Mad Hot Ballroom
I remember learning to line dance in middle school, in particular I remember the electric slide and something that required country music (Billy Ray Cyrus to be exact). In high school my spanish class learned an amusing new dance from Spain called the Macarena (we also watched a little film from Mexico called El Mariachi — I had a great Spanish teacher). I never learned ballroom dancing though, and I kind of wish I had.
The kids in Mad Hot Ballroom certainly are learning to dance, and man can some of them dance. Watching the kids from Washington Heights, you would have thought these kids had been dancing a lot longer than 10 weeks. The best part of the film (besides the dancing) are the interviews which create a view of life in the three schools both from the perspectives of the students (the difference between the girls’ and boys’ interviews are fascinating) and the teachers (both those dedicated to winning and those who see dancing as a way to get kids with behavioral problems to do something constructive).
Update: The filmmakers talk about all the crap they had to go through to get the rights to the music in the movie
ha, i just went to see that last night. i thought it was pretty great.
curious– what are the numbers in the top right? your rating of said media?
yep, i was just thinking today that their purpose isn’t very obvious. i’ve been rating things out of 5 so that they match the ratings i give movies on netflix.