Mad Hot Ballroom

Directed by Marilyn Agrelo
Written by Amy Sewell

I have, so far, not been a fan of the larger big screen documentaries coming out of America – Fahrenheit 9/11 and Spellbound come to mind – but I had no idea that my cynicism of the genre could be washed away so easily.
Mad Hot Ballroom is a joyous, uplifting film from first-time director Marilyn Agrelo, scripted by Amy Sewell, which is unapologetic in its cheerful, moving celebration of the kids of Brooklyn, Tribeca and Washington Heights that are conscripted into taking ballroom lessons for 10 weeks.
The on-screen results are wonderful. The kids are given free reign with the camera and justifiably hog the limelight with their witty, sometimes insightful, comments to each other and the camera. Their streetwise urbane New York attitude sees them comment on a wide range of adult issues with such frank clarity that it is hard to believe that they are only 11-year-olds.
Remarkably, or perhaps not depending on your point of view, it is noteworthy that the students seem the most intelligent souls in the room and clearly have a finer grasp of the world than their teachers. While a series of demented, hysterical and pathologically driven dance teachers instruct them, the kids (and therefore the audience) are the only ones who seem to realise that dancing should be fun first and competition second… and what fun it is.

Mad Hot Ballroom however, is more than just fun, it is a documentary that also addresses the role of education amongst the less privileged, albeit supremely savvy, children of New York.
Their recorded observations include what they think about the presence of drugs in their neighbourhood, an acute awareness of kidnapping statistics, the effects of divorce and extra-marital affairs on family break-ups, the bible’s attitude toward same-sex unions, their hopes for parenthood, growing up and, yes, architecture in the Big Apple.
 

With these old heads on such young shoulders, it is hard to believe they need education at all. However, the ballroom project is undertaken to instill the kids with the missing ingredient that could prove their undoing. It teaches pride, self-respect, ambition and physical discipline, albeit disguised as fun.
The teachers themselves are a sorry bunch, breaking down crying, offering unutterable advice on winning and competition and spending their time desperately fawning over a dance trophy that dwarfs the children themselves.
Ultimately, the stars of the show are the kids, disarming the audience throughout, sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious, their ways and words make the strikingly inappropriate performances of Tango et al fade and Mad Hot Ballroom becomes a celebration of the kids of New York punctuated by remarkable dance sequences.
Touching and funny with a wry, ironic hand behind the camera, Mad Hot Ballroom is uniquely charming and well worth seeing.
Mad hot Ballroom U, is showing at QFT from 27th January to 9th February