''Strictly Ballroom'' is a 1992 Australian

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed and co-written by

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

in his feature directorial debut. The film is the first in his "

Red Curtain Trilogy The ''Red Curtain Trilogy'' is a DVD boxed set, released in 2002, of the first three films directed by Baz Luhrmann: * '' Strictly Ballroom'' (1992), starring Paul Mercurio and Tara Morice * ''Romeo + Juliet'' (1996), starring Leonardo DiCaprio ...

" of theatre-motif-related films; it was followed by 1996's ''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pr ...

'' and 2001's ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'' ''Strictly Ballroom'' is based on a critically acclaimed stage play, originally set up in 1984 by Luhrmann and fellow students during his studies at the

National Institute of Dramatic Arts The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. An expanded version of the play became a success at the Czechoslovakian Youth Drama Festival in Bratislava in 1986. In 1988, it had a successful season at Sydney's

Wharf Theatre The Wharf Theatre is a theatre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This theatre is part of the Sydney Theatre Company and located on Pier 4/5 of the former Sydney port facility in Walsh Bay at Dawes Point. History In 1829, the first je ...

, where it was seen by Australian music executive

Ted Albert Edward Frank Albert (1937 – 11 November 1990) was an Australian early pioneer independent record production and founder of Albert Productions (part of his great grandfather's company Albert Music). In recognition of his contribution to the mus ...

and his wife Antoinette. They both loved it, and, when Albert, soon after, set up the film production company M&A Productions with ex-

Film Australia Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diffe ...

producer Tristram Miall, they offered Luhrmann their plan to transform his play into a film. He agreed on the condition that he would also get to direct it.Strictly Ballroom The Musical: ''Timeline''
Linked 2014-07-10

Plot

Scott Hastings, the frustrated son of a family of

ballroom dance Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...

rs, has been training since the age of six. His mother Shirley teaches ballroom dancing, and his father Doug meekly handles maintenance chores at the dance studio, while secretly watching old footage of his bygone dance competitions as well as Scott's in a back room. Scott struggles to establish his personal style of dance to win the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship, but his innovative and flashy "crowd-pleasing" steps are not considered "strictly ballroom", and as such are denounced by Australian Dancing Federation head Barry Fife. Scott and his dancing partner Liz Holt lose the Southern Districts Waratah Championships due to Scott dancing his own steps. Three days later, Liz leaves him to team up with Ken Railings, the recent Waratah Championships winner; his partner Pam Short has broken both her legs in a car accident. With Scott now alone only three weeks until the championships, Shirley teams up with his coach Les Kendall, her co-instructor at the studio, to start desperately hunting for a new partner for him. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to both, Scott is approached by Fran, an overlooked "beginner" dancer at the studio. He eventually agrees to partner with her, intrigued by her willingness to dance "his way". The pairing faces its first hurdle when Fife, attempting to prevent Scott from threatening the Dancesport status quo, arranges for his partnership with established Champion dancer Tina Sparkle. When Shirley and Les hear the news, they are overjoyed. Fran, happening upon them exclaiming over their happiness about Scott's new dance partner, misunderstands initially and believes they have discovered that she and Scott have become partners. When she realises the truth, she leaves, devastated. Scott pursues her and, although she is hurt, entices her to dance backstage with him, and her anger is forgotten. However, several onlookers witness their dance, including Shirley and Les, who then do everything possible to persuade both Scott and Fran that the best way forward for all concerned is for Scott to forget about Fran and sign on as Tina Sparkle's partner. Fran, accused of damaging Scott's chances, reluctantly accedes and returns home crestfallen. Scott tells his mother he won't dance with Tina. He follows Fran home, where her overprotective Spanish father, Rico, discovers and challenges him. To appease Rico, Scott proposes a

Paso Doble Pasodoble (Spanish language, Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military ...

for the assembled company. Rico and Fran's grandmother Ya Ya demonstrate the proper Paso Doble technique and offer to teach the couple, who spend the next week training with Fran's family. However, Fife intervenes, telling Scott that Doug ruined his own career by dancing his own steps, which he has regretted ever since. Unwilling to upset his parents further, Scott re-teams with Liz. During the competition, Doug explains to Scott that Fife lied: Fife had convinced Shirley to dance with Les instead of Doug so that Fife could win the competition. It is also revealed that Fife is plotting to sabotage Scott in favor of audience favorite, Ken. Scott runs after Fran and persuades her to dance with him. In the next round, Scott and Fran make a dramatic entrance and begin dancing, immediately riveting the audience. Fife tries to disqualify them, but Scott's friend Wayne Burns, having overheard Fife's treachery along with his partner Vanessa Cronin, disconnects the

PA system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

, allowing Scott and Fran to dance a Paso Doble routine that impresses the audience. Desperate, Fife tries to turn off the music, but Scott's younger sister Kylie and her partner Luke interfere until Fife's girlfriend Charm Leachman disconnects the sound system. Fife then disqualifies Scott and Fran, but Doug begins clapping out a beat to enable the pair to continue dancing. The audience claps along, as Scott and Fran resume dancing. Liz, having had a change of heart, turns on Fife and Leachman and restores the music, and Scott and Fran's spirited dancing brings down the house. Doug asks Shirley to dance with him and the whole audience joins them on the floor. As the performance finishes, Scott and Fran kiss, the competition forgotten.

Cast

Paul Mercurio Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, dancer, TV presenter and politician. Mercurio is best known for his lead role in '' Strictly Ballroom'' 1992 and his role as a judge on TV series ''Dancing with the Stars''. H ...

as Scott Hastings *

Tara Morice Tara Morice (born 23 June 1964) is an Australian actress. Background Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Morice also lived in Sydney, Alice Springs and Adelaide as a child. She is a fifth-generation Australian and is of English, Irish, Scottish, Latvia ...

as Fran (Francisca) * Bill Hunter as Barry Fife * Pat Thomson as Shirley Hastings, Scott's mother *

Gia Carides Gia Carides (born 7 June 1964) is an Australian actress. She portrayed Liz Holt in '' Strictly Ballroom'', Susy Connor in '' Brilliant Lies'', and Cousin Nikki in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding.'' Early life Carides was born in Sydney, Australia, ...

as Liz Holt *

Peter Whitford Peter Whitford (born 1939) is an Australian former radio, theatre, television and film character actor known for numerous roles particularly as wealthy businessmen and members of the aristocracy. Peter Whitford was born in Adelaide, South Austr ...

as Les Kendall, Scott's coach *

Barry Otto Barry Otto (born 1941) is an Australian actor, primarily of Australian cinema, cinema, and an amateur artist. Early life Barry Otto was born in Brisbane in 1941, the son of a butcher. He trained as an artist but switched to acting. Career Otto ...

as Doug Hastings, Scott's father and Shirley's husband * John Hannan as Ken Railings *

Sonia Kruger Sonia Melissa Kruger (born 28 August 1965) is an Australian television presenter and media personality, who has been a prominent figure in the media for over 20 years. Kruger is currently the host of '' Big Brother Australia'' and a presenter o ...

as Tina Sparkle * Kris McQuade as Charm Leachman, Barry's girlfriend * Pip Mushin as Wayne Burns, Scott's best friend * Leonie Page as Vanessa Cronin, Wayne's partner and fiancé and Liz's best friend * Antonio Vargas as Rico, Fran's father * Armonia Benedito as Ya Ya, Fran's grandmother * Jack Webster as Terry Best * Michael Burgess as Merv * Lauren Hewett as Kylie Hastings, Scott's sister * Steve Grace as Luke, Kylie's dance partner * Kerry Shrimpton as Pam Short

Production history

The film version of ''Strictly Ballroom'' was developed from an original short play of the same name. It drew on Luhrmann's own life experience—he had studied ballroom dancing as a child and his mother worked as a ballroom dance teacher in his teens and inspired by the life of Keith Bain (who grew up in the same town as Luhrmann). While studying at NIDA in the early 1980s, Luhrmann and a group of fellow students devised a short comedy-drama set in the cutthroat world of competitive ballroom dancing. This original 1984 NIDA production was a critical success and, after graduating, Luhrmann was invited to re-stage the play for the Czechoslovakian Youth Drama Festival in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

in 1986. He invited his school friend Craig Pearce to help him rewrite and expand the script. With its themes of artistic repression and underdogs battling against the odds, the play was a success at the festival, winning both the best director and best production awards. DarlingIslandJunction

This led Luhrmann to direct more theatre productions back in Australia, and in 1988, as part of the

Australian Bicentenary The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. History The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...

celebrations, the

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

invited him to establish an experimental theatre ensemble, Six Years Old, which took up a residency at

The Wharf Theatre The Wharf Theatre is a theatre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This theatre is part of the Sydney Theatre Company and located on Pier 4/5 of the former Sydney port facility in Walsh Bay at Dawes Point. History In 1829, the first je ...

for that year. Alongside Luhrmann and Pearce, the new company included one of the original NIDA collaborators, actor

Catherine McClements Catherine McClements is an Australian stage, film and television actress and television presenter. She is known for her TV roles in '' Water Rats'' and '' Tangle'', for which she won Logie Awards, and has performed in stage productions for thea ...

, plus production designer Catherine Martin (whom Luhrmann subsequently married), set dresser Bill Marron and costume designer

Angus Strathie Angus Strathie is an Australian costume designer. Biography Angus Strathie has had a long professional career in costume design. A friend and longtime colleague of Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, one of his earliest projects was the cult fa ...

, all of whom went on to collaborate with Luhrmann on his films. The group work-shopped the expanded version of play, which had a trial season at the Brisbane Expo in 1988 before opening at the Wharf Studios on 24 September 1988. During its successful run at the Wharf, the play was seen by an influential Australian music executive.

was a leading record producer and music publisher, best known in Australia as the discoverer and original producer of 1960s pop sensations

The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with the 1966 sing ...

. By the time he saw ''Strictly Ballroom'', Albert was the managing director of his family-owned music publishing company

Albert Music Albert Music, formerly J Albert and Son, is an Australian company with an estimated worth in 2009 of more than A$209 million. The company has major interests in music publishing and production and it earns significant royalties through its su ...

(formerly J. Albert & Sons) and its subsidiary, the highly successful record label

Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, whose ...

, which scored a string of hits in the 1970s and 1980s with acts including

John Paul Young John Inglis Young, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is a Scottish-born Australian pop singer who had his 1978 worldwide hit with " Love Is in the Air". His career was boosted by regular appearances as a perfor ...

and

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. Albert's wife Antoinette (known as "Popsy") took him to see the play after seeing a newspaper ad; they loved the energy, colour and musicality of the play and Ted Albert immediately saw the potential to develop the play into a film using the musical resources available to him through Alberts' publishing and recording enterprises. Soon after, Ted set up the film production company M&A Productions with ex-

producer Tristram Miall; they tracked Luhrmann down through NIDA and approached him with the offer to transform his play into a movie. In its early stages, with the involvement of writer

Andrew Bovell Andrew Bovell (born 23 November 1962) is an Australian writer for theatre, film and television. Life Bovell was born on 23 November 1962 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and completed his secondary school education in Perth. He graduated from t ...

, the script took a more serious tone, including a subplot set around the trade union at the

BHP steelworks BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

in the industrial city of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. Luhrmann balked at the move towards naturalism and eventually, with Albert's agreement, the director brought in his old friend Craig Pearce, who was able to translate Luhrmann's theatrical vision into a workable screenplay. The producers had difficulty in securing funding for the project, which mostly featured a cast of newcomers. The only "bankable names" in the cast were

and screen veteran Bill Hunter, and although co-star Paul Mercurio was well known as a dancer through his work with the

Sydney Dance Company Sydney Dance Company is a contemporary dance company in Australia. The company has performed on stages around the world, including the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Joyce Theater in New York, the Shanghai Grand Theatre in China, and the ...

, ''Strictly Ballroom'' was his first acting role. With the original budget set at over

AUD The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...

5 million, government film funding bodies were reluctant to back such a left-field project with few major names in the credits. The script was then pared back and the subplot dropped, but when Miall approached the

Film Finance Corporation The Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) was the government agency responsible for funding commercial productions of Australian film, documentary, and television from 1988 to 2008. Unlike other publicly funded organisations responsible for f ...

, he was told that they would not back such a high-budget film (in Australian terms) with a first-time director. He was told to replace Luhrmann, but he refused, promising to make further cuts. Miall and Albert then pared the budget down to AUD 3.3 million and the FFA then agreed to provide around 65%, on condition that the producers were able to raise the remaining AUD 1 million and secure a local distributor. They sent Luhrmann to the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in hopes of finding an overseas distributor, but this came to nothing. After returning to Australia, Miall and Luhrmann had a fortuitous meeting with Andrew Pike, head of the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

-based independent distribution company Ronin Films. Intrigued by Luhrmann's colourful pitch which involved sketches, set miniatures and pieces of costume, Pike agreed to back a limited local release, although he later admitted that, had he seen only the script, he would probably have turned it down. Although the FFC funding was now in the pipeline, the production faced its most serious challenge when, on 11 November 1990, Ted Albert died suddenly from a heart attack (the film is dedicated to him). This threw the entire project into doubt, but Ted Albert's widow Popsy decided that it should go to completion in honour of her husband, so she took over as executive producer, with Miall as producer. With her blessing, Ted's family company Albert Music invested AUD 1 million, with the remaining AUD 300,000 sourced from private investors. Even after completion, the team were greeted with stiff resistance from exhibitors: Luhrmann recalled that one exhibitor walked out before the film had even finished, declaring that Luhrmann was ruined and that he would never work again. The film was accepted for the Cannes Film Festival, but another tragedy struck just before its first screening—actress Pat Thomson, who played Scott's mother, was diagnosed with cancer and she died in April 1992, only one month before its Cannes world premiere in May. ''Strictly Ballroom'' had its first public screening at midnight in the ''

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

'' programme and proved to be an instant hit—the cast and crew received a fifteen-minute standing ovation, which was repeated the following night; it became one of the major hits of the festival, winning the ''Prix De Jeunesse'' and triggering a bidding war among international distributors. It was a huge success when released in Australia in August, and it swept the field at the 1992 AFI awards, gaining 13 nominations and winning in eight major categories. It was also a major success at the 1993 BAFTA awards, gaining eight nominations and winning three awards for 'Best Costume Design', 'Best Original Film Score' and 'Best Production Design'. Other major accolades included a 1994

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination for Best Picture, 'Newcomer of the Year' at the 1993

London Critics Circle Film Awards The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally. The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards did not convey the full context of the ...

, the 'People's Choice' award at the 1992

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

and 'Most Popular Film' at the 1992

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

Home video

The film was released on DVD on 19 March 2002 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Reception

''Strictly Ballroom'' holds a rating of 89% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 46 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "As emotionally rich as it is eye-catching, ''Strictly Ballroom'' uses its infectious energy as the fuel for a modern dance classic with all the right moves."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Marcella Papandrea from
The Super Network
' spoke about ''Strictly Ballroom'' in her video series 'The Movies That Make Marcey' that the core message of the film "a life lived in fear is a life half lived" had a huge impact on her life, giving strength and courage to pursue her creative endeavors.

Box office

''Strictly Ballroom'' previewed in Australia the week ending Wednesday, 19 August 1992 on 35 screens, grossing A$204,726 and finishing sixth at the Australian box office for the week. It officially opened on 20 August on 51 screens grossing A$1,216,376 in its opening week, placing at number 2 at the Australian box office, just behind ''

Patriot Games ''Patriot Games'' is a thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published in July 1987. ''Without Remorse'', released six years later, is an indirect prequel, and it is chronologically the first book featuring Jack Ryan, the main character i ...

'' on twice the number of screens. In its second week of release, it reached

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

with a gross of A$1,307,825. It was knocked off number one the following week by ''

Lethal Weapon 3 ''Lethal Weapon 3'' is a 1992 American buddy cop action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen. The sequel to '' Lethal Weapon 2'' (1989), it is the third installment in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film ser ...

'' but returned in its sixth week of release after expanding to 85 screens where it remained for 7 weeks before being replaced by another local film, ''

Romper Stomper ''Romper Stomper'' is a 1992 Australian drama film written and directed by Geoffrey Wright in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Tony Le-Nguyen and Colin Chin. The film tel ...

''. It was the highest-grossing film in Australia for the year with a gross of A$21,760,400. It grossed US$11,738,022 in the United States and Canada and eventually took A$80 million at the worldwide box office, making it one of the most successful Australian films of all time.

Awards

* 1992 – Won

AFI Award The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsi ...

for Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Editing, Best Achievement in Production Design, Best Actor in Supporting Role (

), Best Actress in Supporting Role (Pat Thomson), Best Director, Best Film, Best Screenplay * 1992 – Nominated AFI Award for Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Sound, Best Actor in Lead Role (Paul Mercurio), Best Actress in Lead Role (

), Best Actress in Supporting Role (

) * 1992 – Won

: ''Award Of The Youth'' for Foreign Film * 1993 – Won

BAFTA Film Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

for Best Costume Design, Best Original Film Score, Best Production Design * 1993 – Nominated BAFTA Film Award for Best Actress (Tara Morice), Best Editing, Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound * 1993 – Nominated

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy * 1993 – Won

: ''ALFS Award'' for Newcomer of the Year (

) * 1994 – Nominated' Bogota Film Festival: ''Golden Precolumbian Circle Award'' for Best Film * 2013 – Nominated 20/20 Award for Best Supporting Actress ( Pat Thomson) * 2013 – Nominated 20/20 Award for Best Original Screenplay (Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce) * 2013 – Nominated 20/20 Award for Best Film Editing (

Jill Bilcock Jill Elizabeth Bilcock (born 1948) is an Australian film editor, a member of the Australian Screen Editors (ASE) guild, as well as the American Cinema Editors (ACE) society, and has edited films such as ''Romeo + Juliet'', ''Moulin Rouge!'' an ...

) * 2013 – Nominated 20/20 Award for Best Original Score (

David Hirschfelder David Hirschfelder (born 18 November 1960, Ballarat, Victoria) is an Australian musician, film score composer and performer. As a musician he has been a member of Little River Band and John Farnham Band. He has composed film scores for many films ...

) * 2013 – Nominated 20/20 Award for Best Art Direction (Catherine Martin) * 2013 – Nominated 20/20 Award for Best Costume Design (Angus Strathie)

Music

Among the songs featured on the soundtrack are: * "

The Blue Danube "The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februa ...

" by

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ov ...

* New versions of " Love is in the Air" and "Standing In The Rain" by John Paul Young. The film's version of "Love is in the Air" re-entered the Australian charts and became a Top 5 hit, peaking at #4 on the national chart in October 1992. * A

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of John Paul Young's "Yesterday's Hero" by

Ignatius Jones Juan Ignacio Rafaelo Lorenzo Trápaga y Esteban (born 1957), known professionally as Ignatius Jones is a Filipino-born Australian events director, journalist, actor and previously fronted the shock rock band Jimmy and the Boys. From 1976 to 198 ...

* " Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" by

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

* A cover version of

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

's " Time After Time" by Mark Williams and Tara Morice Both "The Blue Danube" and "Time After Time" were played in the 1984 and 1986 ''Strictly Ballroom'' stage productions.

Musical

In May 2011, it was announced that ''Strictly Ballroom'' would be adapted into a stage musical and premiere at the Sydney Lyric theatre. It premiered on 12 April 2014. The production moved to

Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne Her Majesty's Theatre is a 1,700-seat theatre in Melbourne's East End Theatre District, Australia. Built in 1886, it is located at 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne. It is classified by the National Trust of Australia and is listed on the Victor ...

in January 2015, and the Lyric Theatre, QPAC in Brisbane in September 2015. The show received its British premiere on 30 November 2016 at the

West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Having originally opened in 1970 in a different location in Leeds, it reopened as West Yorkshire Playhouse, on Quarry Hill, in March 1990. After a refurbishment in 2018-20 ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. The show had its North American premier in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

at the

Princess of Wales Theatre The Princess of Wales Theatre is a 2,000-seat live theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on King Street West, in Toronto's downtown Entertainment District. The theatre's name has a triple meaning: it honours Diana, Princess of Wales, ...

on 25 April 2017.

In popular culture

The film has become a staple of pop culture, being referenced in various media worldwide. * Many television series have episodes with titles referencing the film, including ''

Phenom Phenom may refer to: * AMD Phenom, the 64-bit AMD desktop processor line based on the K10 microarchitecture ** Phenom II, a family of AMD's multi-core 45 nm processors using the AMD K10 microarchitecture * Phenom (electron microscope), a fast elec ...

'' ("Strictly Lunchroom"), ''

Even Stevens ''Even Stevens'' is an American comedy television series that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 17, 2000, to June 2, 2003, airing a total of 65 episodes over three seasons. It follows the life of the Stevens, a family living in subur ...

'', ''

The Suite Life of Zack & Cody ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series aired on Disney Channel from March 18, 2005, to September 1, 2008. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award three times and was also ...

'' ("Loosely Ballroom") and ''

Groove High ''Groove High'' is a musical-comedy television series which aired on Disney Channel from November 2012 to March 2013. A mixture of live action and animation, the series centers around touring rock pop stars Tom played by Jonathan Bailey and Zo ...

'' ("Slightly Ballroom"). * The film is frequently referenced on the American iteration of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', as well as influencing the name of the original UK version ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

''.

References

External links

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Strictly Ballroom The Musical
* * * * *
''Strictly Ballroom'' at the National Film and Sound Archive''Strictly Ballroom''
at Oz Movies {{TIFF People's Choice Award 1992 films 1990s romantic comedy-drama films Australian romantic comedy-drama films 1990s Spanish-language films Films directed by Baz Luhrmann 1990s sports comedy-drama films Australian films based on plays Films about dance competitions Films set in Australia Films shot in Sydney Films shot in Melbourne Ballroom dancing films Australian sports comedy-drama films Films scored by David Hirschfelder Films set in 1967 BAFTA winners (films) Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award winners 1992 directorial debut films 1992 comedy films 1992 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s dance films