The Unexpected Waltz

Starred review from April 28, 2014
Wealthy widow Kelly is ready for a change, after 20 years of “pretending to be a whole lot more conservative and stupider and nicer than I really am.” When she mistakenly wanders into the Canterbury Ballroom, the 52-year-old Charlotte, N.C., belle discovers her new passion: dancing. While frequenting the ballroom, she bonds with Russian émigré dance teacher Nik and cancer-stricken, hospice-bound Carolina. Kelly’s newfound interest also allows her to come to terms with a long-ago affair, precipitated by her distant relationship with her late husband. For in dance, and in life, Kelly learns, “you have to lose your balance in order to find it.” Wright (Love in Mid Air) builds this dance drama—and Kelly’s painful reinvention—with a cast of deftly drawn secondary characters: quirky best friend Elyse and her headstrong daughter Tory, pampered diva Pamela, feared studio owner Anatoly. She then expertly guides us through a moving, layered, and lyrical exploration of transformation.