Themes: Double Life, Class Differences, Teachers and Students
Main Cast: J. Eddie Peck, Melora Hardin, Shabba-Doo, Ricky Paull Goldin, Basil Hoffman
Release Year: 1989
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
One of several films released to trade on the short-lived Lambada craze (it was an especially sexy Latin dance in case you don't remember), Lambada stars J. Eddie Peck as Kevin Laird, a mathematics teacher at an exclusive Beverly Hills high school who by night puts away his slide rule and shuffles down to the barrio where, as Blade, he frequents a disco called No Man's Land and cuts loose, instructing the thermal-heated females on how to dance the lambada. After the bumping and grinding, he takes the ladies to a back room where he helps them get their GEDs. It appears that all is well with Kevin; he is appointed head of the mathematics department by principal Singleton (Keene Curtis) and his family never questions why he goes out at night dressed in leather and earrings. But then one of his students, Sandy (Melora Hardin), spots Kevin's gyrating pelvis when she heads to No Man's Land after an argument with her boyfriend Dean (Ricky Paull Goldin). Sandy begins to frequent the club and it is not long before Kevin's double-life is revealed. Dean comes to the club to take Sandy back and a disgruntled member of Kevin's barrio entourage, Ramone (Shabba-Doo), tells Dean the truth about Kevin. The result is a rumble between the posh high school kids and the barrio dropouts. Kevin is promptly fired, but a petition by Sandy reinstates him as the two opposing groups of kids square off in a math competition. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Shabba-Doo - Choreography, Joel Silberg - Director, Marcus Manton - Editor, Greg de Belles - Composer (Music Score), Bill Cornford - Production Designer, William E. Cornford - Production Designer, Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli - Cinematographer, Peter Shepherd - Producer, Bill Robbins - Sound Mixer, Sheldon Renan - Screenwriter, Joel Silberg - Screenwriter
The film was released simultaneously with rival film The Forbidden Dance; neither was well received, though Lambada was called "the better of the two".[1][2]
A Beverly Hills school teacher by a day, Kevin Laird (J. Eddie Peck) journeys at night to a warehouse in East L.A, where a group of barrio kids gather to dance the lambada.
Using his dazzling dance moves to earn the kids' respect and acceptance, Kevin then teaches them academics in an informal backroom study hall. One of his students, Sandy (Melora Hardin) sees him at the club. The next morning at school while Kevin is teaching, Sandy daydreams that she and Kevin are dancing and he madly kisses her on his motorcycle. It's the best of both worlds, but then Sandy becomes a jealous and lovestruck student and she exposes Kevin's double life, his two worlds collide, threatening his job and reputation.
