A fourteen-year-old boy pursues his love of ballroom dancing and classical music, despite bullying and peer pressure. [ Dancing With Style credits: Dir: Xander de Boer/ 17 min/ Documentary Short/ Individualism/ Netherlands]
Note: the full film, “Dancing With Style,” may be viewed online here.
Dancing With Style is just a short 17-minute film, but it sums up in its few minutes the common high school experience of those who stand out from the herd — the intimidation, bullying and pressure to conform — and it tells the story of one 14-year-old Dutch boy courageous enough to resist that pressure.
Eugene is a classic target: slender, articulate, sweet and…a ballroom dancer, a brave choice of sport for a person so young. It is that choice and the fact that he sticks by it that makes this film of likely interest to libertarians. The telling has a strong tone of individualism and endorses, by way of a final scene at the end, the kind of risk necessary to maintain that personal independence. In a bit of daring, Eugene decides to bring the conflict between himself and his classmates to a head by dancing openly in front of his class in a prearranged demonstration. Isn’t it possible they will reject him wholesale if that happens, he is asked by a concerned friend? His response: “Yeah. That’s the risk I’ll be taking.”
It’s a pleasure to get to know this gutsy real-life Billy Elliot in this generally well-made and touching documentary short.
How to See It
Note: the full film, “Dancing With Style,” may be viewed online here.
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