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April 8, 2014
Review: Dancing in Jaffa

large_Dancing_In_Jaffa_1The popular 2005 film "Mad Hot Ballroom" chronicled the introduction of ballroom dance classes to New York City schools and made a case for the importance of arts education.  Several years later, a new documentary has been released on a similar program in Israel: Hilla Medalia's "Dancing in Jaffa".  Like "Mad Hot Ballroom", this charming film tells the story of pre-teens -- many from underprivileged families -- who gain confidence as they learn the steps of the tango and waltz.  The twist: as a condition of participating in the program, the Israeli children must dance with those of Palestinean descent, and vice versa.

The program is the brainchild of ballroom dancer Pierre Dulaine; born in Jaffa, he and his parents fled the country in 1948.  He returns decades later determined to heal the rifts in this ancient port city, where about one third of the citizens are Palestinean-Isaraelis, protest marches frequent and tense, and hostility rife.

Medalia wisely keeps her focus on the preadolescent struggles that the children face (squeamishness about holding each other's hands, a girl who can't find anyone to dance with her), while larger conflicts seep into the story in often unexpected ways; a dark classroom without windows, for example, is a bomb shelter repurposed as place to screen footage of Dulaine dancing.  As we watch the children's faces light up as they watch him dance, it is the latter use that seems remarkable.If Dulaine's dream is naive, underestimating just how entrenched the prejudices of this region are, it is at least earnest, and one of the documentary's great strengths is its portrait of the man.  Empathetic, fussy, and desperate to make a difference, he uses his tie to flick at the kids running their mouths during class and gradually wins over his young charges -- and us -- with his irrepressible enthusiasm.
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