By Catherine Portland -


The musical version of Dirty Dancing opened in London's West End on October 25th, but for all intents and purposes its official premiere was something of a formality. With a quarter of a million tickets already sold, generating at least £6 million in advance sales, the show is already the most successful sold out pre-premiere show of all time on the London stage.

Aside from near mass hysteria among the public since the project's launch, the premiere at the Aldwych Theatre was graced with a range of celebrities, including Dame Jude Dench, Graham Norton and Sir Ian McKellan.

All of which encourages the question of just why is the 1987 film so popular, especially as the Guardian points out: "In the movie Baby and Johnny's lessons in dance and love come across like an exceptionally sexy soap powder commercial."

Critical merits aside, however, Dirty Dancing has become something of a cult phenomenon, witnessed not just in the stupendous advance sales, but also the T-Shirts bearing the legend "I carried a watermelon" and that little sparkle everyone gets when (I've had) The Time Of My Life draws people to the dance floor.

Dirty Dancing shaped the romantic expectations of a generation of women. It came out when I was nine-years-old and if I'm feeling psychoanalytical I can definitely trace some of my own traits and tastes back to.

The film captures the rush of first love and holiday romances in a way that any pre-pubescent girl could violently identify with, while enshrining the "bad guy with a heart of gold" as a universal heartthrob.

When people moan that women are irrationality attracted to "bad guys" I argue we can lay part of their blame for this squarely on the highly-toned lap of Johnny Castle. He – unfortunately – taught a generation of women that the man chastised as a reckless lothario is actually a mis-understood, tortured, and at the end of the day, thoroughly decent soul. If your father hated him, even better.

It also convinced us how devastatingly sexy men dancing could be, no mean feat when you consider how many male dancers are gay and totally out of bounds. Even if we were yet to be told that dancing is essentially sex standing up with your clothes on, Dirty Dancing gave us an unspoken understanding that this was the case.

Most importantly, however, Dirty Dancing made every girl crave someone that was going to protect her, someone who in times of trouble, hormones, or pushy taxi queues would come through with the ever-heroic "nobody puts baby in a corner".

Find the best theatre tickets with UK Net Guide's ticket search and book online now!

Is Dirty Dancing on TV tonight? Find out with our comprehensive TV Guide with listings for over 250 channels.