Inspired to Dance a Different Dance

Last night I went with a couple of friends to see Take the Lead. While they were both eager to see it, I had really not heard much about it. Frankly, I went just to get out and do something and specifically to spend some time with them.

I didn’t realize until today that it’s not getting the best reviews which actually kind of surprised me. I think a word used in one review was “uninspiring.” Funny to me because the word “inspiring” was the exact word I used to describe it as my friends and I left the movie theater! True, it’s not necessarily a movie worthy of an Oscar nod but how many really are by critic standards?

Maybe it’s just that Take the Lead spoke to me on a heart level. A ballroom teacher (Antonio Banderas) decides to get involved in the inner city community around him after stumbling upon one of these kids vandalizing his own principal’s car. Banderas’ character doesn’t see a “discipline problem”; rather, he sees the hurt, anger, loneliness, and woundedness of these kids. I love how he really sees into the hearts of these students! Using ballroom dancing – a style of dancing they are initially repelled by – he teaches them some things about life as well as themselves. It was exciting for me to see these kids really begin to see their hearts and learn how to live beyond themselves. I walked out of the theater inspired to not only see my world through a different lens but to challenge myself to dance a different dance every now and then.