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Ballroom Rules (2012) is an Australian documentary film directed by Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe. Ballroom dancing is two people moving together to music. Competitive ballroom dancing is dancing that is evaluated by judges. It's a highly competitive sport, but one that is also highly gender stereotyped. According to Australian dance officials, a dance team must consist of a man and a woman. (And, it goes without saying that the man must lead and the woman must follow.)A brave woman in Melbourne--Anny Salerni--teaches ballroom dancing. She had the courage to open a same-sex ballroom dancing studio. Her students love dancing, and they're happy to compete, but none of them is an outstanding dancer. They're just ordinary people who want to dance without the constriction of being part of a mixed-gender couple.Anny takes her students to the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany. Same-sex dancing is a major competitive event there, and people take it very, very seriously. In the best documentary style, Bird and Sharpe help us know each couple, and, naturally we want them to win.The dancers obviously wouldn't mind winning either, but their goal is to dance. Not only to dance, but to dance in a setting where they are within the norm, rather than outside the norm looking in.If you want to meet these people, and see what happens at the competition, you'll have to find the film and watch it. It's definitely worth seeing. Shown at the Little Theatre as part of ImageOut, the outstanding Rochester LGBT Film and Video Festival.
