Event Details
Mad Hot Ballroom comes to The Plaza
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Mexican Heritage Plaza and KIDS FIRST!
Date: Sunday, Aug 7, 2005 Times: 2pm and 5pm Cost: $2.00 kids - $5.00 Adults Location: Plaza Theatre
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Join us for a unique screening opportunity Sunday August 7, 2005 at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theatre. Screening times are : 2:00PM and 5:00PM. Tickets are available at the MHP Box Office starting at 12PM, Noon. (Sorry – no advance ticket sales). Tickets are $2.00 for kids twelve and under and $5.00 for adults.
MAD HOT BALLROOM is an inspiring look inside the lives of a culturally diverse group of New York City school kids on a journey into the world of ballroom dancing – a new and unexpected arena where they discover home truths about attitude, movement, style and commitment.
Told from the candid, sometimes hilarious perspective of the boys and girls themselves, the picture chronicles their transformation from typical urban kids to “ladies and gentlemen,” as their school teams aim towards a final citywide competition.
Dance becomes a way kids can express their individuality and explore the richness of a community
Providing unique insight into the incredible cultural diversity that is truly the soul of New York City, first time feature filmmakers Marilyn Agrelo and Amy Sewell profile eleven-year-olds from three public elementary schools. Shooting in neighborhoods, classrooms and in the fifth-graders’ homes, the filmmakers show all the contradictions of this dynamic and intriguing age, when growing pressure to become a “cool” teenager vies with rambunctious childlike innocence.
Like SPELLBOUND before it, MAD HOT BALLROOM portrays the fierce passion that kids can bring to a competition. Yet it also celebrates the small steps of everyday life and reminds us of a moment in time when it seemed as if anything was possible. Amid the complexity of big city life, these kids take on a totally unfamiliar challenge and rise to the occasion. Some kids come from relative privilege; others from mean streets where gangs and drugs present daily danger, but they all learn to see past the borders.
Dance becomes a way kids can express their individuality and explore the richness of a community – all at the same moment, all with the same movements. Filled with wrenching emotion and joyful triumph, this documentary feature is a resounding exclamation point for growing up in America.
MAD HOT BALLROOM made its world premiere in January 2005 as the opening night film for the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. The film is directed by Marilyn Agrelo and produced by both Agrelo and Amy Sewell.
What is the KIDS FIRST! Film and Video Festival?
Celebrities and paparazzi have Sundance and Cannes, but kids and families have the KIDS FIRST! Film and Video Festival. Now in its sixth year, the KIDS FIRST! Festival is a showcase for new and classic children's films, videos, and DVDs from studios, independent producers and kids worldwide that travels nationwide.Youth are given a true voice - as curators of the Festival, panelists critiquing films, volunteer staff and as filmmakers and videographers showing their work.
KIDS FIRST 2005 Festivals will travel to more than 50 different locations, play to an audience of more than 250,000, and offers sneak previews of soon-to-be released titles, classic films, and independent films for an audience of 2- to 18-year-olds.
The programming is clustered for four different age groups: ages 2-5, 6-8, 9-12 and 12-17 so families can attend back-to-back showings of films appropriate for a particular child's age.
All of the titles must meet the KIDS FIRST! criteria which means they are free of gratuitous violence, bias, or inappropriate sexual content. Visit Kids First at www.cqcm.org.