A Tour of the Places in Winnipeg Where they Filmed the Movie Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance, in Winnipeg? Movies are not always filmed in the setting they supposedly take place in. This is true even if the settings are on location. This initially seems odd when you think about it. If they make the effort to get everyone to a location to film, why film other places too or change the actual sets? Sometimes producers and directors are searching for a certain feel or look for their movie. It can take a number of location settings to make one movie. Not all cities or locations are accessible or easy to film in. Winnipeg is less expensive and full of interesting buildings with character. Much of the movie, "Shall We Dance", starring Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, was filmed in Winnipeg.

"Shall We Dance?" came out in 2004. The beautifully tender, funny and introspective movie was filmed in more than one location. Many of the scenes were shot around the city of Winnipeg, way up in the center of Canada. It isn't quite what everyone seeing the movie would think. Spotting a building or place you know in a movie is always fun. It gives it the "Hey I know that spot! I 've been there!", factor of connection and familiarity for the movie viewer. It is also fodder for the movie trivia buffs.

Hollywood wove its magic with the Winnipeg settings too. With temporary structural additions or film technology, a building in a Canadian city can be made to look like a more upscale city anywhere, in any western county. If the building being used is really a good choice, but not quite the exact thing they need for the shot, presto, they weave their magic and make the necessary adjustments.

Group dance scenes were done in Winnipeg and in a studio. They hired locals to film the mass party scenes. It was a chance to be included in a piece of Hollywood history and an experience to see how things were done. They filmed a dance spot downtown. Extras were used for many of the dance and local scenes. (In fact one of the photographers for this article, my husband, was a dancer in the movie as an extra. That is how the author got the personal inside tour of the movie settings, around the city, the night it opened in Winnipeg. The personal tour made the movie even more special.)

The diner scenes with Mitzi's Dance Studio class members, is actually filmed on the inside of a little old restaurant in the North end of Winnipeg, on Selkirk Avenue. The restaurant serves a wonderful rich perogi by the way, if you are ever there. It is one of those little dives that the locals go to, not the tourists. It isn't a fancy restaurant, just simple fare and nice people. The inside looks like an old fashioned diner, old fixtures, and dated décor. It was the perfect setting for the dancers to step out for a quick bite to eat, in a couple scenes of "Shall We Dance?" If you look carefully in the background of the counter scene, you can see the back of the fluorescent Windmill Restaurant sign, that is in the front window of the Winnipeg diner. (See Photograph)

The scene where John Clark, played by Richard Gere, is walking through a busy office lobby with his briefcase, is filmed in what was then The TD Bank building, where the city of Winnipeg's high-rise business buildings abound. We were not permitted to take an inside shot of the financial building when we went around getting photos for this piece. You have to get written permission from the owners, even for an article, so the shot we took is of the outside of the building where the scene was filmed. If you go in the building, go upstairs in the front lobby, and you will be where he was in "Shall We Dance?"( See photograph)

The repeating scenes of John riding the train looking out at the dance studio, are also a bit of the technical Hollywood magic. The real building is nowhere near a train station. Cars, buses and pedestrians are the normal mode of transportation on that street in Winnipeg. Even the business sign for Miss Mitzi's dance studio was added. The real building in the Exchange District of Winnipeg, is a beautiful red brick multi- storied building, with an old metal fire escape stairway. There isn't a train in sight, or a dance studio upstairs. They blended locations to get the footage. Hollywood can build what they want into a movie, with actual construction or film technology. They can splice, dice and build the exact look they need to make the movie believable. (See photographs.) That is why sometimes, something in a movie will look so familiar, but somehow not seem quite how you picture it in real life. It has been changed to fit the movie. One single set or building may be a compilation of buildings and movie technology. Go rent the movie and see if you can spot the sets and scenes in this article.

Shall We Dance in Winnipeg? Of course we should!