Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)

In 1994, ballroom dancing was introduced to 5th graders in the New York area. There are thousands of public school kids trying to enter into the annual competition between the schools. These kids come from varying backgrounds. Some have heart-breaking stories as they find discipline and comfort in their new interest. The most compelling parts of this documentary are the snippets of personal opinions coming from the kids. The major problem is there are so many kids that it's hard to keep track of them. The film would do well to limit the number of kids and spend more time with them at home. The kids dancing is cute and compelling. Those little interviews are what make the film sings.

This is exhilarating! It's uplifting and life-affirming! I am not a dance fan movie and if I have any dance moves they are the opposite of Fred Astaire. But this documentary on teaching 10 year olds' to dance just grabbed me.It's about 10 year olds' in public school in New York who are taking dance lessons – as in learning tango, swing, meringue, rumba… They practise and practise and then face a competition where sadly some will be eliminated. It is really worth it to just look at the expressions of these young children as they are learning and dancing. Credit really must also go to the teachers who are so dedicated.

This is amateurish, camcorder-level shooting. The content is essentially an argument by teachers for why the program should be funded, and would have been better off used for this purpose with the NYC Board of Education.I was sorely disappointed by this film, as I am originally from NYC, went to a "P.S." grade school, and was charmed by the idea of reminiscing a little watching the opening credits.It is a boring documentary with a few cute moments when the kids are dancing, and a few interesting comments by two children -- one a 10 y.o. girl, who is a sort of philosopher, and one a 10-y.o. boy, who is quite talkative. The reasons for my rating of 2 and not 1.The cutting is terrible. I enjoy dance, and some of the kids were good dancers, but the photography tries to capture faces (poorly), and jumps, as in an action movie, every 3 seconds. The included announcements of winners is trying to sit through, slow and trite.A minor complaint: It was also annoying to see that although this is about 5th grade, the winners of the "contest" seem to be kids who are at least 13 years old. They therefore are able to manage "Cuban" motion better, as they are apparently already postpubertal. Although the teachers seem to struggle with making the competition fair, and with not hurting any child's feelings (although sensitive, this also got repetitive), the entire contest actually seemed unfair to many, who were only about 10 years old.

I found this film uplifting.Disadvantaged kids work hard and win a prize.It is a predictable film.It is a documentary with real teachers and real fifth grade students from several public schools in New York City.Several people connected with this film obviously did a lot of things right.I appreciate the fact that the characters are real and not professional actors.Those who enjoyed this film would probably also like the made-for-TV movie Knights of the South Bronx, although it is a fictionalized account with professional actors based on a real person.