Now the fastest-selling musical in West End history, Dirty Dancing is the ultimate female rite-of-passage flick that still gives audiences the time of their lives. It’s a well-worn premise, but a good ’un: naïve teen Baby (Jennifer Grey) accompanies her family to a twee holiday camp in the summer of ’63, only to fall for bad boy hoofer Johnny (Patrick Swayze). Under his snake-hipped tutelage, she learns to get dirty on the dancefloor and in bed.
Spruced to visual perfection for its 20th birthday and blessed with a toe-tapping soundtrack, genuine chemistry between Swayze and Grey and oh-so-recognisable moments of teen-crush mortification, this ’80s classic transcends cynicism to give warm-fuzzies the world over.
