Ballroom blast from Steenburgen's past

She takes a dancing teacher role that reminds her of event in her Arkansas childhood

Arkansas-born Mary Steenburgen can relate to the dance class depicted in Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School, from her own experiences when she was 12.

"I went to something kind of like it. I went to cotillion, which sounds very fancy, but it wasn't," she says. "It was in like a youth center and it was these people desperately trying to keep these young kids from stepping all over each other's toes. The goal was to teach us a little bit about decorum and also a little bit of dancing."

Samuel Goldwyn Films (enlarge photo) Mary Steenburgen in 'Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School.'

Asked if there is a particular rule of etiquette she remembers learning in class, Steenburgen laughs heartily. "No, not one. I don't think it took very well, to tell you the truth. The cha-cha stuck, but the etiquette didn't."

She plays Marienne Hotchkiss, who has inherited the school from her mother, a character we learn little about besides her dedication to teaching dance.

"But at the same time I could tell you, just from my imagination, so much," says Steenburgen, a 1980 Oscar winner for Melvin and Howard. "I knew what her apartment looks like, I know how small it is. I know that she goes straight from the ballroom to her apartment. That is all she's able to do in life. So that's really good writing. Without ever saying things, you just know."

Steenburgen, 53, feels it is no coincidence we have had so many dance movies lately, like Mad Hot Ballroom, Shall We Dance? and the upcoming Take the Lead. "I think it's because people yearn for a connection, for a human connection," she offers. "We do so many things in isolation now, y'know, people working in front of screens. I think that people also want that little touch of elegance."

Judging from the film's trailer, its studio would rather market it as a dance film and downplay its themes of grieving and death. "I don't think we need to hide what it's about, because I think that's part of its charm and also the beauty of it," says Steenburgen. "And I think it's dealt with seriously, but also in a funny way. And for crying out loud, if they're trying to market it to the audience that's never lost anything or anyone, they're going to have a little trouble finding people to show up at the theater.

"The point of the movie is that everybody loses something — you lose the girl you loved in fifth grade, you lose the dog you loved, you lose your soulmate," she notes. "And the choice you have is to withdraw in one way or another or embrace life, and that's what happens in that ballroom. It's a film about loss and rebirth."