Love Lifts Us Up

Until this creepy thing from Ally McBeal came along, when people thought of dancing baby, they thought of dancing Baby. In particular, they thought of the film's climactic lift.

Baby was clearly born with natural talent, but it takes a teacher like Johnny to hone her skills. Although he's a good teacher and she's a good student, he won't show her the lift. It becomes the topic of the first big fight between them in the rehearsal studio.

JOHNNY: You gotta concentrate! Is that your idea of fun?

BABY: Yes, as a matter of fact it is. We're supposed to do the show in two days, you won't show me lifts, I'm not sure of turns, I'm doing all this to save your ass, what I really want to do is drop you on it.

This prompts Johnny to take Baby to the lake and teach her the lift in the river, where it's safe in case she falls. He gives her a tip:

JOHNNY: Now, the most important thing to remember in lifts is balance.

We're going to disagree with Johnny here and address the elephant (in a tutu) in the room. The most important thing to remember in lifts isn't balance.

It's trust.

The reason Johnny doesn't teach Baby the lift right away isn't because she doesn't trust him. It's because he doesn't trust her. As you can see from their argument above, he doesn't think Baby's taking the dance show as seriously as she is. She proves him wrong by pressuring him to teach her the lift.

However, at the dance show, Baby doesn't do the lift. Although their trust level has grown, Baby still doesn't trust Johnny whole-heartedly. It isn't until the film's final number that she trusts him enough to run into his arms and allow him to lift her to the sky.