Only When I Dance

Synopsis

Only When I Dance tells the story of two teenagers, Irlan and Isabela, who pursue their dreams of becoming professional ballet dancers as a way to escape the violent slums of Rio de Janeiro.

Release

The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2009. It was subsequently shown at several other major film festivals, including the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the San Francisco International DocFest, the Rio Film Festival, Guadalajara Film Festival and Sheffield Doc/Fest. It was broadcast on television in the United Kingdom on Christmas Day 2009. It was released in USA in summer 2010. Prior to release it was pitched at the 2007 Sheffield Doc/Fest MeetMarket.

Production

The producers spent over three years trying to find the candidates to be filmed, and the film took around ten months to film.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, with The Guardian awarding it four out of five stars and calling it a "moving, if rather shallow documentary". The website Eye for Film awarded the film three and a half out of five stars, saying the film "shows how an artistic calling can be imbued with life-and-death determination."