Mad Hot Ballroom

In New York City, ballroom dancing is a mandatory part of the Phys Ed curriculum for kids in grades 5 and 6, which I think means ages 11 and 12. Of all things, why ballroom dancing? Well, you'll understand why when you see how learning to dance teaches etiquette and respect to some definitely "at risk" pre-teens, some of them from some pretty rough New York neighborhoods.

Kids from three different schools are followed, but I don't think there's any doubt that the kids from the mostly Dominican neighborhoods are the ones who not only enjoy the dancing the most but derive the most benefit from it.

If there's a subplot, it may be the dance teachers, many of whom are actually dancers and not just teachers who know a bit about dancing. There is a teacher conference where the teachers all dance together as couples and in group dances that is fabulous. No, they don't look like a top pro dance troupe, but they do look like people who get out on the dance floor and know more than enough to look good and have plenty of fun.

The kids learn the basic ballroom steps including rumba, fox trot, merengue, and tango. I almost think the tango is too advanced for kids in this age group. Obviously, they learned the steps but I can't say I saw any one of the young couples do a tango that would have passed even basic muster on a real tango floor. By contrast, they did fantastic work on the merengue and swing steps.

They are all getting ready for a dance competition to win the city's Challenge Prize, a very big trophy. While the various school troupes get awards, based on point scores, placing them in categories named bronze, silver, and gold, there is a dance-off among the gold troupes and there is only one winner of the trophy, so the competition is intense and for kids in this age group, almost brutal.

A lot of people don't like competitive activities for kids, but as the dance director says in the film, losing can be a good lesson in life: that you don't always get the job, you don't always get the girl/boy, and sometimes the medical tests turn out positive (which in medicine usually means "bad"). Kids have to learn to integrate loss into their lives and that there is always, if not a next time, at least something else to apply themselves to.

I went to this movie almost out of a sense of completeness. Since I review movies, I try to see all of the good ones at least, and the buzz on this one was that it was good. Well, it was far more than just good. It was one of my most thoroughly enjoyable movie experiences so far this year.