I just remembered. I watched Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom earlier today too. It's not a bad movie (though definitely not as good as Kill Bill). It's, you guessed it, a movie about ballroom dancing. More to the point, it's about a champion dancer, Scott (played by Paul Mercurio, apparently an internationally acclaimed dancer), who's tired of dancing the same old movies and wants to dance his own steps. The movie is based on a play (which is quite surprising - I don't imagine ballroom dancing making a good play, quite frankly), and the actress who plays Fran, Tara Morice, is also the same actress who plays her on stage.

Anyway, I liked the show quite a bit. The dance scenes were nicely choreographed, and I felt they captured the emotion and appeal of the Latin dances (specifically the rumba and the paso doble). I fell in love with the rumba once more. I definitely want to have that as my wedding dance. And the same thought occurred to me as it did a few years ago - that I could never have a regular dance partner without falling in love with him. Just watching Scott dance, and the look that was in his eyes, I fell. The intensity that he looked at Fran - even when it was just pretend - was so great that I wouldn't have been able to distinguish between the fantasy that is the dancefloor and the reality.

Objections: Why didn't the father, Doug, speak up before? If everything was based on a misunderstanding that occurred like twenty or so years ago, why didn't he simply speak up before the day of the championship? I find it unbelievable that it was never once a topic of conversation especially since the four parties involved in that misunderstanding still spoke to each other on a regular basis? And how could Fran possibly become that good in three weeks? Although I would love to believe that anyone could improve their dancing abilities that quickly, I don't think it's possible.

I like the underlying message though: Vivir con miedo es como vivir a medias. That's a Spanish proverb and it means "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived."

I do miss social dancing. And having a partner. My standards for my dance partners are much higher than my standards for potential life partners! And given that I'd be most likely to fall in love with my dance partner, then I guess that's a good thing!

Dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire.
- George Bernard Shaw

Too true.