Susan Granger’s review of “Mad Hot Ballroom” (Paramount Classics/Nickelodeon)
What an unexpected delight! If you enjoyed “Spellbound,” put this on your must-see list.Every year, 6,000 pupils in New York City learn to fox-trot, swing, rumba, meringue and tango as a mandatory part of the American Ballroom Theater’s nonprofit Dancing Classrooms. This documentary follows the trials and tribulations of an irrepressible group of fifth-graders from three very different public schools as they participate in the annual citywide competition. Director/producer Marilyn Agrelo and writer Amy Sewell chose PS 150 in upscale TriBeCa, where many of the precocious children come from broken homes; PS 115 in tough Washington Heights, where it’s primarily Dominican and 97% of families live below the poverty line; and PS 112 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where a traditionally Italian neighborhood is now half-Asian. Most of the diverse students are 11 years-old, just on the cusp of puberty, a time when the mysteries of the opposite sex loom large. And the film’s best moments capture the awkwardness of that adolescent angst, along with a growing sense of self-awareness and self-confidence. Certain encounters are indelible – like when a majority of boys are reluctant to make eye contact, yet there’s one who won’t stop. Add to that the passion of dedicated teachers, one of whom muses about her nimble students: “I see them turning into these ladies and gentlemen!”Credit cinematographer Claudia Raschke-Robinson, along with Agrelo and Sewell, for maintaining the children’s perspective by keeping the digital camera level with their faces. Too bad the filmmakers didn’t delve more into the students’ families and cultures, off the dance floor. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Mad Hot Ballroom” is a feel-good 9. It’s a winner.
