In a year that sees us letting our guard down and resuming public gatherings, it's clear my suspicions are confirmed. The in-person attendance numbers are lower. However, as one volunteer told me, not unexpected. There are no final figures yet, but patrons who choose to view the films digitally via the internet bolstered the box office take. Likewise, the physical attendance numbers, while lower, were significant.
I enjoyed not waiting in line outside the theaters in our unusually cold, wet spring. (Some call it spring, I call it mud.) Instead, every film I attended was seat yourself when you arrive.
Aside from the fantasist David Byrne's American Utopia, my second choice was a documentary, Calendar Girls. My expectation of this was a story about some older women who posed seductively for a calendar that they would sell to raise funds for some cause. So it was not a disappointment when it turned out to be about 'women of a certain age' who dance as a team to raise money for Guide Dogs For Veterans.
This was a first-time documentary made by a Swedish film company. The film was primarily about the women in the troupe, with all the who, what, where, and how questions answered.
The team members welcome and train most of the women. The reasons these women do what they do are varied and nuanced, but it boiled down to sisterhood.
What they do is challenging and taxing. The ladies rehearse four days a week and perform one hundred and fifty appearances a year.
Where do they do this? They share the market in Southwestern Florida with six other dance teams.
How do they do it? Excuse the cliche, please; it's blood, sweat and tears. According to the two members who came to the film and answered questions, the average member lasts two years. Many of the ladies leave because of physical problems. The problems are what older people have, not necessarily injuries related to dancing, such as arthritis and joint deterioration.
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