Ahh…the movie montage. It is the perfect way to show a lot of action in a short period of time. This was a very popular movie making technique in the 80’s. There were many different versions, but this time around I’m going to focus on “The Dance Training Montage”.

There are 4 basic parts:

1. The kick ass ’80s song.
2. Let’s get serious now, you suck.
3. Let’s goof around a bit now, you’re improving.
4. After a tough 2-3 minutes you are a professional dancer!

Dirty Dancing

Pony Boy’s big brother teaches Ferris Bueller’s sister to dance.

1. Kick Ass ’80s Song- Eric Carmen “Hungry Eyes”
2. His earth shattering advice to get things started? “Ga-Gung…Ga-Gung…Close your eyes. Now dance bitch!”
3. At the 3:00 mark a dance move requires Johnny to run his hand down the length of Baby’s arm. Of course, at first she can’t take it without laughing.
4. The training is done after she somehow musters up the will power to handle all of that sexy touching. The sexual tension is oozing out of my computer screen. Something tells me she will be running her hand down the length of his “baby’s arm” real soon.

Footloose

6 degrees of Kevin Bacon has to teach a pre-bloat Chris Penn how to boogie before the big dance.

1. Kick Ass ’80s Song – Deniece Williams “Let’s Hear it for the Boy”.
2. For some reason they start things off in that super roomy VW bug.
3. Halfway through the guys stop for a little manly tussling in the gym.
4. Around the 2:25 mark the boys high five to represent the final handoff of dance knowledge. Chris Penn then shows off his skills with an epic solo dance number complete with coveralls and farm gloves.

Breakin’

Turbo and Ozone have to teach a Mary Lou Retton look alike to break dance.

1. Kick Ass ’80s Song- Chaka Khan’s “Aint Nobody”
2. Things start off a little on the tense side when Turbo calls out the girl’s street cred.
3. At the 3:00 mark the gang takes a little time out to goof around wearing super stylish monogrammed T-shirts.
4. At the 3:06 mark an observer sees her massive improvement and drops his phone. Damn! White girl can pop and lock!