MAO'S LAST DANCER & STEP UP 3D

MAO’S LAST DANCER

Based on a true story, this film sheds light on Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution; a revolution that eliminated personal identity and creativity; if possible the differences in male and female would have been expunged, procreation relegated to a Petri dish.

Out of this morass of sameness rises Li Cunxin (portrayed proactively and sensuously by first timer, Chi Cao); taken as a boy by the Party to be trained as a ballet dancer; a tool, a foil to be used as propaganda; one of the most painful scenes, but telling, is the bastardazation of the true meaning of the ballet into a charade and show of force representing the warped and brain- washed Chinese culture of 1966-76. A video tape of Baryshnikov’s gravity- defying feats, banned and relegated to the status of contraband.

The dance scenes are exhilarating; Chi Cao (a principal with the Birmingham Royal Ballet) flies off the screen; his portrayal as a loyal party member, ripped from the conformity of Communist China and placed as an exchange student in the Huston Ballet is joyously believable and entertaining. The ultimate display of his amazing agility is his performance in Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” (Graeme Murphy’s stunning choreography); the glittering gem in a crown of gorgeous ballet sequences.

Secondary roles, especially Bruce Greenwood as Ben Stevenson, the director of the Houston Ballet and Kyle MacLachlan, playing Charles Foster, an immigration attorney are solid and rich performances by confident and seasoned actors.

For the love of classical dance and the triumph of an individual over a totalitarian society this film garnishes……

THREE & 1/2 STARS!!!

STEP UP 3D

From the classical to the contemporary, this movie with its street dancers is fun, fabulous, dazzling, and like a magnet pulls, surrounds and smothers the audience with its ebullience, and aerobic triumphs. The three dimensional technology is captivating and enhances the effects of dancing, literally with the stars, over the rooftops, through the streets, alleys and parks of New York City. 2010’s version of “Singing in the Rain”.
The plot is predictable and trite but it hardly matters. For two hours suspend belief, “go with the flow” let your ageless spirit join the corps and dance, fly, forego reality and bask in the Peter Pan magic of knowing that the competition and prize are yours!

THREE STARS!!!

For Now………….Peneflix