Like Air (Jake Viramontez, 2015): USA

Reviewed by Mimmi Karlsson. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2015.

Like Air is a great documentary about three young girls who are competing in dance. The movie shows how hard it can be to succeed with what you love and how many competitors you have. Dance is a beautiful sport that I love to watch and since I’m a dancer myself, I loved this movie very much. I understand how much pressure a dancer has on her-/himself and how hard it is to accept that you can’t always do everything you want to.

One of the girls got a herniated disk and had to go to physical therapy to be able to dance again. I felt so sorry for her as I was watching the film because i know how it is to have back problems that stop you from doing what you want. What was amazing though was to see how the girl struggled for six months and then she won 3rd place in the final competition. I was just amazed. She had worked so hard!

Like Air was filmed on many different location and we could see the real life of the three dancers. They showed us their homes, families, friends, and dance schools. They were also open with their feelings of fear and nervousness before the competitions and since it was so real it touched me in my heart.

My favorite parts of the film were when Kathryn McCormick was inspiring all dancers before the competitions. She was so motivated and I know that as a dancer you need to hear a lot of that. It is so easy to compare yourself to others and only find wrongs on yourself but Kathryn did a great job by telling the dancers that they have to dance for themselves and that every dancer has her/his own special and unique dance. I got tears in my eyes when she spoke.

This documentary showed me how easy it can be to make a film. It inspired me to make movies myself to deliver a message that I want people to see.