Exploiting Hollywood 1980

“One, two, three, four… two, two, three, four…”

Ortega, the choreographer of “Dirty Dancing”, and Miranda, the assistant choreographer, began to rehearse several large-scale dance scenes in the movie in the dance studio of Debbie Reynolds, an old friend that Ronald borrowed through his connections.

Three pairs of dancers of different weights and sizes, with different looks, were dancing in front of the mirror, specially choreographed by Ortega for them to highlight their strengths.

“How is it? I think their dance is pretty good.” Ronald took assistant director Emil Adolino and watched in the corner for a while. During the break, he asked about the training status of assistant choreographer Miranda.

“Not bad, but it’s still far from Ortega’s requirements, and we have to continue to intensify the rehearsal.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you. Let’s go see Patrick and Cynthia.”

“They’re in the dance studio next door.” Miranda took the two to another special dance studio.

While waiting for Miranda to open the door, Ronald looked back at a dancer who was twisting his hips. His movements were smooth and exaggerated. Although he looked ugly, he had a unique charm when he danced.

Assistant director Emil had been with Ronald during this period, participating in the preparation of the film. He saw Ronald's eyes looking over for advice.

"The camera should be at eye level, slightly downward, so the effect will be better. While showing the twisting characteristics of the dance, the facial expressions of the actors will not be lost."

Ronald nodded. It was almost the same as he expected. Emil was used to shooting live dance TV shows, and he was very experienced in what shots could best show the charm of dance. This was exactly where he needed the other party to contribute his ability.

It was different from the situation of "breakdancing" where one person danced alone and the camera was used to shoot, and the actors performed by themselves.

"Dirty Dancing" was a male and female duet. The communication between the two partners through body, movement, and eye contact occupied a large proportion of the charm of the dance. How to arrange the camera position, how to light, and how to split the shots, you need to design it well.

As if she noticed that Ronald was looking at her, the lean dancer smiled, and then performed a very seductive dance with her partner.

"Very good, I like this move, you should practice this move next." Choreographer Ortega couldn't make all the dancers show the tacit understanding of dancing together since childhood in a short period of time, so he had to let them practice a few moves until they were proficient.

"Oh..." The dancer covered her face with both hands when she heard this. For dancers, repeating a move over and over is a torture for them.

"Is he?" Ronald asked Emil when he saw the man's "seductive" look.

"No, we are not all sissies as you think."

"Then how do you know he is not?" Ronald walked with him to the dance studio next door curiously.

"It seems that we have a kind of radar between each other, and we can find each other in the crowd. In fact, many of us look very masculine."

"Jennifer, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to come?"

Ronald saw Jennifer Gray sneaking around at the door of the dance studio.

"Oh, I want to see their dance rehearsal, and I want to learn as much as possible."

"Miranda," Ronald called the assistant choreographer, "I'll give you a task, notify everyone, and forbid Jennifer to appear here. If you see her, call me and ask her to leave. Don't teach her a single dance move, and don't watch it."

"Why?" Jennifer Gray just saw Patrick Swayze and Cynthia Rhodes through the crack in the door. The two were dancing passionately and vigorously, and she wanted to replace Cynthia's position and stick close to Swayze.

"Because I said so."

Ronald didn't want to explain it too clearly to her.

In fact, Gray's current mental state is very similar to that of Baby in the script. After seeing the earth-shattering dance, she wanted to dance that kind of close dance with the male lead, just like flirting.

But in the script, Baby is a girl who doesn't know how to dance hot dance, so there is a series of plots in which the male lead Johnny teaches her dance from scratch.

If she starts practicing dance moves now, she won't be able to perform in her true colors when it comes to filming.

Knowing how to dance, but pretending not to be able to dance, this kind of acting that seems familiar but not familiar is a very advanced skill, Ronald does not believe Jennifer can do it.

If Grey has practiced to a certain degree of proficiency, and then pretends to dance badly, it is very difficult. She is not a dancer like Cynthia Rhodes and has no control over her body.

"Okay, then I'll go outside and wait for Patrick."

"Let's take a break for ten minutes," Miranda asked the two protagonists to take a break, and communicated with Ronald about the progress of dance training.

"Dance very well, I look very tacit."

"Oh, Ronald," Cynthia Rhodes wiped the sweat with a towel, "Can you tell Ortega that we are so tired of dancing a set of movements for ten hours every day with such high intensity."

"I really need to take a break, otherwise my ankle can't stand it." Patrick Swayze also agreed.

"I will tell him that I will take a day off tomorrow, and I will invite everyone to take a hot spring bath."

Ronald saw that everyone was disgusted with the boring and repetitive dance training, and he knew that they could not continue and needed to find something to change their rhythm.

"Yeah..." Cynthia and Patrick congratulated each other with high fives.

"I have promised them that I will go to the hot springs for a day off tomorrow." Ronald said to the choreographer Ortega who followed him in.

"Okay, Miranda, you go tell the guys and girls outside, but you have to work hard for me today."

"Yes, sir", Cynthia simply hated the choreographer. With this dance training method, the better you dance, the more restrictive you will feel.

After a short break, Patrick and Cynthia started rehearsing standard ballroom dancing again.

They are different from other group performers who specialize in Dirty Dancing. They also have a plot where they perform extraordinary ballroom dancing in front of vacation guests, so their training is harder than that of outsiders.

Ronald frowned a little as he watched them dance in tights.

"What's wrong? They dance at a very high level." Assistant director Emil has seen many dancers and knows that these two are among the top actors in Hollywood musicals.

Patrick Thwaites' dancing level is much higher than that of John Travolta who danced with the Princess of Britain on behalf of America. Cynthia Rhodes is even more professional. In fact, it is more than enough for the two of them to perform in Broadway musicals that require higher dance standards.

"It seems a little too high, please stop."

Ronald stopped the rehearsal. He discussed it with the choreographer, and Ortega nodded in agreement and went to prepare new dance moves.

Then Ronald called Patrick Swayze and Cynthia Rhodes together, "I asked Ortega to reduce your dancing level and stop dancing too professionally.

In the movie, Johnny and Penny are both children from poor families who have not received formal dance education. They are self-taught by watching dance programs on TV, and they need a little wild moves. You should try your best to tone down the professional dance moves and have more of an enthusiast’s temperament. "

"Okay, let's discuss it."

In the subsequent dance training, Ronald saw some exaggerated movements that were not very standard, but very enthusiastic.

Dance enthusiasts often cannot do particularly difficult movements, so they often renovate some small movements, which is often more work than professional dancers.

"Very good, just follow this path." Ronald was very satisfied with choreographer Eltega's ability to adapt the movements according to circumstances. The new movements achieved the desired effect.

"I say, don't be too strict with them. Long-term training will cause boredom and resistance. Try to have some entertainment time every day. I can find some movie copies to show them, or they can play how they want, you Just let them play.

Working every day and not playing can quickly turn a person into a dull person. "Ronald still asked the choreographer Ortega to pay attention to allowing the dancers to rest.

"They are all dancers. At the end of each day, I let them dance the dance they like."

"very good!"

Ronald saw that the progress here was in line with expectations. He thought that by the time the movie was started, they could already perform the tacit understanding of dancing together since childhood.

"Let's go first and introduce you to a top expert in the industry." Ronald turned around and called the assistant director Emil, and the two of them said goodbye and left.

"Oh... sorry." Ronald opened the door and went out. There was a young man standing outside the door who was about to come in. The two of them pushed and pulled the door at the same time. Suddenly the door opened quickly and almost hit his head.

"It's okay, I didn't have this hairstyle." The young man carefully touched his hair and looked at the mirror on the wall. Fortunately, it was not messy.

"Are you here to find someone?" Ronald asked.

"I'm here to see Cynthia." The young man stretched out his hand, "My name is Richard."

"Cynthia is inside, but you'd better wait, she's still rehearsing her dance."

"Okay, I'll wait for her here." Richard seemed to have an easy-going temperament. After hearing what Ronald said, he went out with him and waited outside the door.

"Are you from the dance industry or the film industry?"

"I make movies, what about you?" Seeing that the other person didn't recognize who he was, Ronald chatted with him for a few words.

His hair is very interesting, it is combed high in a bang style, but the two temples are trimmed very short, and the hair is left long at the back.

"I am a singer and I also write songs for others. I may have the opportunity to write for Barbra Streisand in the future."

"That's a good thing for you." Ronald nodded to him and walked out with his assistant Emil.

"Who is this? You have such a big air." Richard waited for a while and found that no one was paying attention to him, so he gently pulled away the people in the dance studio and stood in the corner, looking at Cynthia with admiration in his eyes.

"Oh, she's so beautiful."