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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.
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