The first dance between a bride and husband went awry.
During their August wedding at the MIT Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts, Lan and Chris Donais stunned and delighted guests by recreating the iconic dance between Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) and Frances “Baby” Houseman (Jennifer Grey) from Dirty Dancing (1987).
Sen Studio photos and a video posted to Reddit and YouTube show the couple clearing the dance floor and starting their first dance to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley. They hit every beat and perfectly nailed every bend, and the crowd went wild. The audience let forth the loudest gasps when Lan leaped into Chris’ arms.
“People were really impressed,” Lan tells PEOPLE, adding that “our visitors couldn’t believe their eyes since they hadn’t expected this performance and how it came out in all their years of knowing us.”
“My friends keep talking about the dance,” Chris continues. They adored it. Knowing that I had “topped hers,” my older sister, who had a choreographed dance at her wedding, was also very jealous. “My favorite reaction, hands down!”
Chris’s suggestion that they perform the Dirty Dancing Lift in their little living room was the catalyst for everything. Because of her personal attachment to the film, Lan agreed to try dancing during their wedding even though she was “terrified of heights.”
Lan informs me, “Chris didn’t even realize that Dirty Dancing was one of the only classic films I’ve seen.” Because Baby was leaving for Mount Holyoke that fall, I had a special place in my heart for dirty dancing. Like Baby, I went to Mount Holyoke College, and before the autumn semester started, I started the now-familiar practice of watching Dirty Dancing in our amphitheater under the stars.
The dance was a “full circle” event for Lan.
From my early days in the United States as an international student to my special day dancing with the love of my life, the dance feels like a full circle when she looks back on it, she says. “It was also an honor to have my fellow Mount Holyoke sisters, my maid of honor and bridesmaid, by my side on that day.”
Due of their lack of professional dancing expertise, the couple spent many months starting in February studying under Jan Ondrias.
To get used to dancing in front of people, they also rehearsed in the MIT campus’s public lobbies.
After meeting in 2020 and beginning dating in 2022, the newlyweds found it difficult to get over their shyness. But stage fright was the last thing they were thinking about on their big day.
Lan tells me, “The loud cheers we received as soon as I walked out almost shocked me.” There was a moment when the thunderous applause made me lose my footing and just freeze. Chris gently guided me along, and I was able to laugh it off even though it was my first time freezing and losing my footing. Fortunately, it happened early in the routine, so I was able to ignore it and focus on Chris and the music. I doubt anyone noticed that time.
“My main goal was to enjoy myself with my newlywed bride while maintaining the rhythm and flowing with the music.” Chris proposed to Lan at the Italian bakery where they had a kiss, and it was all me. “We had a practice run that didn’t go well, so I was scared earlier, but once the music started, I forgot about it,” Chris adds. It was just the music, her, and me at that moment.
