The now-defunct resorts and bungalows of the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York were once thriving summer retreats for wealthy city dwellers seeking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Until the late 1950s, the scenic mountain belt was the vacation destination of choice for millions of people across the East Coast, and was especially popular with Jewish Americans, who originally flocked there in the early 1900s to escape the discrimination they faced at other hotels and on city beaches. Nestled deep in the lush green mountains, the resorts of the Catskills offered guests a delightful escape from real life, the chance to spend days by the pool or lake, take dance lessons under the porch, and end the evening with dinner and a show. For decades they were the epicenter of social life that imprinted itself on our cultural consciousness and gave birth to American stand-up comedy, a magical place where anything seemed possible under the spell of misty summer nights and days.

Dirty DancingReleased in the summer of 1987, it is set in these mountains, at a fictional resort called Kellerman’s, based on the real resort where screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein spent summers with her family. The film is set in 1963, when the heyday of the Catskill Mountain resorts was just coming to an end. Dirty Dancing tells the story of Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Grey), who embarks on a summer of self-discovery through her romance with dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). A coming-of-age story that deals with issues of class and women’s rights. Dirty Dancing is timeless in its portrayal of the fleeting moments of youthful summers and first love.

With endless quotable lines and a soundtrack of iconic melodies, Dirty Dancing became an instant classic and received praise from critics and audiences alike. His signature song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” went on win the Oscar for the best original song. Almost 40 years later, Dirty Dancing remains one of the greatest musical films of all time.

In this list for The film magazinewe present the greatest moments of the film, from sensual slow dancing to emotional declarations of forgiveness and love. These are the The 10 best Dirty Dancing moments.

10. Baby sees Johnny dance for the first time

When Baby first arrives with her family at Kellerman’s, an upscale resort in the Catskill Mountains, it’s abundantly clear that she feels like a fish out of water. Although Baby has specific goals for her future – she wants to join the Peace Corps – it’s obvious that she’s uncomfortable in her own skin and never raises her voice or contradicts her father, Jake (Jerry Orbach), who is like her best friend. She’s sheltered, and it’s not until she sees Johnny up close for the first time that something awakens inside her.

After Neil (Lonny Prince), the grandson of Kellerman’s owner Max Kellerman (Jack Weston), tries to flirt with Baby by getting her to dance the mambo with him, Johnny and his dance partner Penny (Cynthia Rhodes) appear in the middle of the dance floor. Their routine beats all the others by a long shot, and it’s clear how well-trained they are and how passionate they are about dance. Swayze and Rhodes, both trained classical dancers, are incredible to watch, and their skills are captured by director Emile Ardolino’s pitch-perfect cinematography. The look on Jennifer Grey’s face as she watches them, the way her eyes darken, her lips slightly parted, sums up the almost indescribable feeling of wanting someone for the very first time.

This moment also serves to highlight one of the main themes of the film. When Max sees Penny and Johnny dancing, he violently gestures for them to stop and teach the guests how to dance instead. Johnny and Penny are employees, after all. When Baby asks who Johnny and Penny are, Neil practically grins at them and says, “Oh, them? They’re the dance people.” This idea that Penny and Johnny, and the entertainment staff in general, are somehow less valuable than the rich patrons of Kellerman’s, plays a major role throughout the rest of the film.

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9. Baby and her father talking

One of the things that gives a high degree of credibility Dirty Dancing is the presence of experienced stage and screen actor Jerry Orbach, who plays Baby’s father Jake, the cardiologist. Dirty Dancing Orbach was best known on stage and his popular voice as candlestick Lumiere in Disney’s Beauty and the Beastand his ten-year tenure on the original television series “Law and Order,” which began in 1992. Dirty dancing, Subtle but powerful, Orbach elevates an already excellent film to a new level by delivering a truly emotional portrayal of a father who must accept that his child has grown up.

An incredibly powerful moment occurs when Jake realizes that Baby lied to him when she said she would use his money to pay for Penny’s botched abortion, which was illegal in the U.S. at the time. After Jake nurses Penny back to health, he tells Baby that his disappointment in her stems from her lying to him and hiding things from him. “You’re not the person I thought you were, Baby,” he tells her. Their relationship is further strained when Baby admits to everyone that she was with Johnny the night a guest’s wallet was supposedly stolen (something she does to clear Johnny’s name). It’s the truth, but it disappoints her father even more because he told her not to see him anymore. In return, he rarely speaks to her in subsequent scenes.

Eventually, Baby finds her father sitting alone under a gazebo overlooking the lake. He remains silent while Baby speaks her mind, explaining that she may have lied to him, but he also lied to her. With tears in her eyes, Baby calls her father a hypocrite who assumes the worst about Johnny just because he is poor. She questions his entire worldview, a view she once shared but now knows is narrow-minded and wrong.

Before she leaves, Baby says to her father, “I love you, Daddy, and I know I disappointed you, but you disappointed me too.”

Orbach turns his head as she leaves, his lips trembling, trying to hold back his tears. Orbach wisely lets Grey dominate the scene, but it is his quiet listening, his restrained emotions, that sell it. This moment represents one of the many opportunities Dirty Dancing subtly addresses class and privilege. It also reveals the superficial nature of the kind of person her father expects her to be, and Baby’s resistance to that: doing what is actually right rather than what seems right. Confronting her father is one of the final steps in Baby’s development in which she courageously stands up for what she believes in.

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