Ballando, Ballando (Le Bal)

Floating disco balls and colorful lighting. An underground ballroom waiting for what is to come: chairs in place, plenty of alcohol and staggering music: it’s time for the dancing ritual. First the ladies appear. All dressed up, they take a last glance at their elegant postures in the merciless mirror before confronting the male dancers. With impressive hairdo’s, shiny teeth and exalting décolletés the ladies stand there, waiting and observing the dancers and targets of the evening. They, on the other hand, clumsy, noble or gallant, men go and take place at the bar to admire the willing preys. The room is perfectly arranged, the orchestra starts to play, the protagonists are ready: let the ball begin!
But while we expect a single bal, Ettore Scola gives us a myriad of bals, wandering through half a century of European history. 1936: the popular front, 1940: the war, 1944: the liberation, 1968: the flower power, 1983: the present. The bal keeps changing but is still a reflection of a society on the move. “Ballando, ballando” from the Italian director Ettore Scola (famous from his movie “Brutti, sporchi e cattiva” and many others) is an unbridled ode to the dance, a wordless comment to a piece of recent history.