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Dancing in Jaffa (PG), directed by Hilla Medalia
EVERY autumn Strictly Come Dancing fever grips the nation, uniting both young and old, so could ballroom dancing — in a very different setting — be the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
That is the idealistic notion of renowned ballroom champion Pierre Dulaine who returned to his birthplace of Jaffa in Israel to fulfill a lifelong dream of teaching Jewish and Israeli Arab children to dance together.
Dulaine, whose mother was Palestinian and father was Irish, aims to unite these two communities by instilling mutual respect and trust through ballroom dancing.
His dance work in New York schools was immortalised in the film Take the Lead and in Dancing in Jaffa he spends 10 weeks instructing 10 and 11-year-olds on various dance styles, including rumba and tango, which culminating in a competition where Jewish and Palestinian-Israeli participants team up.
It is an uphill struggle at the start. Some kids are embarrassed to take part, while others cover their hands with their sleeves so they don’t have to touch their partners. But once they catch the dancing bug all prejudice is forgotten as they focus on their end goal of winning.
It is hilarious — and wondrous — to watch these Jewish and Palestinian-Israeli children getting to grips with the merengue and the rumba as they practice together at all hours and slowly learn to trust one another and become friends.
But director Hilla Medalia intercuts these touching and funny dance sequences with the harsh realities of life in Jaffa, particularly for the Israeli Arab.
Dulaine’s return is bittersweet as his parents were forced to flee their Jaffa home in 1948. But his exuberance and passion is infectious and you can’t help but will his experiment to succeed despite its naivety.
It is an incredible sight to see a 500-strong crowd of Jews and Israeli Arabs sitting side-by-side cheering on their children at the final competition.
The film shows how dancing can break down barriers — politicians and peace envoys take note — so perhaps the answer could be to simply keep on dancing.
