Common Sense Media Review
By Andrea Beach
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sweet docu follows kids with disabilities at ballet school.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Everybody Dance
What's the Story?
EVERYBODY DANCE follows the lives of several children taking classes at Ballet for All Kids, a school in Southern California that offers ballet lessons to kids with different disabilities. Over the course of several months, we see the students in class and at home, and learn about them from interviews with their parents, family, and staff at the ballet school. We also see students and staff prepare for a big recital with hundreds of people in the audience, and experience the fears, frustrations, and joys of putting on and participating in a big show.
Is It Any Good?
This is a touching and uplifting documentary ultimately about the power of artistic expression and why we all benefit from opportunities to learn an art form. Everybody Dance also gives a lot of information about disability and neurodiversity, especially autism, that may encourage empathy for some viewers and provides a lot of food for thought about a wide range of subjects like arts education and being a more inclusive society.
Taking the students and staff through the process of preparing for a big recital adds a story-like flow and a lot of suspense to the documentary. Viewers get to know the students and staff as individuals, and their joy and pride in their accomplishments are infectious.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about artistic expression in Everybody Dance. Why is it important? What do people get out of it?
Everybody Dance showcases students working through various challenges in order to pursue dance. What kinds of emotions felt the most relatable to you? How would you feel performing in front of an audience?
How do you like to express yourself artistically? Dance, music, acting, painting, drawing, building, tinkering?
What character strengths do the staff and students demonstrate?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : October 7, 2022
- Director : Dan Watt
- Studio : Kandoo Films
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : Arts
- Character Strengths : Communication , Courage , Perseverance , Self-control , Teamwork
- Run time : 85 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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