Imagine watching a group of poised, elegant ballroom dancers flawlessly gliding to the rhythms of the fox trot, rumba, tango and meringue and moving to the frenzied swing beat. Are you watching the finals of the International Ballroom Dancing Competition? No you are watching a group of 11 year old New York City elementary school children, many from inner city impoverished neighborhoods. This is the subject of the delightful documentary Mad Hot Ballroom.

This engrossing film follows several classes from various New York City boroughs who are participating in the ballroom dancing school program. We get to know the individual students and their teachers and get caught up in their experiences. At first awkward and unsure, and in some cases extremely reluctant, these students mature into polished, mature performers.

We are totally caught up in the emotions of the competition and feel the exhilaration of the winners and the despair of the also-rans (there are no losers since every team in the Semi-Finals and Finals is awarded at least a Silver Medal and receives a prize package). We see the pride of the parents watching their children in the Finals. We see the delight of the judges who include Broadway dancer/choreographers Ann Reinking and Gracielle Danielle.

We see the contrast in the lives of the students from wealthy Upper Eastside Manhattan with those in the lower economic class areas who have one thing in common - their love of the dance and their need to do well in the competition.

We follow students with behavior problems and lack of social skills who learn to thrive in the mainstream school environment and learn to care about their teammates and themselves. We know that this experience is indeed a life-changing one.

In the same vein as Music From the Heart this film shows us how important the Arts can be to a school curriculum because it exposes students to areas they might never have a chance to participate in. Watching the self-confidence they gain by mastering these seemingly impossible disciplines is all the reason needed to justify these programs - and to watch this film.

It's interesting that this film came out at about the same time as the American version of Shall We Dance which also explored how learning ballroom dancing can change your life. But I guess that is true of any discipline. Any time we learn something new, we give ourselves a chance to grow and change.

Mad Hot Ballroom is Directed by first-time director Marilyn Agrelo and Written by Amy Sewell.

The website is: http://www.paramountclassics.com/madhot/