Danish dance documentary to make American premiere

Dance for me will premiere on Monday, July 21 at 10pm on PBS’s award winning show, POV (Point of View).

It’s an experience everyone can relate to: leaving the comfort of home to try to establish a life for yourself – the only thing is that Egor was only 15 years old.

When Danish director Katrine Philp was given the assignment of making a documentary short on two ballroom dancers – one Dane and one Russian – she set up a meeting with the tandem.

It didn’t take long to for her to realise that a mere 15 minutes could not cover the depth of their story.

“I was immediately drawn to them. I just knew there was something special and magical about them,” Philp told the Copenhagen Post.

“It’s not just a dance film – there’s a story behind the dance.”

Goodbye Russia
Egor made the decision to leave his family and friends behind to pursue his passion, ballroom dancing, by pairing up with one of Denmark’s top ranked dancers, Mie.

Though he doesn’t admit it, Egor sorely misses his mother and the general Russian way of life, as he struggles to integrate into a Danish society that has a reputation of being difficult to penetrate.

He, along with the camera crew, is thrown into Mie’s home and forced to be a part of their family between training sessions and performances.

Life is suffering
One of the highlights of the film is the comparison between Russian and Danish culture.

Egor represents the classic Russian  perfectionism and endless drive towards one’s goal – often at the cost of enjoying the ride – while Mie is the quintessentially happy, optimistic Dane.

This cultural difference is at its best when the tandem have intimate conversations about Egor’s struggles in adapting to Danish culture, as he talks about the nobility of suppressing emotions and his pursuit of perfection – an attitude that is unsettling coming from a 15-year-old with a squeaky voice.

So far, so good
Dance for me premiered in Denmark in 2012 and was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Since then, it has appeared at a series of film festivals – including Amsterdam’s prestigious International Documentary Film Festival, as well as the American Film Festival, at which it won the Audience Award.

'Dance for me' will premiere on PBS on Monday July 21 at 10pm.




  • Greenland, Danish life science, and the future of US-Danish relations

    Greenland, Danish life science, and the future of US-Danish relations

    The US is the biggest market for the Danish life science industry, the country’s currently most important. Despite the situation, Denmark is not alone. There is also room for compromise, and promises of such jobs and additional investments are likely to at least reduce the tensions in US-Danish trade relations.

  • The internationals who created an app to make friends in Denmark  

    The internationals who created an app to make friends in Denmark  

    A team of young internationals has created an app that is helping their peers connect and build friendships in Denmark, addressing the challenges of social integration.

  • New documentary stirs debate in Denmark and Greenland 

    New documentary stirs debate in Denmark and Greenland 

    The documentary Greenland’s White Gold, reveals the worth of cryolite mining in Greenland to be in the billions. Over the years its value has been undermined, despite it acting like a gold mine for the Danish state. 

  • Today is 10 years from Copenhagen terrorist attack

    Today is 10 years from Copenhagen terrorist attack

    On February 14 and 15, the last terrorist attack took place in Denmark. Another episode occurred in 2022, but in that case, there was no political motive behind it

  • Enter Christiania: how the Freetown works

    Enter Christiania: how the Freetown works

    We all know Christiania and have been there at least once. But how does the Freetown work? How are decisions made? Can a person move there? Is there rent or bills to pay? British journalist Dave Wood wrote a reportage on Christiania for The Copenhagen Post.

  • The struggles of Asian women in Denmark’s labour market

    The struggles of Asian women in Denmark’s labour market

    Isha Thapa unfolds her research “An Analysis on the Inclusivity and Integration of South Asian Women in High-Skilled Jobs within the Danish Labor Market”. Thapa describes the systemic and social challenges these women face, ranging from barriers in social capital to cultural integration.