Not strictly affiliated to the established British franchise, this cheery documentary nevertheless rotates in similar circles, tracking U-16 dance crew Entity from their Barking clubhouse to the world championships in Bochum. Directors Debbie Shuter and Adam Tysoe shake up the usual contest-doc choreography by remaining open to the element of surprise. While the kids bust spectacular moves, the mums get tiddly on the sidelines, and the UK’s streetdance ambassador is revealed as a greying Greg Davies-alike named Derek. Objectivity is soon abandoned – the film-makers’ son Ethan is in this troupe, so on-screen graphics deploy the first-person plural – yet that’s a small sacrifice set against the heartening community spirit evoked either side of the camera: here are people working against the odds, with presumably limited resources, to give these youngsters a rare sense of achievement. More than any Britain’s Got Talent montage, it makes backflips and voguing seem an urgent, possibly even life-altering concern.
