The Forbidden Dance is a 1990 drama film starring former Miss USA Laura Harring. Made to cash in on the Lambada dance craze by Menahem Golan's 21st Century Film Corporation, it opened on the same day as a similarly themed film, Lambada, produced by Golan's former company Cannon Films and his cousin, Yoram Globus.

Laura Elena Harring is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1985 and later began acting in television and film. She is best known for her dual roles as Rita and Camilla Rhodes in the 2001 movie Mulholland Drive. She is also known for her roles in other movies, including The Forbidden Dance (1990), John Q (2002), Willard (2003), The Punisher (2004), The King (2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), Ghost Son (2007), The Caller (2008), Drool (2009), Sex Ed (2014), and Inside (2016). She also played Carla Greco in General Hospital (1990–1991), Paula Stevens on Sunset Beach (1997), and Rebecca "Becca" Doyle in The Shield (2006).