Abstract The paper compares and contrasts two movies "Mad Hot Ballroom" and "Take The Lead", which deal with the ballroom dance school program and its impact on the children. The paper examines the importance that is placed on the voices of the children in both films. The paper relates that both films show how a short dance class can impact children and teenagers. The paper argues, however, that in "Mad Hot Ballroom" the voices of the children are better represented and the experiences and agendas of childhood are more realistically portrayed.
From the Paper "Both films deal with the same topic: introducing ballroom dancing to children and the impact that this exposure has on the childern. However, there are many differences between the two films in how this is done. One of the biggest differences is in the age of the children. While the students of the documentary are 4th and 5th graders and thus 10-12 years of age, those of the "Take the lead" are older teenagers in high school. The children in "Mad hot ballroom" are from different social, economic, religious and cultural groups, while the children in "Take the lead" are "ghetto" children (at least "ghetto" in the Hollywood sense), mostly black, from lower social and economic groups."
