Picture This! Reviews Mad Hot Ballroom
Everybody Dance Now!
A review of ‘Mad Hot Ballroom’
By Rebecca Redshaw
Oh, there’s dancing in this movie all right, but don’t expect to hear strains of Donna Summer, The Village People, or Gloria Gaynor.
The dancers in Mad Hot Ballroom are mastering more traditional ballroom fare, the fox trot, the merengue, swing, rumba, and even the tango. But rather than women draped in sequins and sprinkled with glitter and men in tails and patent leather, these hoofers are all of maybe eleven years old.
In 1998, New York City, that bastion of supposedly incorrigible public schools, established a ballroom dancing program and incorporated it in their curriculum as part of physical education. Not only do these students get the benefit of exercise, they learn skills of etiquette and behavior that will serve them well off the dance floor and far beyond any high school classroom.
Shot in 35MM and directed by Marilyn Agrelo, MHB looks and sounds better than one would expect since more often than not locations are cavernous gymnasiums. And the kids are cute as they struggle with where the right foot goes. But the charm and awareness of reality comes from the snippets of “on street” interviews. Glimpses of the challenges young people meet outside of school, highlight the importance of recognition from their peers, parents, and teachers.
And if the dance couples from Brooklyn and neighboring boroughs don’t give you hope for the future, their teachers certainly do. You might find yourself sitting in the theatre wishing you could go back to the sixth grade if you had the opportunity to be taught by these featured professionals.
With all the millions of dollars spent on superhero, blockbuster wannabes, who knew the feel good movie of the summer would be titled Mad Hot Ballroom? Join the party, dance on over to the theatre, and have a blast watching real people on the screen.
Rebecca Redshaw is the Arts& Entertainment Critic for www.NotesFromHollywood.com. She can be reached at r2redshaw@hotmail.com.