Only When I Dance

Only When I Dance is the story of two teenagers striving to realise an extraordinary dream. One girl and one boy, both black and poor, are planning to dance their way out of one of the most violent favelas in Rio de Janeiro.

Granted scholarships to one of Brazil's finest ballet schools, Isabela and Irlan's natural talent for ballet could transform their lives. The film follows the pair as they prepare to compete at international ballet competitions where they hope to be spotted by talent scouts for ballet companies abroad. But is pure talent enough to overcome their circumstances and grant them access to the elite world of classical ballet?

This documentary follows them at a monumental turning point in their young lives. Irlan, aged 17, needs a break to escape the grinding poverty, drugs and violence of the favela. Isabela's situation is more urgent still: as a female ballet dancer, the competition is far fiercer, and the very colour of her skin means she will never dance in Brazil, where black ballerinas are unheard of.

A Brazilian Mad Hot Ballroom meets Billy Elliot, this is a film about chasing a dream against all the odds and of the price you must pay for talent, for ambition and success.