Out Takes

13 Apr 2017

Queering Teenage Dance Films

Arts, TV & Film

Four years since they hung up their ballet shoes, the cast from the hugely popular and Emmy Award winning ABC TV series DANCE ACADEMY are back – this time on the big screen.

To celebrate, we dust off our tap shoes and tap-tap-tap into the world of teenage dance films: think CENTER STAGE, SAVE THE LAST DANCE, STEP UP and of course, DANCE ACADEMY. 

We’re joined by DANCE ACADEMY star Dena Kaplan to look at the new flick that has Australians dancing in their seats!

It’s hard to deny that films like DANCE ACADEMY have massive gay appeal. But what is it about teenage dance films that so appeal to gay audiences? To help us with this question, we work through the classics like FOOTLOOSE and STEP UP alongside some gay iterations of the teenage dance film genre like BORN TO DANCE and FIVE DANCES. We all agree that either way these films are a little bit camp and a lot of fun.

Recommended viewing: Center Stage (Dir Nicholas Hytner, 2000)

Hungry for more: Five Dances (Dir Alan Brown, 2013)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:59 — 14.7MB)

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