Only When I Dance

Release date: 22-Feb-2010

Director: Beadie Finzi
Cast: Irlan Santos da Silva, Isabela Coracy Alves Nascimento Santos, Mariza Estrella

Only When I Dance is the story of two teenagers trying to realise an extraordinary dream. One girl and one boy, both black and poor, are planning to dance their way out of one of the most violent favelas in Rio de Janerio.

Granted scholarships to train at the Centro de Dance Rio, one of the most rigorous andprestigious ballet schools in Brazil, Isabela and Irlan’s natural talent for ballet is about to transform theirlives. Having passed the Brazilian selection panel in October 2007, Only When I Dance follows Isabela and Irlan as they prepare to compete at the prestigious international ballet competitions in Lausanne and New York, where they hope to be spotted by the ballet company talent scouts.

But is pure talent enough to overcome their circumstances and gain them a place at one of the best international dance companies, thus granting them access to the elite world of classical ballet? Isabela’s family is desperately struggling to raise the money to be able to pay for the competition expenses and the flights to the US.

Only When I Dance is Mad Hot Ballroom meets Billy Elliot, set in the favelas of Rio. A classic narrative of coming of age; it is about chasing a dream to dance the most perfect dance against all the odds of race and of circumstance. And of course the price you must pay for talent, for ambition and success.

Certificate: PG
Genres: Arthouse Documentary Film Sport

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