One of the dancers from The Music in Me.

"The Music in Me", a documentary from Australia about a dance troupe of handicapped children and adults won two awards at the Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) last weekend, “Most Inspiring Documentary” and the “Georgia Frontiere Memorial Scholarship.”

The documentary follows 29-year-old performing group, “The Merry Makers” through rehearsals, their lives at home, relationships, and their annual sold out performance at the Sydney Entertainment Center. Yes, the troupe is that good. And so is the documentary.

The performers range in age from 6 to 56 and have various challenges to face in their lives. Some have Down’s syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, cerebral palsy or autism. But the one thing they all have in common is a love of dance and music. And it shows.

Lucinda Bryant is the Artistic Director of the group and she is loved and adored by all her dancers. Not because she coddles them. But because she’s a tough taskmaster and she expect the students to give their best. And they do.

The film follows several relationships, including Bryant and her mother, Janet MacFarlane who handles the administrative tasks and puts her 2 cents in whenever she feels it’s needed. The film peeks into their give and take relationship, which is supportive and honest with a bit of disagreement thrown in. In other words, like most mothers and daughters.

But the most poignant relationships are the ones between mother, or grandmother, and their disabled children. How did the feel when they learned about their child’s disability? It’s not dwelled upon, but the emotions of the parent are evident and, vicariously, the viewer. The adversities these kids have are honestly acknowledged. They discuss their challenges, how they overcame them, and how great they look on stage.

The screening at SIFF ended with the audience standing up and applauding, and when several of the performers, their parents, Lucinda Bryant and the producer of the film, Anne Kenyon came forward for questions, the audience quickly wiped the tears from their eyes and smiled to see these beaming dancers being treated like the stars they are.

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