A group of Australian gay and lesbian ballroom dancers battle homophobia, injury, and personal dramas as they pursue their dream of competing in the world’s biggest same-sex Dancesport competition - at the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany.
Ballroom dancing is the ultimate traditional sport. With a reputation for being overtly heterosexual and inflexible rules that specifically bar same-sex couples from competitions, it should be the last sport on earth in which gay men and lesbians would participate. But at a small studio in Melbourne a passionate group of same sex ballroom dancers is defying the rules.
Anny Salerni is the owner of Melbourne’s only gay and lesbian ballroom dancing studio, and is the driving force behind the art of same-sex ballroom dancing in Australia. Anny has been threatened in the past by the governing body for ballroom dancing in Australia but she is determined to provide a safe space for her students to dance.
Banned from the mainstream, Anny and her students have limited opportunity to compete. So they must look overseas to find bigger competitions in order to improve. The world’s biggest same sex dancesport competition is about to be held at the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany. Anny and her students make the decision to travel half way around the world to take on the world’s best same sex dancers.
Anny’s students are not the most talented of dancers but they are passionate about their sport. As they prepare for the biggest event of their lives, they must battle entrenched homophobia and their own personal dramas. Novice dancer Adrian is still haunted by his Christian upbringing, Bridget is dancing despite being diagnosed with breast cancer and Tania isn’t sure if her injured knee will hold up under the pressure of competition.
Despite their dramas, Anny and her students make it to Germany and compete at the Games. But there are problems. The dancers are outclassed by the more experienced European dancers. Grant and Adrian can’t get their routines right, Eleanor and Tania don’t have a samba routine and Bridget is overcome by what it has taken for her to get there.
Ballroom Rules follows Anny and her students through the highs and lows of their training as they prepare for the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, Germany. Through interviews with Anny, her students, overseas competitors, judges and representatives from the mainstream ballroom dancing world, Ballroom Rules provides a unique look at people who live proudly outside what society views as the “norm” and the universal passion that drives us all.
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