Mad Hot Ballroom parents guide

Mad Hot Ballroom Parent Guide

Overall A

Why has New York City's school district made ballroom dancing a mandatory part of the curriculum for fifth-graders? Find out in this top-tapping documentary.

Release date May 12, 2005

Violence A
Sexual Content B+
Profanity B+
Substance Use B+

Why is Mad Hot Ballroom rated PG? The MPAA rated Mad Hot Ballroom PG for some thematic elements

Run Time: 105 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Introducing mandatory ballroom dancing as part of the curriculum in the public school system might sound like a brave initiative. It’s even gutsier when you consider the students involved are fifth-graders, some of whom can barely bring themselves to touch a member of the opposite gender.

Implemented by the New York City School District in the 1990s, the 10-week course is taught in 60 public schools by talented and patient instructors from the American Ballroom Theater Company. The culminating event is a citywide competition where the schools vie for a huge trophy and bragging rights for the next year.

Focusing on the students and teachers from three different schools, Director Marilyn Agrelo expands on an article written by Amy Sewell for The Tribeca Trib. In the documentary, the two women highlight the cultural, economic and family circumstances of the young contestants from varying boroughs of the city.

Some of the kids are street-wise beyond their years, exposed to the harsher realities of life. Others live in poverty but their enthusiasm for movement isn’t diminished by their lack of funds. Still another class comes from a community that is undergoing a sweeping cultural change as one ethnic group gives way for newcomers from another.

The charm of this film however, comes from the students themselves. Candid in their comments, they discuss girl/boy relationships, life on the streets and future plans. Their unscripted dialogue reveals the passions and hopes of these youngsters as they look forward to adulthood.

The fun starts when these pre-adolescents hit the hardwood. Encouraged by devoted instructors like Rodney Lopez, Victoria Malvagno and Alex Tchassov, the kids learn the intricacies of synchronized steps, hip movements and hand positions. They study the niceties of social interactions, and develop a sense of camaraderie with their teammates. The participants also learn about the reality of winning and losing. For some of them, it is a hard lesson to experience the heartbreak that comes from doing your best and still falling short. Yet for others, the event helps them focus on something productive in their lives. It overcomes language barriers and crosses cultural lines.

Given a chance to perform in front of hundreds of classmates and spectators in a downtown venue, nerves do get a little stretched during the actual dance-offs. But the spirit of the event remains enthusiastic and upbeat with the audience and other dancers offering their rowdy support to the kids on the stage.

While their routines may lack the polish of a professional troupe, these competitors perform with an eagerness that makes Mad Hot Ballroom a foot-tapping, hip-swaying experience for audiences young and old.

Starring Heather Berman, Paul Daggett. Running time: 105 minutes. Theatrical release May 12, 2005. Updated

Mad Hot Ballroom Parents' Guide

In addition to dancing, what skills do the children learn? How are teachers portrayed in this film? In what ways do their examples affect the children in their classrooms?

The citywide contest is the culminating event for the students. How do the children learn to deal with success and failure at the competition? How do they support one another and develop a team attitude?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Mad Hot Ballroom movie is October 17, 2005. Here are some details…

DVD Release Date: 18 October 2005
If you didn’t get to trip-the-light-fantastic with this dance sensation when it made its limited theatrical d0xE9but, you might want to take the DVD release for a spin. The documentary is available in English with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks.

Related home video titles:

Richard Gere is a harried businessman who discovers he has a passion for ballroom dancing in Shall We Dance?. A young adult hip-hopper uses her talents to keep kids off the street by teaching them some new moves in Honey.