Sweatin' with the Oldies

None of us wants to get old. But Dori Berinstein's new documentary Gotta Dance (opens July 31 in NYC; August 21 in Los Angeles) provides a glimmer of hope that, instead of t’ai chi and titanium hips, all it takes to put a shine on our golden years is a little Jay-Z. The film follows the NETsationals, the New Jersey Nets’ 60-and-over hip-hop dance crew as they krump and grind their way to fame.

Berinstein films both seniors and the younger, professional, Mystic-tanned Nets dancers, who struggle through the frustrating task of teaching hip-hop to elderly amateurs who just want to chat about their grandchildren. One exception: kindergarten teacher Betsy whose painful shyness disappears when she dances as her Jekyll & Hyde alter ego, “Betty.” By the end of their six-game season, she has become the team's de facto captain and is campaigning for tighter, sexier NETsationals uniforms.

The team is a smash, becoming international media stars and even the butt of an Amy Poehler joke on SNL. There may be little in the way of dramatic tension, but the film's joyous tone is best expressed by the NETsationals' resident botoxed minx (and our soulmate) Peggy, 70, who hilariously purrs to the camera, "You know in my head I'm still 22!" So are we, love. So are we.


Gotta Dance opens July 31 in NYC and August 21 in Los Angeles from Mitropoulis Films. It will open in more cities throughout the country this fall.