A deeply personal film that sparks empathy
After watching Move Me, a specific scene lingers in the mind — an overhead shot of Kelsey Peterson as she lays on her back and moves her arms, flourishing and sliding them above her head. She’s dancing and the intensity on her face shows how much this means to her. It’s beautiful.
The documentary is deeply personal and introspective, and it asks tough questions about the value of life. It’s a powerful look at the power of dance to inspire people to find their own meaning in life.
The film is narrated by Peterson herself, and it feels like a conversation between two friends. She opens up about her life and how she’s been living it since she was born in the early 1970s. She talks about growing up in a small town in Manitoba, Canada, and how she started playing the violin at an early age. She talks about her first love, which was a man named Doug, and how they met while he was working as a truck driver. Peterson also talks about her time spent in college, where she met her future husband John and they married in 1984. She talks about their children, including daughter Emma and son Jesse. Peterson also discusses her time working as an executive assistant for two presidents before becoming a full-time mother in 1992. She discusses the birth of her third child with John in 2006 and how that changed everything for her. Finally, Peterson discusses the current state of her life and what she’s doing to make sure that she can keep living this way for as long as possible.
She opens up about sex and going to the toilet. We even see a personal care assistant putting on underwear and a sanitary napkin for her. The point isn’t to see how difficult disabled people have it but rather how the world has been crafted to be difficult for them.
Despite being so closely focused on the body, the film and its camera work never feels invasive. Instead it feels welcomed in, by Peterson herself, who is willingly opening up her life to us. She leaves no walls in between and opens up about her innermost vulnerabilities. Self love, guilt, the question of her identity and what makes her who she is — Peterson tackles it all in front of the camera and for that we must commend her spirit.
The documentary, “Kelsey Peterson: The Dance of Disability,” is slow to start but builds to a powerful climax. It tells the story of Kelsey Peterson, a dance teacher who has been diagnosed with a rare form of dwarfism. Despite this, Peterson continues to teach and perform her art, even as she deals with the challenges of her condition. The film is filled with beautiful images and stories about Kelsey’s life and art.
PBS releases a new show called “Move Me” on November 7th 2022. You can check out a preview HERE!
