It's been some time, but I wasn't quite inspired...until earlier this month, when I made some nice discoveries, film-wise and art-wise. Probably inspired by an art fan I've met...And the latest one is this very touching documentary, 'Only when I dance'. In a nutshell, we follow the story of two teenage kids from the Rio favelas trying to dance their way out of there.
The film is inhabited by the grace and passion these kids have for their art. It also cleverly talks about Rio favelas in a positive way, avoiding cliches on a crime-ridden area. Key issues are though evoked – we for example follow the financial struggles parents face to send their children to New York for an international dance competition.
Another theme is evoked, and it's the equality of treatment a young black female dancer could receive compared to other girls. Isabela, the young girl, will finally not make it into the dancers selected for the scholarship, under grounds that she is 'too fat'. To my opinion, this is really loads of bullsh*t. Of course, in case you wonder, she is a thin & gracious girl, with lots of sweetness who incarnates ballet in a very personal way. This young and very gracious girl is just as talented as the others, but the jury of classic ballet dancing have probably a 'classic' conception of what beauty, in the world of ballet, is, so they could not conceive that a young black girl would successfully embody a female character. Because this is what these international competitions are about – selecting the most talented artists who will fit into the patterns classic ballet dancing have always developed. And their ideal of a woman ballet dancer is probably close to a thin blonde girl with straight hair...
So they gave her only the third prize. Which is very unfair, I think.
The film is inhabited by the grace and passion these kids have for their art. It also cleverly talks about Rio favelas in a positive way, avoiding cliches on a crime-ridden area. Key issues are though evoked – we for example follow the financial struggles parents face to send their children to New York for an international dance competition.
Another theme is evoked, and it's the equality of treatment a young black female dancer could receive compared to other girls. Isabela, the young girl, will finally not make it into the dancers selected for the scholarship, under grounds that she is 'too fat'. To my opinion, this is really loads of bullsh*t. Of course, in case you wonder, she is a thin & gracious girl, with lots of sweetness who incarnates ballet in a very personal way. This young and very gracious girl is just as talented as the others, but the jury of classic ballet dancing have probably a 'classic' conception of what beauty, in the world of ballet, is, so they could not conceive that a young black girl would successfully embody a female character. Because this is what these international competitions are about – selecting the most talented artists who will fit into the patterns classic ballet dancing have always developed. And their ideal of a woman ballet dancer is probably close to a thin blonde girl with straight hair...So they gave her only the third prize. Which is very unfair, I think.
