I'm actually shocked at the number of insensitive reviews of this excellent documentary about a group of talented, young dancers who got lucky enough to enter the surreal performing world of Madonna at the top of her stardom during her 1990 "Truth or Dare" tour, and what happened in ensuing twenty five years.
Seven young, attractive and blazingly talented dancers were plucked out of an audition process by Madonna and her team to support of her TRUTH OR DARE tour. Six are gay and mostly closeted to the outside world and have significant ballet and dance training. The seventh performer both straight and fro the hip-hop world. For many months these kids performed with the most famous pop singer in the world with audiences for each concert ranging from 20 to 80 thousand fans. It was a heady experience where they concentrated on supporting their their star and with all their needs being taken care of by the backstage tour personnel. Everything was first class. In this heady time, the dancers wore designer clothing, were photographed everywhere with Madonna. A bit older than her charges, she became their big sister, tour mother, their shining star. She took care of them, loved them, coddled them.
Arguably, the biggest star in the world at the time, Madonna was fearless in her pronouncements. At the height of the world-wide AIDS crisis, Madonna was outspoken in her support of friends who were dying, and in the process, insisted that those brave enough to come out were deserving of the world's respect and compassion. It was a naive assumption and it compelled her to out some of her dancers who were not emotionally ready to share that information. One of the dancers she publicly outed, died of AIDS. Once the tour was over, there was creeping reality that there lives would go back to being ordinary again, and some of the dancers sued her for breach of privacy. Hurt and angry, Madonna withdrew from them all completely.
At least two more members of the group contracted HIV and had to learn how to cope with their fear. The straight hip-hop kid headed straight for Las Vegas after the tour where he attached himself to the club scene, and drowned himself in booze for a long time. There was only one really successful member and that was Kevin Alexander Stea (so much for those who have written none of them were a success after the tour), who worked with Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Prince and Beyonce, among others. Carlton Wilburn, another dancer, has had success as an actor and writer.
Here you have seven young dancers who got swept up in Madonna's orbit and then they were left to figure out the rest of their lives. Most of them were ill-equipped to make that transition. And that's both the inspiration and the heartbreak of this documentary. Madonna was generous in giving the filmmakers access to the music and images of the tour. But she is completely absent here and that's too bad. All the dancers professed to having no bitterness, or feelings that they're owed something from her and that's a good reality check. They were not exploited by having worked with her, except perhaps in her over-zealousness in outing some of them. All of them express a deep love, respect and gratefulness to Madonna for touching their lives.
Too many here are critical of the tears shed in this film, and are very dismissive of this team's emotional ties and that's too bad. They were naive kids, barely out of their teens, and not at all sophisticated to the dangers of the world out there. They were beautiful, and because they were dancers had beautiful bodies and were admired for their looks as well as their talent. This period in their lives could not have been an easy one to traverse without some emotional fallout.
I felt terrible for the man whose mother shares her disappointment that her son should have continued dancing with Madonna in order to buy her a house she always wanted. I'm surprised he's even speaking to her. How selfish. Her son is vulnerable and trying to carve out a life for himself. He admits to crippling self-doubt and it can't be easy to in the place he is now in--living in a room in his mother's apartment.
Yes the final reunion dinner seems a tad stagy--how could it not be? Six guys--a brilliant team--were getting together who had not seen each other in years. Their joy at being in each other's company is palpable. They get to share war stories from their youth, and measure their own sense of self-worth at this stage.
I was never a Madonna fan--I didn't dislike her--but her music didn't touch me and her outlandish PR machine seemed more silly. I also was put off by her failure to become a successful working actor, further distancing her from interesting me. But there is no question of her mark on the culture of her time. Some of the videos are still magical to watch. She was a massive star and it was virtually impossible to ignore her. For me, STRIKE A POSE, humanizes her in a way that was surprising. I hope her dancers from that tour stay in touch. They have a lot of emotional investment in each other. And they will always have the memories of that astonishing period in their lives to draw on.
Seven young, attractive and blazingly talented dancers were plucked out of an audition process by Madonna and her team to support of her TRUTH OR DARE tour. Six are gay and mostly closeted to the outside world and have significant ballet and dance training. The seventh performer both straight and fro the hip-hop world. For many months these kids performed with the most famous pop singer in the world with audiences for each concert ranging from 20 to 80 thousand fans. It was a heady experience where they concentrated on supporting their their star and with all their needs being taken care of by the backstage tour personnel. Everything was first class. In this heady time, the dancers wore designer clothing, were photographed everywhere with Madonna. A bit older than her charges, she became their big sister, tour mother, their shining star. She took care of them, loved them, coddled them.
Arguably, the biggest star in the world at the time, Madonna was fearless in her pronouncements. At the height of the world-wide AIDS crisis, Madonna was outspoken in her support of friends who were dying, and in the process, insisted that those brave enough to come out were deserving of the world's respect and compassion. It was a naive assumption and it compelled her to out some of her dancers who were not emotionally ready to share that information. One of the dancers she publicly outed, died of AIDS. Once the tour was over, there was creeping reality that there lives would go back to being ordinary again, and some of the dancers sued her for breach of privacy. Hurt and angry, Madonna withdrew from them all completely.
At least two more members of the group contracted HIV and had to learn how to cope with their fear. The straight hip-hop kid headed straight for Las Vegas after the tour where he attached himself to the club scene, and drowned himself in booze for a long time. There was only one really successful member and that was Kevin Alexander Stea (so much for those who have written none of them were a success after the tour), who worked with Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Prince and Beyonce, among others. Carlton Wilburn, another dancer, has had success as an actor and writer.
Here you have seven young dancers who got swept up in Madonna's orbit and then they were left to figure out the rest of their lives. Most of them were ill-equipped to make that transition. And that's both the inspiration and the heartbreak of this documentary. Madonna was generous in giving the filmmakers access to the music and images of the tour. But she is completely absent here and that's too bad. All the dancers professed to having no bitterness, or feelings that they're owed something from her and that's a good reality check. They were not exploited by having worked with her, except perhaps in her over-zealousness in outing some of them. All of them express a deep love, respect and gratefulness to Madonna for touching their lives.
Too many here are critical of the tears shed in this film, and are very dismissive of this team's emotional ties and that's too bad. They were naive kids, barely out of their teens, and not at all sophisticated to the dangers of the world out there. They were beautiful, and because they were dancers had beautiful bodies and were admired for their looks as well as their talent. This period in their lives could not have been an easy one to traverse without some emotional fallout.
I felt terrible for the man whose mother shares her disappointment that her son should have continued dancing with Madonna in order to buy her a house she always wanted. I'm surprised he's even speaking to her. How selfish. Her son is vulnerable and trying to carve out a life for himself. He admits to crippling self-doubt and it can't be easy to in the place he is now in--living in a room in his mother's apartment.
Yes the final reunion dinner seems a tad stagy--how could it not be? Six guys--a brilliant team--were getting together who had not seen each other in years. Their joy at being in each other's company is palpable. They get to share war stories from their youth, and measure their own sense of self-worth at this stage.
I was never a Madonna fan--I didn't dislike her--but her music didn't touch me and her outlandish PR machine seemed more silly. I also was put off by her failure to become a successful working actor, further distancing her from interesting me. But there is no question of her mark on the culture of her time. Some of the videos are still magical to watch. She was a massive star and it was virtually impossible to ignore her. For me, STRIKE A POSE, humanizes her in a way that was surprising. I hope her dancers from that tour stay in touch. They have a lot of emotional investment in each other. And they will always have the memories of that astonishing period in their lives to draw on.
