Mad Hot Ballroom

John and I watched "Mad Hot Ballroom" tonight, a documentary about a New York City Public School's program that teaches 5th graders ballroom dances so they can compete in a city-wide ballroom dance competition. We both really enjoyed it.

For John's taste, it was a fabulously edited, beautifully shot and conceived documentary with wonderful interviews with the kids involved and great footage as they learn the merinque, the rhumba, the foxtrot, the tango and the swing. For my taste, it was a terrific tale of how dance and the arts can save kids on the edge. There were several kids filmed for the documentary who were pegged as "at risk" and who, according to their teachers, turned around during the course of learning these dances and preparing for competition.

The kids were amazing. As I said in an earlier post, we completely underestimate what kids of capable of understanding and accepting in their life. We have no idea how hard a child will work towards a goal until we give them the opportunity.

At the beginning of the documentary, one of the teachers states that she was wary about the program at first because she doesn't agree with competition because it creates winners and losers. I guess I'm a bit tired of the way so many curriculums are going these days with this "we're all winners!" attitude. I think telling kids that no matter what they do they're winners, that "everyone can be a dancer" that "everyone is as good at everthing as everyone else" has aided in creating the lazy students that we see in so many schools today. Competition, if approached the right way, gives kids something to work for. Losing (just like winning) is part of life, and if a child never experiences it, then they won't be prepared for adulthood.

The kids who didn't win the big trophy in this documentary took it very well. They learned valuable lessons simply by being a part of the process. They learned where they could improve and they also became aware of personal limitations in certain areas. We can't have everything go immediately right for us all the time, and I was extremely impressed with this program's ability to show this and treat it as a beautiful, enjoyable learning experience.

It's a great film. It shows off some amazing kids doing some amazing things with nothing but their own gumption and an hour a week to guide them. Rent it.