Feel the Beat Parent Guide

We’re often urged to “follow our dreams”. But what if following your dreams hurts someone else? That’s a major question in Feel the Beat and the movie’s attempts to address it are ambiguous, incomplete, and ultimately unsatisfying.

This story skips its way along the familiar path of the underdog dance movie genre. You know, a group of hopeless but determined young dancers aim for the stars and overcome the challenges that stand in their way. There are lots of glitzy costumes, some suspenseful moments on stage, and plenty of team bonding. The wrinkle in the plot revolves around the girls’ dance teacher. April (Sofia Carson) is a local-girl-made-good who’s starring on Broadway. At least, that’s what everyone in her small Wisconsin town believes. The reality is that April inadvertently offended a significant industry figure – and the interaction went viral online. Now a pariah in the dance community, April has returned home to lick her wounds and sulk. All seems lost until April learns about a national dance competition, which includes a teacher dancing segment. If she can whip the local dance class into shape, April will be able to dance in front of a major producer. Ever on the look out for her own interests, our profoundly selfish protagonist manipulates and bullies a group of little girls into becoming stepping stones for her career. And since people in this town apparently don’t use the internet, no one is aware of her self-serving motivations…at least, not right away.

The storyline makes clear that watching this show is not always a pleasant experience. April is almost completely devoid of empathy and oozes arrogance and self-pity in almost equal measure. For most of the movie, she treats her class of little girls with a level of cruelty that kicked my momma bear instincts into overdrive. Frankly, the only reason I can think of for watching this film is to make sure our kids understand healthy relationships with teachers or coaches. If watching this movie prompts a discussion about recognizing abuse and knowing how to report it, then the 107 minute runtime isn’t a complete loss.

That said, dance-mad tweens will probably enjoy the flick. Kids are famously unfussy media consumers and they will happily watch as the characters twirl and leap along the well-trodden storyline. Thankfully, there’s little content to worry about, with no violence or explicit sexual content, no recreational drug use, and only three swear words.

“Break a leg” is the traditional way to wish a performer good luck as they go on stage. While watching Feel the Beat, I almost wished that I had broken mine so I could turn it off before the end. There’s no other way to spin it: this dance movie falls flat.