I Want to Dance

I Want to Dance is set in the remote Mountains of Guizhou, a province in southern China that only became part of the Chinese empire under the Ming dynasty. Ethnic minorities here managed to preserve their very special cultural identity for centuries. Director Hu Shu, who himself also comes from Guizhou, was mainly active as a documentary maker until now and that is evident in this pearl. In addition, Hu is a very supple storyteller, who charmingly manages to evoke exactly the right natural mood from the actors – all of them more or less playing themselves – that is needed to be convincing.
The protagonist Pian is a Miao girl aged 14 and she wants to take part in a traditional dancing contest. She is eager to show everyone the traditional headband that she has embroidered by hand. But when the village chief says that the jury only likes ‘very skinny girls’, the chubby Pian realises she doesn’t have much time to lose weight. In all kinds of ways – often comic – she manages to achieve her goal. In the meantime, she increasingly skips classes by teacher Yang Guangrong, who is wondering how to convince her to finish school. (GT)