There’s a moment in my conversation with director/choreographer/actor Christine Lakin where everything clicks into place about why her feature film debut, I Won’t Dance, matters so much. We’re talking about the movie’s young heroine, Elena, a working-class kid fighting her way into the rarefied world of competitive ballroom.
The film, written by Allison Johnson, is a coming-of-age rom-com set in the high-stakes world of competitive ballroom. At the center is Elena: 19, from the “wrong side of the tracks,” raised by a single mom who runs a dog-grooming business and is barely keeping their family afloat.
Ballroom is expensive, the costumes, the coaching, the entry fees, and Elena’s dream don’t precisely fit her family’s financial reality. Her sister is in medical school. Her mother, Judy, wants practical: college, a stable career, a life that doesn’t resemble her own history of a bad marriage and constant survival.
Her mother, drowning in bills and responsibility, wants Elena to be practical, to give up the dream, to choose something “safer.” As Christine talks through that relationship, she says something that stops me: “At some point, you realize that a mother’s job is not to let fear of failure or heartbreak control your child’s path, it’s to support what’s in your child’s heart.”
That idea sits at the core of I Won’t Dance, and honestly, it sits at the core of Christine herself.
A dancer who turned rejection into drive, Christine grew up small in stature, often picked last for sports, until dance became her team. By six, she was training seriously: tap, jazz, ballet during the week, company rehearsals, performances around the city, and competitions.
“Anyone who still thinks dance isn’t a sport has never lived that life: the endless calisthenics at the start of every class, the stretching to your breaking point, the repetition until your body gives you what you want,” Lakin told Reel 360 News. That discipline shaped her. Dance became her language, and eventually her way into acting and, later, directing.
That dancer’s mindset never left. She still sees the world as choreography, not just in musical numbers, but in the way, people move when they’re angry, scared, guarded, or in love. As a director, she’s obsessed with making sure how an actor moves comes from something truly emotional, not just “hit this mark because the camera is here.”
Then there’s Xavier: 22, the “bad boy of the ballroom” with a championship pedigree. His father is a legendary ballroom dancer; his entire life has been groomed toward legacy. But behind the swagger, he’s wrestling with expectations and a deep, quiet rebellion against the path laid out for him.
When they’re unexpectedly paired to compete at nationals, “not killing each other would be a win,” Christine says. The story leans into that classic enemies-to-lovers dynamic, the love-hate bickering, the stomping on each other’s feet, the sexual tension simmering just under all the precision and pressure.
And then there’s the emotional backbone: Elena pushing past socioeconomic barriers and her mother’s fear, Xavier trying to carry his father’s legacy while also caring for a sick parent. His father’s illness forces him into a caregiving role far too young, something Christine is deeply interested in exploring. “We don’t talk enough about the way children and young adults end up parenting their parents — physically, emotionally, financially.”
I Won’t Dance doesn’t ignore that; it folds that weight into the story. There is a beautiful turning point when Elena steps into that world with him. His “male ego of trying to keep it all together” finally cracks, and their relationship shifts in a way that feels grounded and earned.
One of the most exciting aspects of this concept is how Christine and her team use dance as a form of nonverbal communication. In musicals, she says, people sing when their emotions are too big for regular speech. Here, when singing isn’t enough, they dance.
Some of the most important emotional beats in the story aren’t spoken — they’re danced. To pull this off, Christine has one of the best allies imaginable: Sharna Burgess. If you’ve watched Dancing with the Stars, you know Sharna doesn’t just create beautiful routines — she teaches non-dancers, under pressure, to embody storytelling through movement. That’s eaxctly what this film needs. Their leads will not be professional ballroom dancers. Sharna will be training them in real time, in a kind of “DWTS boot camp,” building and teaching more than a dozen routines ranging from small, intimate moments to full-blown competition numbers.
I Won’t Dance sits in a place that feels glossy and fun on the surface yet emotionally layered beneath. It’s will be a film you can go to with girlfriends for the romance and the gowns… and then find yourself talking afterward about class, caregiving, grief, ambition, and what it means to choose your own life.
Christine, Sharna, Johnson, and producer Alex Engelson have laid everything out like a choreography, ensuring that every beat, every movement, and every choice in the concept aligns emotionally and visually even before the project enters production which is set to film in the Canary Islands, in partnership with international company Hula Hoop — a sun-drenched escape for a story that still carries real-world weight.
I Won’t Dance is a rom-com, a dance movie, and a sports film. But more than that, it’s a rallying cry — especially to young women. It’s about stepping onto the floor, under the lights, and choosing to take risks…because some dreams are worth moving toward, even when fear tells you to stay still.
The female-led producing team is headed by Alexandra Olivia Engelson of Magic & Moxie Productions, joined by WorldFest Houston Remi winner Toni D’Antonio, Samantha Bowen of Shake the Tree Productions (Alto, 3 Killer Pigs), Johnson of Love Laugh Dance Films, and Artios Award-winning casting director and producer Mia Cusumano (The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Better Sister). Hulahoop Media (TIFF’s & Sons) is on board as the project’s international partner.
Best known for her breakout role in the ’90s sitcom Step by Step, Lakin has amassed nearly 140 acting credits across television and film. As a director, she’s carved out her own lane, most notably helming 11 episodes of the long-running ABC comedy The Goldbergs. Verve, Haven Entertainment, and The Nord Group represent her.
Amy Pais-Richer is REEL 360 News’ newest contributor. She is a published author and we are lucky to have her!
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