E.D. Win (Viljar Knutsen Bjaadal) enters the schoolyard quite cool, over his shoulders he has swung a large speaker and while almost all the students in the courtyard admire him and philosophize about his likes on Instagram, Mina (Liv Elvira Kippersund Larsson) first has no idea who this boy is, but that will now change.
E.D Win has become the best hip hop dancer in Norway and also goes to school here. But today he also has something in his luggage, he calls everyone to come to an audition for a dance competition the next day. He also hands out flyers and when he presses a piece of paper into Mina’s hands, she has a new goal in life. Packed with happy hormones, she turns on the music at home and dances on the kitchen counter. She is interrupted by her grandmother, who suddenly appears in the kitchen and comments on her performance with a grin, which of course embarrasses Mina. Then her parents show up and while grandma proudly reports what she has just seen, she gets a few nasty looks from her mother. There is obviously a somewhat strained relationship between the two.
Mina, on the other hand, can’t get the audition out of her head, and finally she turns to her grandmother and asks her if she can help her, since she was a good dancer back then and likes to talk about it. Her grandmother agrees on the condition that she be accepted at the audition. And so Mina gathers all her courage and the next day stands in a room with many other children. The rest goes quite quickly, the dance instructor starts the music and after a dance interlude, the instructor lists the names of the children he would like to keep on board, and while Mina is already leaving because she doesn’t think she has a chance anyway, her name suddenly comes up. Completely perplexed, she then returns to her grandmother, who keeps her promise and takes the girl by the hand. When she puts on classical music and demonstrates slow movements that are more reminiscent of ballet, Mina has doubts for a moment, because she wants to learn hip hop and not classical dance. Her grandmother, however, is not at a loss for words and can convince Mina with simple arguments that she will be the right teacher and she advises Mina to find a dance partner for the lessons. Here Mina falls back on her best friend Shaan (Cengiz Al). He accepts the offer and so they both end up in a big old shed on her grandmother’s property practicing dancing with partners.
Before the next rehearsal for the competition, the dance teacher announces that he intends to bring only a selected couple on stage and so he divides the children accordingly, who from now on are to work together to come up with music and a suitable choreography. The best couple will then go to the dance competition. Mina is assigned to E.D. Win and while she can hardly believe her luck, E.D. Win is anything but thrilled. This is where prejudices suddenly come into play, even if they are not outright stated. Mina is not built as slim as the others, seems a bit nerdy and then there is also the fact that she has no dance experience. Here E.D. Win sees herself doomed to failure and is visibly incensed, but the dance teacher is convinced that Mina has a previously hidden talent and insists on further cooperation between the two. The dance teacher should be right, the Mina puts herself mightily in the stuff, her movements are getting better and better and so also E.D. Win recognizes that it might work out.
The fact that she now puts all her energy and free time into dancing, however, also has a high price. On the one hand, her performance in school continues to decline, on the other hand, she also loses contact with her best friend Shaan. But he doesn’t want to just give up on Mina, because he likes Mina very much, is even maybe a little in love with her. He finally seeks Mina out in the premises of the dance school, where she is currently still alone. He offers to help her with the school and he would also like to practice dancing with her again. During the dialogue, E.D. Win shows up and promptly makes fun of Shaan, claiming that he is now Mina’s new boyfriend. Visibly disappointed, Shaan leaves the room.
During rehearsals, E.D. then discreetly mentions Mina’s slight overweight, saying she might have to work on that for the choreography. Back at home, Mina examines herself in the mirror and decides to radically change her image, foregoing normal meals from now on and starting a home workout. However, with time the receipt comes and so she collapses one day at an important rehearsal and ends up in the hospital. The diagnosis is quickly found. Malnutrition, too few vitamins and dehydrated. All of a sudden all dreams seem to burst, E.D. Win stands her up because he doesn’t want to wait until Mina is fit again and also in the family something drastic happens. In the end it is Mina’s father who convinces her not to give up and to think about with whom she could reach her goal.
Conclusion:
Dancing Queen can be declared as a critical “Feel Good Movie”. The story is quite simple, but it never gets boring to follow all the different actors. First and foremost Liv Elvira Kippersund Larsson, who plays her role as Mina really well and clearly shows that where there is a will, there can be a way. At the same time, the film also addresses many points related to the difficult part of growing up. One message of the film could perhaps be: Believe in yourself, your goals and stay as you would like to be, then you can also achieve your goal.
Trailer:
