How to dance in ohio netflix

Inspirational, heartwarming doc about living with autism.

NR 2015 89 minutes

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What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that How to Dance In Ohio is a documentary that centers on a group of high-functioning people on the autism spectrum preparing for the challenges and joys that come with attending a formal dance. Therapy and living with autism are central themes. The Amigo Counseling Center and its program are highlighted. There's nothing to worry about here, but some folks may be sensitive to some of the concerns expressed about living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

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What's the Story?

HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO is a documentary about a group of high-functioning teens and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) preparing for, and attending, a spring formal in Columbus, Ohio. Under the therapeutic guidance of clinical psychologist Emilio Amigo and his staff, folks such as 16-year-old Marideth Bridges, 19-year-old Caroline McKenzie, and 22-year-old Jessica Sullivan work on learning how to communicate and interact with others in various social settings. With the help of their families, Dr. Amigo, and other professionals, they spend 12 weeks preparing for a formal dance at a local night club organized by the Amigo Counseling Center to help them learn how to cope with the many anxieties they have about participating in the event, and they practice how to socialize with other people. From working through their discomfort with trying to have a conversation to navigating their nervousness when choosing dresses, they all work their way toward the big event by facing their fears head-on.

Is It Any Good?

The film offers a warmhearted, informative look at the routines, successes, and struggles people with Asperger's syndrome and high-functioning autism have when interacting with the mainstream world. But what stands out here is the self-awareness of the cast, who understand that they need extra help and coping mechanisms to function, and who do their best to articulate their anxieties and their desires. The insights offered by their parents and Dr. Amigo also offer a broader lens from which to see how they navigate their day-to-day lives.

Though both men and women are featured here, the fact that much of the story centers on three women leaves it feeling a bit uneven. However, this doesn't detract from the overall themes, which underscore how paralyzing basic social practices can be for people on the autism spectrum. It also shows how they, with the right support, can go to college, get jobs, and live independently. Overall, How to Dance In Ohio is a documentary that shows us how something as simple as a rite of passage can be life-changing to those who are challenged by life every day.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

• Families can talk about what it's like to live with autism spectrum disorder. What exactly is ASD? How can documentaries such as How to Dance In Ohio help people learn to understand it better?

• Documentaries often inform or raise awareness about things people may not know much about. Does this documentary successfully do this about people living with ASD?

• How does How to Dance In Ohio promote empathy and integrity? Why are these important character strengths?

Movie Details

• In theaters: January 25, 2015
• On DVD or streaming: September 27, 2016
• Cast: Emilio Amigo, Caroline McKenzie, Jessica Sullivan
• Director: Alexandra Shiva
• Studio: HBO
• Genre: Documentary
• Character Strengths: Empathy, Integrity
• Run time: 89 minutes
• MPAA rating: NR
• Last updated: March 2, 2022

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Overview: How to Dance in Ohio, an HBO documentary about three women on the autism spectrum who attended training sessions with the team but was never eligible to play. long enough to (with the complicity of the opposing team) score a touchdown. The crowd cheers and everyone has their moments of wellness.

Vignettes like these actually irritate some parents of children with special needs who think they are giving the rest of the world the right to continue to marginalize such children. Hey Marge, a disabled kid just scored a goal. The problem is solved, so let's forget about the existence of children with disabilities again.

How to Dance in Ohio, HBO's poignant Monday night documentary, by its description, might seem like a variation on this staple of the evening news. It's about teenagers and young adults from Columbus, Ohio getting ready for their spring formal dance. But Alexandra Shiva, the filmmaker, goes so much deeper than the bodice and boutonniere shot that this piece, though it also has sweet moments, ends up painting a portrait of young people whose futures are full of worries and uncertainties.

The film is dedicated to the communication skills therapy program for young people with autism run by clinical psychologist Emilio Amigo. His efforts to teach his clients how to interact with each other and with the whole world prompted him to announce that they will all participate in the spring event, including everything that entails: finding a date, choosing clothes, learning to dance, understanding how to have a simple small talk about social function.

Ms. Shiva focuses on three young women and their families: Maridette Bridges, 16; Caroline Mackenzie, 19years; and Jessica Sullivan, 22. The dance becomes simply a vehicle to explore the myriad challenges the three and their parents face as they approach adulthood. Will they be able to go to college, live independently, make friends, keep a job?

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I have always wanted it to be a kind of bridge of understanding and there was no better way for me than to take what we have all experienced in some way and tell a story through it,” Ms. Shiva said about movie. The dancing is sweet and the dancing is beautiful, but the biggest challenge is how to show you, as a viewer, that for Marideth, just saying "Hi" is an accomplishment?

Three young women have a relatively high level of functionality that allows Mrs. Shiva to allow them to be guides to their world; this is not a traditional documentary full of talking heads sharing aloof academic wisdom. All three understand their limitations and the obstacles they face, and Ms. Shiva has provided excellent access to them and their families.

“I wanted them to speak for themselves and have a free hand in the process,” she said. And we understood very well that we did not go beyond the scope of their history.

She highlighted the scene where Ms. Sullivan talks about her obsession with anime, which is a very honest moment.

“I dream in cartoons,” she says. I feel like a little cartoon character. Plus, cartoons never judge you the way people do.

Ms. Shiva said the goal was to show the viewer Ms. Sullivan's point of view. “Hopefully this is the moment you got into her experience,” she said. You are not looking at her, you are in her experience.

Yes, the film pays off with smile-inducing images when dance comes, but getting there means for the viewer to face hard-to-think questions about what happens to young people with disabilities when they grow out of the school system. and what are society's obligations to them. Ms. Shiva has directed two previous films, Bombay Eunuch and Stagedoor, both of which also deal with people who somehow don't fit into the mainstream.

I have a hot topic that I didn't even know about until I started doing this, which is: I'm very interested in people who are looking to belong, and I'm very interested in people living on the sidelines, she said. . In my opinion, you learn more about the human experience from people who struggle than from people who think, "It's okay."

Why people criticize Netflix for the film Cuties. It's all about the dance

The upcoming premiere of Cuties on Netflix sparked outrage when viewers learned that the young characters appeared to be dancing twerk. Given the age of the girls, this is unacceptable, the public is sure, and the alleged attempt by the streaming service to correct the description of the picture is unlikely to save the situation.

Cuties, a French film about girls who love to dance, will hit Netflix on September 9, according to the service's website. The main character of the film, which won the award for directing at the Sundance Film Festival, is 11-year-old Amy, whose family is quite conservative. In the story, a teenager is fascinated by a free-spirited dance troupe called the Cuties and begins to protest against the traditional way of the family.

According to IMDb, the film's genre is comedy, drama. A trailer with English subtitles is available on YouTube.

But social media users are already so unhappy with the film that they even created several petitions on Change.org (for example, this one and this one) demanding that the screening of the film be canceled, and the initiatives gained thousands of signatures. It's all about the previous description of "Cuties" from Netflix, which was widely distributed on Twitter. Screenshots of the streaming service (contrary to what is currently available on the portal and on YouTube) show that 11-year-old Amy is introduced to a twerking troupe.

Amy, 11, becomes enamored with a twerking dance team. Hoping to join them, she, against her family's traditions, begins to discover her femininity.

A screenshot with such a description of the film could be considered photoshopped. However, the content of the picture from the Netflix website has been preserved in the Google cache. This suggests that the streaming service edited the summary after the public outcry.

And the people on Twitter got really angry. After all, they are sure that a film with young heroines about twerk, which is considered a rather frank dance, sexualizes girls. Hayt was provoked by the announcement no less than the information about sex with violence in Avatar on Netflix and the alleged censorship of Back to the Future 2 on the same service.

A separate portion of criticism went to the poster of the picture.

However, some of the commentators did not join the wave of criticism of Netflix and the filmmakers.

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