I wrote this piece earlier but it was in my drafts as I missed posting it. Better late than never they say and I hope the movie is still streaming on Netflix.

As a lover of dance and as  a ballroom and latin dance educator for two decades and more,  I have always been delighted to watch any good dance related movies, especially those  centered on partner dancing. Having enjoyed wonderful movies like’ Shall we dance’ and ‘Dance with me’ and so many more, I  eagerly await such rare kind of movies. As the love of movements runs in my blood and passion for dance in my spirit and soul. 

They are truly far and few good movies  in this genre. So in these holiday times while  exploring Netflix , I stumbled upon 10 dances as a movie to watch and immediately set a reminder for it .

The film depicts all the Ten dances that are danced in the Ballroom & Latin dancing repertoire. I have been teaching them socially over the years. So from the first poetic sequence I was hooked.

Though the movie is set in the backdrop of the world dance competitions, at its heart is  partner dancing which is my favorite of dancing forms.  It captures, the sheer joy and thrill of dancing with another, matching move to move… I loved the beginning of the movie, the introduction to the dances and also the way it brought out  the distinctive difference in both styles.

The movie at its core is based on competitiveness and the complexity of human emotions. The entanglement of love & rivalry  in personal relationships & most of all the importance trust in and between one another. Though at times  I did feel the narrative steered too much into their personal stories, that I felt it diluted the dance essence.

Yet the movie also revealed the truth of how much adaptability is the key and how challenging, it can be for different personalities who are dancing together, be it as a learner or a teacher and how difficult it is to unlearn to learn…

Someone trained in structured forms finds it so challenging to let go and dance from the heart. Whereas someone who dances with all their heart may feel stifled by excessive  structures.

Over all, it was compelling to watch the changing dynamics portrayed at times, so very poetically in a dance movie to say the least. Do watch if you love dancing and especially so the magic of partner dancing.

Savvy Raj