Feel The Beat (2020) is a movie that shows viewers a strong representation of the deaf and hard of hearing as well as women.
This movie is directed by Elissa Down. April is played by Sofia Carson, a Latina actress who is widely recognized by fans in the Descendants series. Shaylee Mansfield is a deaf actress who plays one of the supporting roles in Feel The Beat. Her supporting role as Zuzu features sign language. Her sign language is used in many scenes of the movie. In fact, Feel The Beat is one of the few movies that feature a strong representation of the deaf and the hard of hearing. Rex Lee, a Chinese actor, plays Welly Wong.
The beginning scene where April is in New York City trying to make an impressive audition is very short and intense. Ruth Zimmer recognizes her as the same woman who stole a taxi from an old lady and vows to never give her the opportunity to make it big time. When April accidentally knocks Ruth off the stage, Ruth gets injured, and the incident is posted on social media, leading to April being fired.
Her decision to move back to her hometown in Wisconsin is caused by her failed attempts to get into Broadway as a professional dancer. This mirrors how making a career in dance is difficult, with only a small percentage of dancers making it big time. Her eviction notice is labeled in red, with the locks being replaced.
April finds herself in a sticky situation when she has to become a teacher at a dance school. In the first dance competition, she receives 4th place and a voicemail from the judges on how she missed the concept of dance. Her memories from New York begin to traumatize her; this is shown in a scene where April sees a video about a woman in New York taking her place. She is bad a teaching at first due to her harsh training regimen that alienates the young dancers. She calls them Eyeballs, Pigtails, Fingers, etc.
April’s character arc is the main focus of Feel The Beat. She is taunted by another dance troupe about her failures in New York but manages to get back up on her feet. She goes from hopeless to determined on staying with her honor of commitment.
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