The truly savage reviews were for its sequel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Dancing:_Havana_Nights

 Quote:
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 23% rating based on 108 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The website provides a brief critical consensus: "Cheesy, unnecessary remake."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6]

Robert Denerstein of the Denver Rocky Mountain News gave it a D+, saying: "Tries to add Cuban flavor to a familiar plot but comes up with nothing more than a bubbling stew of cliches." Peter Howell of the Toronto Star thought it to be "Charmless, clumsy and culturally offensive all at the same time" and merited it 1 out of 5 stars. Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe awarded it 2 out of 4 stars, saying: "As you might expect, the movie is as square as a sock hop." A more favorable review came from Philip Martin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, who rated it B-, because "aside from the triteness of the dialogue, the mathematical predictability of the script and the muddling of numbskulled politics, DD: HN is a fairly enjoyable experience." According to Louis Hobson of Jam! Magazine, who thought the movie was worth 3.5 out of 5 stars, the main redeeming factor was the choreography: "You may have problems with the obvious, cliched story, but the dancing is incredible." That didn't convince everyone; Philip Wuntch of the Dallas Morning News thought the movie was worth no more than a C, stating that "both the dance numbers and the personal drama are largely listless." [7]


But despite not having the emotional highs of its predecessor, I think this sequel got a bad rap. Some movies or actors it's just fashionable to trash. I thought the movie's couple had good onscreen energy, the sequel has nicer cinematography and location scenery, more palatable dialogue, and overall a better looking and likeable cast. I thought the dialogue was more sharp and clever, particularly regarding the barely restrained tension between Cubans and Americans on the cusp of the 1959 revolution, and the music and dancing a well-played undercurrent of the political tension in the film.

There's a number of movies that use music and dancing as symbolic of expression for reppressed ambitions, speech and freedom, including Flashdance, Footloose, Dirty Dancing and Swing Kids. Swing dancing was pretty big in the early/mid 1990's, I think the latter movie is what sparked its popularity. One night club I went to at the time had a weekly "swing night" where that was the only music they played.

I realized about 2 months ago that the songs in Flashdance and Dirty Dancing are ones I still hear pretty much every day on the radio while driving, over 30 years after their initial release. That's some remarkably enduring popularity.