DANCING IN JAFFA – The Review

DANCING IN JAFFA is a film that attempts to demonstrate how the power of dance can bring children together – even if their parents hate each other. It’s a well-made, heart-tugging documentary but would have been better had it focused more on the captivating kids at its center and less on their annoying teacher.

Jaffa is an ancient port city in Israel shared by both Jews and Palestinians. It’s also the birthplace of internationally renowned ballroom dancer Pierre Dulaine, who’d fled the country as a child. Dulaine fulfills a life-long dream when he takes his program, Dancing Classrooms, back there, where over a ten-week period he teaches Jewish and Palestinian children to dance and compete together. The film focuses on three of these ten-year old kids, all of whom who are forced to confront issues of identity, segregation and racial prejudice as they dance with their “enemy”. There’s the shy boy Alaa, who lives in a tiny shack with his fisherman father, sad Noor, coming to terms with the recent death of her dad, and Lois, who’s being raised by a single mother who conceived her via a sperm bank. Despite hesitance and suspicion from these kids, and especially their parents, we witness Dulaine attempts to transform their lives and confirm his own belief that dance can bridge hatred and provide the first steps towards change.

While DANCING IN JAFFA spends too much time setting up its premise, director Hilla Medalia eventually does a good job of getting to know the subjects of her film. The children’s stories are touching (“Oh my god, we were looking into each other’s eyes,” claims one Jewish girl after dancing with a Muslim boy), and while so many kids drop out of the program, you really admire the ones who stick it out. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of Dulaine. His heart may be in the right place, but he comes off as such a petulant, grandstanding drama queen that his company makes for a long 90 minutes. Dulaine’s exaggerated teaching technique often crosses the line into obnoxiousness. He yells, rolls his eyes, whistles loudly to get attention, tugs on his hair, slaps his students with his tie, and shouts out showy commands (“look the enemy in the eye!” he shrieks with inappropriate intensity). Though Dulaine confesses early on to favoring the Palestinians, DANCING IN JAFFA, with the exception of one scene showing a gathering of angry Jews declaring that the city belong exclusively to them, avoids the political and social issues at hand (which is probably a good thing). Predictably, the film climaxes in a dance competition which leads to an ending that is satisfying but seems rehearsed – which is one of the problems throughout the film. The dialog and Dulaine’s many speeches never seem spontaneous; they lack natural flow and many of the shots of the children’s reactions to his self-aware theatrics seem staged. The spectacle of watching young people overcome prejudice should appeal to all and despite its flaws (and Mr. Dulaine’s abrasive personality), DANCING IN JAFFA may be worth a look for those who enjoy these types of warm-hearted documentaries.

3 of 5 Stars

DANCING IN JAFFA opens in St. Louis May 16th at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater