Take The City And Run

Directed by Marilyn Agrelo, 2005
viewed May 13, 2005

On Friday, I happened to see a post on Gothamist about Mad Hot Ballroom; That evening, when I arrived at Landmark/Sunshine ostensibly to see Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room, I noticed a sign in the ticket window that said the director and editor of MHB would be there for Q+As after two screenings, one of which was starting in about twenty minutes. So, I changed my plans.

The documentary follows kids from three fifth grade classes involved in ballroom dancing courses in NYC public schools — part of a program involving 6,000 kids in 60 schools. The three schools chosen for the film from citywide scouting are PS 115 in Washington Heights, PS 112 in Bensonhurst, and PS 150 in Tribeca. The program started at the Tribeca school just after September 11, 2001 and was a welcome way for students and teachers alike to become involved in something fulfilling that helped them deal in some way with the tragedy so near them. The real protagonists of the film are the students of PS 115, along with their teacher, Yomaira Reynoso. At first, Ms. Reynoso’s ambitions to win the championship her students so nearly won the previous year may play as unseemly, but her motives soon reveal themselves as pure as she explains her beliefs that dancing has helped many of her students avoid the troubled paths they seemed predestined for before dancing came into their lives. She wants them to be competitive and she wants them to win because she believes it will instill them with the confidence they’ll need to avoid all the possible corruptive influences on their lives. But the children can speak for themselves and the things they say make it clear they’re aware of the potential challenges they face. You’ll root for them because you want them to win and you’ll root for them because they want to win.

Also of note: Gothamist interview with Yomaira Reynoso