Film Review – Step

For a film titled “Step,” highlighting the struggles and successes of a high school dance squad, there’s surprisingly little choreographed movement contained within. It’s a documentary about young black women in America who use dance to escape from their daily lives and questionable future, but the feature isn’t strictly about rhythm. Director Amanda Lipitz is far more interested in the educational goals of her subjects, which is an amazing break from expectations, putting full attention on the battle to attend college and the war of passing grades. “Step” eventually gets around to dance and its substantial rehearsal time, but Lipitz has a stronger picture when exposing concerns about potential and showcasing intelligence celebrated and sabotaged. As empowerment cinema goes, it works, but not for the obvious reason.  Read the rest at Blu-ray.com