Mad Hot Ballroom

Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)

  • 84% of critics liked it
    (116 reviews)

  • 80% of users liked it
    (8,215 ratings)

Every year, the New York Public School system sponsors a dance competition for youngsters in fifth grade; in this contest, boys and girls ages 10 and 11 learn traditional ballroom dancing styles such as the fox trot, the rumba, and the tango, and then pit their skills against other students from… More

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PG,
Directed By
Written By
Amy Sewell
Genres
Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Special Interest
In Theaters
May 20, 2005 Limited
Paramount Classics

Critic Reviews

  • Raven Snook, Time Out

    Charming if slightly overlong.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    Listening to the kids talk is a treat in itself, but watching them strut their stuff in the final competition is enough to make you stand up and cheer.

  • Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

    It's kind of like the dance version of that documentary Rock School.

  • Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

    The kids are adorable, and so is the movie.

  • Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Clearly, the dance lessons are life lessons as well, nurturing self-confidence, team spirit, the joy of dancing and even a slight touch of Old World etiquette in an otherwise too-busy- to-be-courteous world.

Read all 22 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Julie B


    Sweet but kind of slow.

  • Anthony L


    A slow starting documentary that unexpectedly becomes quite captivating.

  • Leigh R


    Fantastic... I was cheering for those kids. :)

  • Jennifer X


    OMG what a cuuute documentary! totally got shafted at the oscars, cause i was like MANOHMAN little fifth-graders you have way more hip movement than me.

  • Sunil J


    Cute kids dancing. It's sweet but in a PBS special kind of way.

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