This heartwarming documentary will win audiences over, as the sheer charm of precocious, enthusiastic children learning to dance resonates from the screen.
This heartwarming documentary will win audiences over, as the sheer charm of precocious, enthusiastic children learning to dance resonates from the screen.
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Average Rating: 3.8/5
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Every year, the New York Public School system sponsors a dance competition for youngsters in fifth grade; in this contest, boys and girls ages 10 and 11 learn traditional ballroom dancing styles such as the fox trot, the rumba, and the tango, and then pit their skills against other students from around the Big Apple. Mad Hot Ballroom is a documentary which offers an inside look at this event, as well as the teachers and students who take part, with a particular emphasis on three schools: P.S.
112, in a Bensonhurst neighborhood dominated by Italian and Asian families; P.S. 150, located in the wealthy and fashionable Tribeca district; and P.S. 115, a Washington Heights school where the vast majority of families live below the poverty line. Filmmaker Marilyn Agrelo follows the young dancers as they gain confidence and skill and grow into "little ladies and gentlemen," as one teacher puts it, while also examining how cultural differences impact the competition for some students and how the boys and girls feel about the opposite sex as they begin to make friends with one another. Mad Hot Ballroom received a wildly enthusiastic world premiere at the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Listening to the kids talk is a treat in itself, but watching them strut their stuff in the final competition is enough to make you stand up and cheer.
Clearly, the dance lessons are life lessons as well, nurturing self-confidence, team spirit, the joy of dancing and even a slight touch of Old World etiquette in an otherwise too-busy- to-be-courteous world.
The film's unintentional revelation may be that the competition isn't near as important as the education. The trophy is only a faint shadow of what has been accomplished.
Inspiring and enjoyable, this docu chronicles the physical and psychological transformation of school kids of different social classes as they enter into the 'exotic' world of ballroom dancing.
A sweet, and utterly entertaining portrait of children learning about confidence, achievement, skill, and also understanding the game of the sexes at such a young age.
Charming, poignant and festive "Mad Hot Ballroom" is an inspirational documentary that shows the power of dance to invigorate self-esteem and ambition in young hearts.
The dozen or so whom Agrelo and Sewell chose to emphasize are especially appealing, but nearly all of them are bright, thoughtful, confident and dedicated -- a heartening glimpse of the coming generation.
For its length, it would have been nice to learn a little bit more about some of the children. Nonetheless, Mad Hot Ballroom is still an uplifting and inspiring tale.
... it's delightful to see the kids enthusiastically cheering each other on and they are terrific dancers. It'll make you want to take ballroom dancing lessons.
persuasively shows how these lessons help bridge the gap between boys and girls during that uneasy period when the sexes are still suspicious of each other.
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