In 1963, Baby Houseman is a 17-year-old spending the summer with her family at a resort hotel in the Catskills; she plans on being in the Peace Corps next summer.

Baby doesn't get along with her older sister Lisa, and she's bored to tears by most of the older guests at the resort. One night, though, Baby hears what sounds like a party going on in the employee's dormitory, and she has a bit of a sneak peek, discovering the young hotel staff members enjoying the sort of close dancing that would get you kicked out of the Senior Prom in no time flat.

Baby is particularly struck by handsome Johnny Castle, a dancer in the resort's floor show, and falls head over heels in love, wanting to be near him. Johnny's dance partner finds herself pregnant after a fling with one of the waiters, so Baby volunteers to learn her steps and take her place. Of course, Baby's conservative father Dr. Jake Houseman wants Baby to have nothing to do with this crowd, convinced that Johnny is a low life and that his daughter is too young to understand her own feelings.

Dirty Dancing was a surprise box office hit, and the soundtrack album was an even bigger success, spawning several hit singles and inspiring a top-drawing concert tour features several of its artists.