An effortlessly charming, generous and joyous look behind the scenes into Southwestern Florida’s number one dance group for women aged 60-plus, Calendar Girls is respectful, playful and insightful as it looks at the skill, determination and fun these women have as they set about dressing up in unicorn headdresses and leotards to perform at local charity events.
Swedish co-directors Maria Loohufvud and Love Martinsen astutely balance a sense of playfulness and even irony while also managing to reflect the important sense of community that bonds the women together. Some of their husbands don’t really buy into the time and energy that is needed to keep the dance troupe going, but for many of the women it offers a new lease of life.
Founder and steely guiding light Katherine stresses the seriousness of this endeavour, with the troupe rehearsing half the year in order to perform the other half. As one puts it, “it is a lifestyle,” and demanding one at that, both physically and mentally.
Loohufvud and Martinsen clearly connected with their cinematic subjects, and while the main focus is on just a few of the women, this helps to build a greater sense of insight into the group women and what makes them tick – both and as dancers and as folk in the twilight of their years. Moments of choreographed interpretative dance either in costumes or regular clothes helps reinforce the playful aspect, and in facts often shows an inner expressiveness that isn’t revealed during their performances at church events or holiday parades.
Some have health issues, others family obligations. Some deal with challenging marriages while others carry baggage from their past, but the importance of the dance troupe transcends the actual dancing itself. The fact that they care deeply about each other and what they have achieved is what drives the film, and certainly the film encourages the viewer to really bond with, and care for, these women.
They are women who refuse to become invisible, and the camera astutely mirrors the pride and respect they feel for their bodies while also acknowledging the struggles they’ve encountered in the process of renegotiating their identities. The close-ups of their faces as they practise reflects the joy that they feel and the strength of the camaraderie that they share.
Particularly telling is the story of costumer Fran who leaves Florida for a chunk of the year for her husband’s winter home in North Carolina. She carries with her the headdresses she has made for the Calendar Girls’ Christmas show, but her husband insists they stay for longer when all she wants to do is get back to her friends. Footage of her sitting alongside him in the living room is sad as she loyally makes small talk when all the time she wants to be back in Florida.
Darkly entertaining is a sequence in a Florida bar where several of the women – after a few drinks – discuss the topic of suicide. They debate pills and shooting oneself, coming to the conclusion that women tend to favour a suicide that will leave the smallest possible clean-up afterwards. It’s a chilling subject debated with laughter and humour and also acts as a springboard to another dance sequence.
In the end Calendar Girls is a generous and joyous reminder of the importance of keeping fit; having fun just for yourself and having a supportive group who will look out for you and encourage you to be your most authentic self…and (as the official Sundance blurb says) “to dance like everybody is watching”.
Sweden, 2022, 83mins
Dirs/scr Maria Loohufvud, Love Martinsen
Production Juno Films, Pink Dolphin Films
Producers Maria Loohufvud, Love Martinsen
Cinematography Maria Loohufvud, Love Martinsen
Editor/Music Love Martinsen
