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Strictly Ballroom

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Strictly Ballroom
‘An individual shapes his or her own sense of belonging’
Everyone wants to belong somewhere, but sometimes when we actually do belong to a particular world or group, we find it a struggle because our sense of belonging is actually quite superficial. A person has a need to be attached to a certain world or place. Belonging is based on conforming and complying with these different worlds or places. It is imbedded in our nature to seek both attachment and independence. Scott Hastings, the protagonist in Baz Lurhmann’s 1992 flamboyant and stylised film Strictly Ballroom often struggles to belong to the insular, claustrophobic and gaudy ballroom dancing world because he only wants to belong on his own terms. perceive this in Baz luhrman’s ‘strictly ballroom’ and the short film ‘ Paris Je t’ aime’ .
(Barry Fife, president of the Dance Federation, and therefore a symbol of the barrier that Scott has to overcome in order to belong on his own terms, reacts to the performance with intense anger. The background of red curtain reflects the red of his face, captured in medium close up. Scott’s actions are in direct opposition to the authoritarian constraints imposed by the dancing authorities. The film’s plot then centers on Scott’s struggles as he seeks to challenge the world from within its boundaries, and those around him, with the exception of his father, and the ugly duckling Fran, seek to stop him.)

In the first scene of Baz Luhrman’s ‘Stricktly Ballroom’ we see Scott Hastings dancing with Liz at the Pan Pacific. Scott breaks out into his own no federation steps, the individuality of Scott is further emphasised with his vibrant sparkly yellow costume. The crowd cheers and applauds enthusiastically as Scott spins and twills his way around the dance floor (talk about camera angles). We the see a low angle sho of Barry Fife, his anger and fury is conveyed by his facial expression and is further intensified by the red background. These steps are not accepted in the

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