Mad Hot Ballroom

When it comes to documentaries, schoolchildren are a safe bet to evoke empathy and to get laughs. Mad Hot Ballroom manages to do both without insulting its subjects too much. For that alone the director deserves much praise, but also for reminding us that, in a world of increasing cynicism and despair, small things can bring hope. Lives can be changed by a minute nudge from the right person at the right time.

The film follows the progression of a ballroom dancing competition course held among 5th graders in public schools in the boroughs of New York, but it's quickly apparent that it's not a film about the dancing. Very little time is spent focusing on technique or history or even how well the kids are doing; it's mostly about the way the program changes the way these children think about themselves and how they interact with each other, and with their teachers.

A young teacher named Allison breaks into a teary monologue about her little "ladies and gentlemen." She knows that these ten year-olds are on the cusp of losing their innocence, but watching them assume some of the posturing of adulthood, she can see glimpses of the people they might become. Across town Yomaira guides her talented team in a Dominican neighborhood with a stern but affectionate manner. All over New York, teachers like these break away from standardized tests and engage in a different sort of instruction that may be no less important.

Of course we fall in love with some of the more precocious kids: the kids who love to dance regardless of their proficiency, the kids whose mouths spout no end of outrageousness, and the kids who stumble aimlessly about when asked to change partners. When teams are eliminated from the competition we feel their loss from the film sharply. But this too is part of what the competition and the film teach us: life is full of change.

I suppose one could watch the film with only an eye towards the laughs, and there are plenty. Children moving in the stylized sexuality of the merengue are an amusing sight, no matter how what sort of dancers they become. After enough exposure and some reflection from their teachers, however, we understand that this program could well mean the difference between a happy life and a life of disappointment. These young hoofers are learning foxtrot and swing, but they are also learning who they are.

Anyone who loves New York will appreciate that the city is as also character in the film. If you have a yen to visit NYC, you'll sigh wistfully at the subways, architecture, and street life woven into the movie. While I can certainly see this class being taught in a different setting, I'm not sure it would have quite the impact, either as a picture or on the lives of the kids.

You can see the first six minutes of Mad Hot Ballroom at Apple.com.