Strictly Ballroom - Perspectives on Belonging

The synthetic world of ballroom dancing is captured in colours of bright whites and artificial shades; that mirrors Scott’s own characterization whilst he dances. The opening scene, in which Scott and Liz are dancing at the Waratah Championships, is bathed in a blinding white light, as the spotlight shines entirely upon them. The focus is placed on Scott and Liz, and the rest of the audience is kept entirely in the dark. It can be interpreted that dancing is the main focus point in both of their lives, yet the white light takes centre stage before them and this could be inferred as a physical representation of the unrealistic nature of competitive ballroom dancing, to the point where it casts a blinding shadow over true intentions. The light is unnatural, and mirrors the glorified dancing that Scott is cast into and so defiantly wants to turn away from. Another scene in the film where lighting is used to portray Scott’s internal expressions is during Scott’s first meeting with Fran’s family as they begin to dance

Dance is one of the major things that defines my identity and it is an interest that had become so meaningful, that without it my application would be incomplete. This has been able to shape me throughout the years, from discipline and maturity all the way yo leadership and teamwork. I find dance as an art work, that it is easy to make mistakes and fall, you just have to learn from those mistakes and get up twice as strong as from where you started. Dance is to look above and beyond and just let everything fall into place without hesitation.

Both Strictly Ballroom and Nineteen Minutes have used similar techniques of portraying ‘belonging’ and ‘not belonging’.

Basically, the quote explains that dancing is a way to find yourself and lose yourself all at the same time, and I figured that dancing was my way to find myself. I began to let out that person I was meant to be. Even though I knew many people would judge me, and the way I dance, I didn’t care what they said. All I cared about was to release the real me, not the person i’ve been hiding behind all this time. I wanted to stop being the person whom everyone thought it was fine to just make fun of, and make her feel worthless. I was so tired of it..I was tired of them all, So I became that person by leaving my heart in the dance floor.

“What are you even doing here? I have never seen such flawed technique in all my years as a choreographer.” The words echoed throughout the medical college auditorium. Impelled by the admonishment in front of my peers, I persevered in my endeavor to improve upon my dancing prowess and by the final year of medical school was leading the college dance team. The above mentioned undertaking further spawned an interest for the discipline of Latin Ballroom which lead to participation at the national level. The unwavering focus and persistence even in the face of unfavorable odds is more broadly reflective of my approach towards learning, both academic and extracurricular. This has been instrumental in achieving stellar academic outcomes including being ranked nationally in the top 0.0004 percent in the premedical test and the top 0.6 percent in the common aptitude test for management training.

This is symbolised by the members of the federation and the ballroom community disregarding the rules that were previously important to them and dancing together as one. This symbolises the ballroom world accepting Fran and Scott and embracing change.

People have the longing to belong and to be accepted by a group or community. A sense of Belonging can emerge from the connections and acceptance we have with other people, communities and the larger world. These ideas of belonging are represented in texts which explore aspects of belonging and an individual’s potential to challenge or improve a community group. The film ‘Strictly Ballroom,’ directed by Baz Lurhman, the film ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ directed by Kate Woods and the exaggerated true story of an African American youth’s fight to belong in the song “dance with the devil” by immortal technique all represent ideas of belonging formed by life experiences.

Ballroom dance is a sport that involves productive thinking, strength, balance and control. This term has been centred around Figueroa 's Framework and the effect on access, equity and cooperation in ballroom dance. The aim for this report is to recognize which level of Figueroa 's Framework and Maslow 's hierarchy of human needs has had the most critical impact on my advantage and attempts in ballroom dancing this term. This report will focus on the interpersonal level of Figueroa 's framework and the associations that have affected my participation in ballroom. These consolidate the associates, friends, educators (Mrs Humphrys, Miss Grehan and Mrs Brennan), family member and mentors such as

Being committed to competitive dance for 15 years has immensely impacted my life, as I have not only progressed technically and performance-wise, but I have been given numerous opportunities for self growth and development. Dancing has shaped me into a well-rounded, confident individual who is able to prioritize responsibilities, cooperate and collaborate with others, and exhibit strong leadership skills. Involvement in any extra curricular can aid one in developing a true passion, and through dance, I have been fortunate to find my passion.

Fife’s vehement antagonism to anything that is not “strictly ballroom”, is challenged by Scott's scandalous, experimental steps in the film's opening scene. Barry Fife, the manipulative and lecherous President of the Australian Dance Federation, exemplifies a passive aggressive nature towards Scott due to his fear of losing his power and influence if Scott's innovative style of dancing was to become popularised. Moreover, Fife’s passive aggressive discouragement of innovation forces Scott to consider his option: “Well of course you can dance any steps you like! But that doesn’t mean you’ll…win.” Fife’s villainous persona is characterised through his wig and the unflattering, extreme close-ups of him, which encourage the audience to take this negative view of Barry Fife from the first moment we meet him. Consequently, through Scott’s rebellion against Fife’s dance restrictions, the notion of living life to its fullest is

Jane Desmond introduces her article, “Embodying Difference: Issues in Dance and Cultural Studies,” by describing a dance that readers can picture as the dance of tango in their minds. This helps lead to her connecting dance, or body movement, with cultural studies and social identities. In her article, Desmond focuses on connecting how dance and body movement can be portrayed differently in social identities, such as race, class, gender, nationality, and sexuality.

You will almost always find where you belong if you search for it. So ultimately a sense of belonging comes down to perception. This starts from places and/ or relationships, which potentially alter your understanding or you and the world around you, so you can accept the person you are and your individual identity by creating this sense of belonging. In strictly ballroom by Baz Lurhmann, The Red Tree by Shaun Tan and who you are by Jessie J the composers use a wide range of techniques to convey the ideas belonging through forcible

Belonging or not belonging is the feeling of being included or excluded by a certain group, person, place or community. This is conveyed very well in the film “strictly ballroom” produced by Baz Luhrmen and the picture book “The Sneetches” by Dr suess. In stictly ballroom, this concept is primarily conveyed by Scott Hastings struggle with the dance community to find where he truly belongs. In 'The Sneetches is refers to the group belonging of the two seperate types of sneetches and their journey to belong as a community and individually.

It also shows the higher social status of elders in the community. In performing the rituals and traditions of the wedding, which are gender segregated, a performance of gender is embodied. Cowan uses the phrase ‘entering the dance’ to denote entering the field in which knowing what is and isn’t appropriate action, in potentially sexualised and physically intimate scenario is imperative. Therefore, meta-narratives and framing equips participants with the knowledge of appropriate codified norms of behaviour, to be employed in the time and place of the dance rituals. Furthermore, the performers become the dance, putting on the persona of the dancer, adopting the metaphorical masque to ‘perform’ the dance. Cowan argues that social dancing poses specific ‘problems’, as well as pleasures, for women and girls, which differ from the problems and pleasures it poses for boys and men. For the male, the pleasure and problems both stem from alcohol, and maintaining the dominant male status attached to consuming large amounts of alcohol (Cowan 1990: 110 – 112), whilst simultaneously making oneself vulnerable to illness or embarrassment resulting from drinking and drunken antics. For woman, it also concerns how identity is managed beyond the dance. However, concerns revolve around

It makes you work harder and go above and beyond giving one-hundred and ten percent every single class, so when you dance in front of the judges they will only have positive feedback to give. At the age of seven, I was just a little girl when I was asked to join my studios dance competition team. Not knowing what this team was all about at such a young age, I accepted the challenge to join such a strong team, who ended up becoming family, made of all ages that the only thing that connected us together is our love for dance. With all of the nights where I just wanted to break down and quit the team, I realized that I would not be letting myself down, but the others around me. The reasons I kept on dancing through all those rough patches in my life is because I was taught from my teachers that if you give up on yourself and just not give the amount of energy you once did before you are damaging your teammates. Realizing that throughout life you will always have to work with someone or for someone you might disagree with. But when you feel like giving up, you give up on that person as well, leaving them abandoned. Leaving someone high and dry is not what a person should do in life because you would never want to