America will once again be invited to the dance floor when Take the Lead<\/strong> <\/i>opens on April 7th. Starring Antonio Banderas and Alfre Woodard, the film tells a story inspired by the experience of Pierre Dulaine, an award-winning ballroom dance teacher who believed that dancing could make a difference to New York City school kids. The \u201cDancing Classrooms\u201d program he began in 1993 has gone nation-wide and was the subject of 2005\u2019s Academy Award-nominated documentary Mad Hot Ballroom<\/i>, now on DVD.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n Take the Lead<\/strong><\/i> begins one evening in the Bronx when a young man, Rock (Rob Brown, Finding Forrester, Coach Carter<\/i>) tries to get into a school dance. The principal, Augustine James (Alfre Woodard, Desperate Housewives, Beauty Shop<\/i>), refuses to let him in because he does not have his I.D. On the street, he sees her car and smashes in the windshield in a fit of anger. A man comes upon the scene as he rides his bicycle home. His name is Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas, The Return of Zorro<\/i>), a professional ballroom dance teacher who is just starting a dance school after the death of his wife. He picks up James\u2019 parking permit from the ground and watches as Rock runs away.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Bright and early the next morning Dulaine goes to the high school to return the parking permit. As he sits in the outer office waiting to see Ms. James, he opens the door for everyone who passes through. A kid named Eddie (Marcus T. Paulk, Moesha<\/i>) watches in amazement and tells Dulaine he won\u2019t get any girls that way. The secretaries, however, are very impressed. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>After Ms. James finishes speaking with one teacher, Mr. Temple (John Ortiz), who refuses to supervise detention after school, Dulaine asks if he can volunteer to teach ballroom dancing to those very kids. Ms. James is skeptical but gives her permission.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>That afternoon Dulaine meets with the kids who are not only skeptical but guffaw at the idea of fancy dancing. Dulaine looks up when he sees Rock walk in and they recognize one another from the night before. Rock sits in a corner and refuses to participate. The kids have attitude \u2013 and some of their own moves to teach Dulaine. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Mr. Temple resists Dulaine\u2019s attempts to bring culture to the students by trying to pit the parents against him and Ms. James. But Dulaine wins the students over when he demonstrates a stunning number with Morgan (Katya Virshilas), one of the teachers at his dancing school \u2013 and when he tells them they can be part of a ballroom dancing contest a few weeks hence. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span>Take the Lead<\/strong> <\/i>is a film about life, communication, and respect, said Pierre Dulaine at a recent interview with faith-based publications. \u201cKids need to be given permission to be respectful.\u201d During the dance lessons, \u201cBoys learn that ladies should be on the right; this is a position of respect.\u00a0 <\/span>The students learn to feel good about themselves.\u201d Dulaine tells the story of a fifth grade boy who refused to dance in the early days of his program in New York. The boy stayed in the back of the room and cried. Dulaine let him help in other ways. After four lessons or so, the boy joined in and later became a lead dancer in the community; he and Pierre still keep in touch. \u201cTeaching boys especially how to dance,\u201d said Dulaine, \u201cteaches respect, and it will make life better for women.\u201d<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Alfre Woodard, who plays the over-worked principal Augustine James in the film, told journalists that, \u201cDancing is great. It\u2019s primal. You put music on, and you just go. In tribal dancing, people danced by themselves, but together. In the U.S. in the 60\u2019s, we started dancing together, but alone. People are moving back to \u201ctouch dancing\u201d. It\u2019s like a sacrament when you touch one another in ballroom dance because it transforms you.\u201d<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>There is a scene in the film when Pierre Dulaine, played by Antonio Banderas, tells a parent who wants to know how ballroom dancing will make a difference, \u201cYour son will know how to touch someone.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>During the interview noted above, Antonio Banderas said, \u201cthis is a family-oriented movie that teaches kids about boundaries. It\u2019s about communication and can be a catalyst for change. You can\u2019t be angry or depressed when you dance; it\u2019s like taking a happy pill.\u201d<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Ms. Woodard also addressed the lack of arts programs in schools. \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand that the arts heal people; dancing affects the brain; there is a real connection between music and math, too \u2026. If you can see yourself dancing, it feels good because it\u2019s natural. If you can imagine it, it\u2019s possible to do it, and it changes everyone\u2019s lives.\u201d Banderas noted that \u201cKids don\u2019t see money for the arts but the government is willing to spend billions on a war\u2026.\u201d He added, \u201cBallroom dancing teaches self-respect and respect for the other. Kids who won\u2019t look at each other in the cafeteria are dancing together. They begin to carry themselves in a new way.\u201d <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n Ballroom dancing as a metaphor for life is enjoying a renaissance in popularity that probably began twenty years ago with Emile Androlino\u2019s 1986 Dirty Dancing<\/i>, a morally challenging coming-of-age story set among differing social classes. In 1992 Baz Lurhmann\u2019s quirky Strictly Ballroom<\/i> used caricature to reveal a father\u2019s creative soul to his son.\u00a0 <\/span>Shall We Dance<\/i>, both the Japanese original (1996) and the Hollywood version (2004) showed men having a mid-life crisis and resolving it through ballroom dance. Save the Last Dance<\/i>, produced by MTV in 2001 brought ballet and hip hop together with racial issues, growing up, and teen grief. Television\u2019s Dancing with the Stars<\/i> (ABC) has proven to be hugely popular.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n Take the Lead<\/strong><\/i> is directed by first-timer Liz Friedlander who agreed with the journalists that while the film is formulaic, it works. She also said that if there is ever a sequel, there will be more sequences of Antonio Banderas dancing. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n Writer Dianne Houston said all she did was to \u201ctake Pierre\u2019s program and add hormones\u201d since Pierre Dulaine originally taught ballroom dance to New York City fifth graders when he began in 1993. Take the Lead<\/strong><\/i> instead uses teens in high school and fuses their hip hop dancing with ballroom, a creative decision that Dulaine supported. Just recently schools have begun to admit the dancing program into high schools. No dance doubles were used in the film. <\/font><\/p>\n