Each year within the New York Public School system is a ballroom dancing competition. This year we follow a couple of schools from inner-city areas and the pupils who find themselves sucked into the competitive dance-offs despite the reservations some of them feel.This film was billed as "this year's Spellbound", which was both a smart marketing move but also an unhelpful comparison. In regards the subject then it is a fair comparison because it deals with school kids in competition but unfortunately the quality is not quite as high. The weakness here is in the delivery and structure because I think it tries to throw its net too wide, taking in groups rather than individuals. As a result it never brings out specific characters as well as Spellbound did and as a viewer I never got engaged with individuals that much. In the general sweep approach though the film does work as a rather fun documentary. The kids are all wonderfully "Noo Yark", "BK" etc clichés and there is a certain pleasure in watching them get engaged in the dancing and enter into the competitive spirit.In a very white, middle-class way I suppose I'm suppose to take something bigger from this and certainly some of the reviews have come across as being "moved" in a rather condensing way. But this is the downside of having "underprivileged" (read "non-white") kids as a general group and not bringing individuals out apart from here and there – they become a mass and not a subject. The dance contests and the sass of the pupils does give it enough energy to carry it along but outside of this there is not a lot to get from it and I rarely found myself engaged in a general competition that I had little personal stock invested in. The classes focused on are all quite fun but again I did want the individuals to be brought out more.Overall then a colourful and quite fun film with plenty of energy but a weakness in the approach and structure. Unlike Spellbound we don't really have individuals that we can follow but rather groups and this approach stops stories and morals coming out. The result of this is an OK documentary but nowhere near as strong or as interesting as it could have been and in regards the quality of the film it certainly does not deserve its comparison with Spellbound.

Fantastic Documentary, drama, comedy and realistic piece of work. I just saw it recently, and am disappointed i haven't seen it earlier. So by now i could of watched it at least 3 times. When i first sat down i thought it was just based on dancing, of course i was wrong.This movie touches every aspect in NYC life and maybe all over the United Sates school district. What i loved is the foreign kids that we get to see in their home environment, growing gradually and learning the New York culture while dancing to their own music. The documentary also shows us sentimental aspects from the people who actually helped the kids. Kids could also see this and connect with the kids comments when it comes to growing up and the trouble, and choices they face. After the movie it made me want to get up and DANCE! Recommended for ALL.

I absolutely loved this movie and I think the only thing that would have made me like it more and give it a 10 is if they would have shown more of the dances during the competitions (they tended to break away and show more interviews while the dancing was going on) and it would have been nice if they showed more of the other dancers at the competitions that weren't the main focus of the documentary. I was watching some of the kids in the background and there were some really good dancers in there. I would love to hear 15 years from now that some of these kids that went through the program ended up being professional dancers.

I found this film uplifting.Disadvantaged kids work hard and win a prize.It is a predictable film.It is a documentary with real teachers and real fifth grade students from several public schools in New York City.Several people connected with this film obviously did a lot of things right.I appreciate the fact that the characters are real and not professional actors.Those who enjoyed this film would probably also like the made-for-TV movie Knights of the South Bronx, although it is a fictionalized account with professional actors based on a real person.