Archive

“Leading Ladies” puts lesbians at the center of the dance floor

When Lance Bass signed on to be a contestant for Dancing With the Stars, viewers and the media asked if he would dance with a male partner. “Of course not,” ABC said. His partner would be a woman.

But why couldn’t it have been a man? It would have made for much more interesting TV. And dance on television is all the rage lately, from the celeb competition to Dance Your Ass Off, America’s Best Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance. But where are the lesbians? Non-existent, if you ask the networks.

Enter Erika Randall, writer/director/choreographer of Leading Ladies. The film is debuting at LGBT film festivals this summer, and focuses on two sisters: one of whom comes out and begins to date the girl who will become her partner in a ballroom competition.

“Having dance back in the mainstream has been a huge factor in generating excitement about fundraising for and interest in the film,” Randall said. “People who have never cared about dance before, now watch SYTYCD and Dancing with the Stars and were excited to be a part of a low-budget independent film that featured world- class dancing. That world-class dancing has brought an entirely different audience to a film that celebrates the love story of two women and has no straight kisses.”

Leading Ladies follows Tasi, a competitive dancer, and her sister Toni, a tomboy always in her sister’s shadow. Their mother, Sheri, is overbearing and eccentric and rests all of her hopes and dreams on Tasi becoming the best dancer possible. But Tasi becomes pregnant and Toni begins to discover she, too, likes dancing – with other girls – and things get complicated.

“We knew casting Toni would be the pivot of the film, as she is the central character and LL is ultimately her story,” Randall said of casting Laurel Veil. “It’s difficult to find an actress who can be sparkly and the background wallflower, be a strong lead dancer but not have total confidence in herself physically/sexually.”

Randall said that they knew she’d be perfect for Toni when she read alongside Nicole Dionne, who played Toni’s love interest, Mona. “Only one problem,” Randall said. “Laurel couldn’t dance – at all. After the tango auditions we panicked; she was perfect in so many ways, subtle, funny, tender – but she really couldn’t dance.”

And Leading Ladies doesn’t just have one or two small dance numbers – it has full on choreographed musical numbers, from a Toothbrush Tango in the bathroom to a grocery store takeover performance to a massive club scene and several romantic two-steps. Luckily, Laurel was eager to learn.

“When we called Laurel to offer her the role we said it was on the condition that she would train every day before the shoot on her dime,” Randall said. “Lucky for us, and the rest of the planet, she said yes and she did.”

And she is convincing. The dancing is pivotal to the film’s plot, but can be a little distracting if you aren’t necessarily interested in watching 10-minute numbers. And yes, it is a coming out story, so you might feel as if you know the conflict and its ending before it’s begun. But for a small production filmed in Champaign, Illinois, where most crew members worked for free, the writing and the dancing differentiate the film from most of those you will see at the same film festivals.

Randall and her writing partner Jennifer Bechdel aimed to make a queer-friendly and family-friendly film about lesbian ballroom dancing, and that’s just what they have done.

“The script came first, but as a choreographer and a screenwriter, I think in terms of the visual and the movement and believe in the small dances of every day life,” Randall said. “Dance has the ability to literally move people out of their comfort zones and into new places of thinking and feeling. Using dance as the vehicle to bring people together, both characters and audiences, seemed a natural fit for us. It’s easy to forget you are watching two men or two women together when you are overcome by the beauty and playfulness of their dancing. Suddenly, gender is erased and there are just two people in partnership. Dance rules for that.”

Single mom Sheri is played by Melanie LaPatin (So You Think You Can Dance, What Not to Wear) and several other TV dance personalities make an appearance in the film, including So You Think You Can Dance stars Courtney, Katee, Sara and Kherington. Dance is now becoming so popular that these people can be recognized by their first names only, which is something that Randall is thankful for and excited about.

But it’s not only about dancing. Toni and Tasi struggle to maintain their own lives outside of their mother’s guilt and power trips, and Toni, especially, has a difficult time keeping a secret about her life. After she meets Mona at a dance club, they begin a relationship and Toni feels pressure to come out to the important people in her life. Mona is out and proud, and not willing to be pushed to the side or pretend to be a friend. The couple shares a heartfelt scene in the dance studio after Toni breaks down, unsure if she can be honest with her mom.

Another great scene follows shortly thereafter, in which Toni prepares to enter a dance contest, sporting a tux and a new short ‘do.

“Toni’s haircut is a symbol of her liberation from the typical Hollywood ‘ugly duckling’ myth,” Randall said. “Usually, the heroine of such a story finds wholeness and fulfillment by letting her ponytailed hair down, putting on make-up and a pretty dress, and landing the guy as her leading man. We wanted to flip that paradigm and invert it, turning our ugly duckling into a penguin, not a swan, cutting her hair, dressing her up in a sexy, bad ass tux and stepping into the lead role herself.”

But Toni and Mona aren’t accepted into the competition with open arms. Two girls dancing together? Preposterous! But I wont spoil the ending for you. You’ll have to find out if your own predictions are true.

Leading Ladies is ultimately a film that shares a theme with several other LGBT films: Being true to yourself is the only way to be. And with a lesbian storyline and entertaining dance numbers, you’ll appreciate how the characters come to that conclusion.

Find out when Leading Ladies is playing near you at LeadingLadiesMovie.com.

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button