The Treatment for the As-Of-Yet Untitled Film About Dance

A maraca is shaken over a black screen. Slowly fade in on a group of babies playing with maracas and other rudimentary instruments, as their instructors move along with them, teaching them how to dance. Cut to a group of 2-year-olds dancing in a circle, holding hands and learning the basics of rhythm. These 2-year-olds grow up into a young group of ballerinas, dancing in a very refined and sophisticated manner.  As the toddlers grow, they embrace new forms of dance: Jazz, tap, contemporary, hip-hop. The kids grow into teenagers, then, before you know it, we see an adult ballet class, practicing the same style of dance as the toddlers. In this group, we linger on one girl towards the end of the line. Her name is Kayleigh Jewell, and this is the Dance Theatre of Jacksonville.

As Kayleigh packs up for the night, we see several interviews from instructors and dancers discussing Kayleigh Jewell’s life and her past with the Dance Theatre. She’s danced with them for over 13 years and has received incredible recognition for her performances, particularly the roles she has gotten in their annual production of The Nutcracker. Everybody is very enthusiastic about Kayleigh and her future, but we soon cut away from all these people and focus on Kayleigh to hear her side of the story.

She explains to us how, even though dance has always kept her afloat, things have not always been too great. Not so long ago, her father left her family and they barely had any money to get by. Her mother even thought Kayleigh would not be able to go to school, especially after she received her diagnosis for cancer. But Kayleigh tells the story about how she was able to overcome these odds against her and was eventually able to go to college.

She’s entering her junior year at ECU currently, and we get to see footage of her at school, as well as in the Greenville community, where she teaches at a local dance academy. She discusses why dance is the art form she chose and why she’s continued to stick with it for so long. She also talks about her budding interest in Psychology (the other half of her double major in college).

In the final scene of the film, Kayleigh walks out onto an empty stage and begins performing a dance that she choreographed herself. The camera dances around her, creating a beautiful number. Intercut with this is one last interview with her, discussing what her plans for the future are, if indeed she has any. She talks about whether or not she would want to dance professionally, simply teach dance, or do something with psychology, as well as whether or not she wants to stay in North Carolina her whole life, where she got her start. Her dance finishes and she strikes a pose for the movie audience.