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Director Erika Randall Beahm overseas her film, "Leading Ladies" that is currently being filmed in Champaign, IL. Photo by James Kyung

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Leading Ladies, a film being shot right here in Champaign, is the tale of an overbearing stage mom and her two daughters, one who serves as the backbone of the family and the other who is an up-and-coming ballroom dancing starlet. The plot follows the everyday adventures of the family as the meddlesome stage mother must let go of her daughters as they find their own way in life.

Erika Randall Beahm, a former dance professor at the University, is not only blocking and choreographing the film but is also a co-writer and co-producer. Although there may not be dance sequences in every scene of the movie, Beahm said that everything throughout the film is highly choreographed.

“The aesthetic is that dance happens in everyday life, and we’re not trained to see it,” Beahm said.

By creating scenes like the “toothbrush tango” and a grocery store dance sequence, Beahm said she hopes that the “choreography of life” comes out.

The film also puts pressure on traditional gender and lead roles in not only dance but also society. For example, within the grocery store dance scene, Beahm mentioned that the dancers put cuts of meat on their backsides, symbolizing the objectification of women as pieces of meat.

The female characters must also take the lead in many of the dances, not only inverting the traditional dance structure but also symbolizing the way in which the characters must take control within the “dance” of their lives.

Beahm started writing Leading Ladies in 2004 with friend and creative partner Jennifer Bechtel. Ever since then, she has been involved with every aspect of the movie.

“I’ve helped with everything from casting to choosing the flavor of toothpaste used in the tango scene,” Beahm said.

Although Beahm has her hands in everything in Leading Ladies, she said this movie couldn’t come together without the immense teamwork of the cast, crew and supporters.

Lisa Dixon, a theatre professor at Illinois, has served as the film’s acting coach. Renowned ballroom and Latin dancer Melanie LaPatin, who is also one of the cast members, assists with the film’s ballroom choreography while Beahm coordinates the movie’s overarching choreographic themes.

Beahm’s husband, Daniel, is the director and co-producer of the film as well, making Leading Ladies a joint endeavor for the couple.

“We always joke that we put the ‘h’ in team — you know, like Beahm/Teahm,” Erika said.

Now a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Beahm said she loved it here at Illinois but unfortunately only signed a three-year contract with the University and had to move on in 2007.

But the fact that she wrote the storyline of Leading Ladies during her time in Champaign provoked her to film the movie here. “I pictured it here,” she said.

“The story has autobiographical threads for me,” Beahm continued. Having grown up in the Midwest, Beahm wanted to set the storyline here to tell the stories of people that don’t often get told.

The city of Champaign has been a great help to the cast and crew of the film, Beahm said. Rebecca McBride from the University’s Krannert Center has been a big support in securing stage time for rehearsals. Presby Hall also arranged for free rooms for the crew to stay in. Ippatsu salon has coiffed the film’s actors for free on more than one occasion.

“The town has such a great heart. They’ve really rallied around the movie,” Beahm said.

Leading Ladies is set to be completed in time for the Sundance Film Festival in September and released by winter 2010.