Mad Hot Ballroom, Anniversary & Reunion

Doors Open: 6:00pm  |  Dance: 6:45pm  |  Movie: 7:00pm  |  Reunion & Talk Back: 9:00pm

Celebrate the 21st anniversary of the classic documentary about 11-year-old New York City public school kids, including students from P.S. 115 in Washington Heights, journeying into the world of ballroom dancing and revealing pieces of themselves and their world along the way. Told from their candid, sometimes hilarious perspectives, these kids are transformed, from reluctant participants to determined competitors, from typical urban kids to "ladies and gentlemen," on their way to try to compete in the final citywide competition. The documentary provides unique insight into that moment when becoming that "cool" teenager vies for position with familiar innocence, all while learning how to merengue, rumba, tango, foxtrot, and swing.

After the movie the "stars" of the documentary - including Alejandro (aka Wilson), Yomaira Reynoso, and others - director Marilyn Agrelo, and other filmmakers will be interviewed by Dancing Classrooms Executive Director Eve Wolff.

Mad Hot Ballroom concludes the Movies at the Palace Season of Community, celebrating 95 years serving the community of Washington Heights. To learn more about our 2025 season, click here. 

Please note: The Season of Community is a different series than Movies at the Palace with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is not scheduled to be at this screening.

United Palace History  

The ornate United Palace opened in 1930 as the Loew's 175th Street Theatre, a deluxe movie theater and vaudeville house, the last of the five Wonder Theaters in New York City and New Jersey. Its first act as a movie theater ended in April 1969 with a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

With a groundswell of community support and our good friend, patron, and neighbor Lin-Manuel Miranda, movies returned to the United Palace in 2013. Since then, we have screened over 100 feature films, from world premieres (In the Heights, Halftime, and Rebecca as part of the Tribeca Festival) to all-time classics (It's A Wonderful Life), and community favorites (Mad Hot Ballroom). 

Our goal is to have the cinematic experience come alive for audiences too used to watching movies on their phones or TVs. 

One of our highest compliments came from Robert DeNiro who, speaking before a 50th anniversary screening of The Godfather, described watching a movie at the United Palace as: “The moviegoing experience doesn't get any better.”

Plan ahead for your visit! For a list of Prohibited Items and House Rules, click here.