to dance with men and women with women in many other places. (Times I’ve seen it personally: greek wedding, a hasidic wedding.)
It’s not just that, because it’s ballroom in particular that set everyone off. The show has partnered men with men, and women with women, in every other style they feature. And some (but by no means all) of those dances have highlighted the homoeroticism. But ballroom, for some reason, just looks wrong without both genders. Still no clue as to why.
I appreciate the sentiment here, but on the other hand, male dancers need the support and positive depictions as well. They are not a group that the patriarchy values.