Dans, Grozny dans

After THE MAKING OF A NEW EMPIRE, director Jos de Putter again focuses his attention on Chechnya, with an attractive portrait of a traditional youth dance group. They go on a tour of Europe; the contrast between the destroyed buildings in the Chechen capital Grozny and the concert halls of Europe is gigantic. The dancing teacher impresses on the youngsters that they have to show the Europeans that Chechens are normal people, not terrorists, and that therefore they have to do their utmost. So the girls stride around like angels in their white dresses and the boys dance stoutly and brusquely and wildly, jumping around with knives. In interviews, the teacher, who at the same time acts as a kind of spiritual leader, explains the importance of the troupe. In Grozny, a grateful father, whose son is no longer afraid of the Russian planes, says: ‘The dancing has made him a man.’ De Putter continuously switches between here and there; the two worlds are bridged by endless bus trips and melancholic music. His camera particularly spies on the children: smiling and drumming on the bus, tense or yawning during rehearsals, gracefully rotating in traditional costumes during the vigorous performances. The alternation makes clear that these children carry their ravaged country with them everywhere they go. In Grozny, where the shooting still goes on, their former practice space has also fallen to pieces; a half-torn poster reads: ‘They who dance lightly and beautifully bring joy to others and themselves.’