it was so hot that i melted into the sidewalk yesterday. after seeing broken flowers on Friday night, i couldnt find a movie that i wanted to see til i stumbled on the Village cinema playing Mad Hot Ballroom. I had a few minutes to kill so i went to whole foods for water and fruit and i headed to the theater. I already bought potatoes and corn at the green market so i was laden with packages..
the movie theater was crowded( it seats no more than 50)and i took a seat..
the movie is about 5 or 6 NYC 5th grade classes who learn ballroom dancing with the goal of competiting for teh NYC championship
PLOT: Kids at three New York public schools take compulsory ballroom dancing lessons, hope to be chosen for the final competition, and offer their very wise 11-year-old opinions on life.
At 60 public schools in New York City, Grade 5 students take a mandatory semester of ballroom dancing instruction. The dance classes lead to a city-wide competition, and there's a honking big trophy for the winning school.
Mad Hot Ballroom is a documentary about what the children learn at these dance lessons -- poise, self-confidence, team work, cooperation, joy, big dreams and great dance steps.
Make eye contact! Tuck in your shirt!
The kids learn how to swing dance and how to do the merengue, the rumba, the tango and the foxtrot. They learn those dances to the songs of Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Della Reese, among others, so there are many levels to the education they are getting on the dance floor.
Mad Hot Ballroom concentrates on the kids from three public schools: P.S. 150 in Tribeca, P.S. 112 in Bensonhurst (Brooklyn) and P.S. 115 in Washington Heights.
Although the film seems uninspired technically, the subject matter is compelling. Well, it is if you like children, and we don't mean that in any Michael Jackson sort of way.
The kids are wonderful. Eleven-year-old girls talk about what they want in a boyfriend (a guy who doesn't sell drugs, for example). One little guy mentions how he goes over dance steps in his mind even when he's not dancing. Two Muslim boys help with the music and help the other dancers, as they are not permitted to dance themselves.
Watching how dance lessons motivate and inspire these kids is a delight to witness.
One of the stars of Mad Hot Ballroom is New York itself in all its cultural diversity, well represented here through the neighbourhoods and the children of various school districts.
The Washington Heights school (P.S. 115), for example, is in a district that is mostly made up of immigrants from the Dominican; almost every family at the school operates at or below the poverty level. You'll find yourself rooting for all these children, cheering them on as the competition gets closer and they all work harder on their dance steps.
You may be sure that there are plenty of tears at the competitions, where some win and some lose. Here is the American Dream writ small.
Mad Hot Ballroom is mostly about the seemingly small things that can change a child's life forever, and in this case for the better. The film may remind you of Spellbound in nature, though it's not technically as well made.
It's somehow more endearing, though.
________________
this movie ripped at me and i cried through most of it...the kids of poor neighborhoods were up against last year's winner, Forest Hills Queens.
the difference were as obvious as Forest Hill kids show up in cars, the Washington Heights kids by subway..
the washingon heights kids are like every foster kid, i worked with . THe kids who wore the Bargain Sneakers or Bin Sneakers, the kids whose schools dont have books, the kids who are strugggling to get dinner or have to save their lunch for the next meal
( at least foster care gave them meals and a home)
the kids of washington heights, kids of immigrants from the Dominican Republic could be kids from any country
their goals.... not to marry a drug dealer or to finish high school without getting pregant.. their teachers teach dance in english and spanish
they were the kids i know the best..
i cried for those kids, maybe this class has a chance...
most dont have a chance to get through middle school...
Bensonhurst kids reflect their islamic, italian and latin neighbood.
it rocks that they they let the kids who CANT dance due to religion be the Dj
