Dance in Film · 2022
Lift (2022)
Filmed across a decade, David Petersen follows Steven Melendez back to the Bronx shelter where he once lived and through New York Theatre Ballet's LIFT program, making ballet access, mentorship, and housing insecurity the documentary's intertwined subject.
Lift is a 2022 dance documentary centred on ballroom and social dance. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
Jump to the 3 indexed dance sequences ↓
Where to watch: The official film site lists Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, and Peacock; the U.S. Apple TV listing was active when checked 2026-08-09. Availability may change.
Trailer
Official trailer.
The dance sequences in Lift
3 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
2019 gala final collaborative dance
Collaborative ballet-based concert danceDanced by New York Theatre Ballet LIFT students · Choreography Steven Melendez
The young dancers performing a final work shaped with input from students and families as parents watch from the audience.
The graduation work converts the students' lived experiences into movement and gives them authorship within a ballet-based stage performance, completing the film's shelter-to-stage arc without reducing it to one exceptional success story.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. Canonical identity follows the 2022 Tribeca world premiere and its 87-minute listing. Apple TV's opened U.S. page labels the Paramount digital release 2023 and 89 minutes; rental is the closest allowed enum for paid platform access. No edition-specific timestamp was asserted.
Steven Melendez teaches ballet at the shelter
Classical BalletDanced by Steven Melendez; LIFT workshop children
Melendez showing children ballet steps outside the New York City shelter and meeting them at their own level.
The workshop makes classical technique a direct form of outreach: Melendez demonstrates movement where the children live, turning the shelter itself into an entry point to sustained ballet training.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. Canonical identity follows the 2022 Tribeca world premiere and its 87-minute listing. Apple TV's opened U.S. page labels the Paramount digital release 2023 and 89 minutes; rental is the closest allowed enum for paid platform access. No edition-specific timestamp was asserted.
Yolanssie dances home after Le Corsaire rehearsal
Classical BalletDanced by Yolanssie Cardona
Pliés on the train, arabesques and leaps over crosswalks, and a jump from a closed grocery stand on the way home.
The sequence lets ballet spill out of the institution: after watching a Le Corsaire rehearsal, Yolanssie carries its vocabulary through the subway and city streets as spontaneous self-expression.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. Canonical identity follows the 2022 Tribeca world premiere and its 87-minute listing. Apple TV's opened U.S. page labels the Paramount digital release 2023 and 89 minutes; rental is the closest allowed enum for paid platform access. No edition-specific timestamp was asserted.
Poster artwork from TMDB.
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