Dirty Dancing, the cult film starring Patrick Swayze, is on Rai Movie tonight.

On Saturday, August 1, 2026, Rai Movie presents Dirty Dancing , the 1987 cult film directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey . Here's the plot of the famous romantic musical.

The plot

United States, 1963. Frances “Baby” Houseman is a naive and idealistic seventeen-year-old girl on vacation with her family at Max Kellerman 's resort in the Catskill Mountains. Baby is very close to her father, Jack, a surgeon who taught her the importance of always helping those in need.

In the village, the rules are precise: the waiters, students from well-to-do families, take care of the resort's image, while the entertainers are forbidden from any relationship that isn't strictly professional. Among the performers, Johnny Castle , the dance instructor, stands out. In the evenings, he performs with his colleague and friend Penny Johnson . Baby sees one of their mambo numbers and is fascinated.

A forbidden love

When Penny, pregnant, is unable to perform at the final show, Baby offers to stand in for her and asks Johnny to teach her how to dance. A deep bond develops between the two, defying the resort's social conventions and the opposition of Baby's father, who is displeased with his daughter's relationship with the instructor.

The famous line “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” listed by the American Film Institute as one of the one hundred most famous lines in the history of cinema, closes the film with the memorable final lift scene set to the tune of (I've Had) The Time of My Life.

An Oscar-worthy film

The soundtrack's theme song won an Oscar and a Golden Globe , while Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes won a Grammy for Best Duet. The choreography was by Kenny Ortega , who created the Dirty Mambo for the occasion.