Several technicians are suffering from discomfort. At the beginning, the temperatures are scorching. Although the love story between Johnny and Baby is supposed to take place in the summer, the autumn shooting forces the set designers to repaint the leaves of the trees green. The current does not pass at all with his partner. Jennifer Grey, on the other hand, approaches things with less enthusiasm. On the set, as the crew takes over the Mountain Lake estate in Virginia, where the hotel renamed Kellerman’s Mountain House is located, Patrick Swayze impresses with his dancing skills. For the female lead, the team cast Jennifer Grey, with whom the lead actor has already played in John Milius’ Red Dawn. Wishing to avoid the use of understudies for the dance sequences, the director emphasized from the outset the need to hire a multi-talented actor. Debutant Emile Ardolino was chosen to direct Dirty Dancing and insisted that Patrick Swayze play the lead. Eventually, the script found a home at Vestron Pictures, a small production studio. Eleanor Bergstein then knocked on the doors of many majors but all refused. While the film was to be financed by MGM, a change in management jeopardized the project. The story of Dirty Dancing is largely based on the childhood of screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein. Its soundtrack is also a success, selling millions of copies. Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze)įilmed in 43 days on a modest budget, Dirty Dancing became the first film to be releasedĪ true cultural phenomenon in the world. Mountain Lake Lodge - Credit: Adam Fagen on Flickr "When the lake drains - when it actually empties out - it is cleaning itself by moving sediment that has accrued in the bottom of the lake down through that rather complex plumbing system to actually make the lake bigger, deeper, and to keep it clean," Cawley said in the video.įans will have to wait to see if the lake will fill up completely, but Stone said even without the lake, there's other activities at the lodge to enjoy such as a "Dirty Dancing"-themed weekend package that includes a scavenger hunt, trivia, and obviously a dance party.The musical romance that brought Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey to the attention of the public, Dirty Dancing is a feature film shot in at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the heart of an estate that will forever be linked to Johnny and Baby's romantic interludes, in the hotel renamed Kellerman's Mountain House. "The mountain lake basin is absolutely unique, not only in Appalachia but in the entire world," Roanoke College professor Jon Cawley said in a video posted on the lodge's website.Ĭawley explains that after studying the lakebed, he and other scientists found that the lake hits a major low about every 400 years. It's the prettiest when it's filled with water."Īccording to scientists, this phenomenon of the lake draining and filling back up makes Mountain Lake one of a kind. "The guests get very excited because for so many years it's been dry and looked more like a meadow. "It's about a third full right now and it seems to be holding," Mountain Lake Lodge's General Manager Heidi Stone told CNN. In recent weeks, however, after a wet spring, employees noticed that it was filling back up. In 2006, it dropped again and by 2008, it went completely dry, according to The Roanoke Times. The lake's water level first dropped in 1999 but came back in 2003. There's the cabin that "Baby" and her family stayed in and the gazebo where guests took dance lessons.īut the lake where Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey practiced their famous lift is not what it used to be. Mountain Lake Lodge is a mecca for true "Dirty Dancing" fans who travel to the Pembroke, Virginia, resort to see the various landmarks featured in the film. But this summer, it's starting to fill back up, astonishing both locals and visitors. In 2008, Mountain Lake, made famous by the 1987 film "Dirty Dancing," dried up and remained that way for over a decade.
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