High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach. The story is a coming of age drama that documents a teenage girl`s rebellion against her father by starting a relationship with a dance instructor during the family`s summer vacation.