PIROUETTE

The Parent Trap goes to the ballet.

A worker in a Brazilian orphanage gives identical twin babies, slated to be adopted by different parents in different parts of the world, a chance to meet again by ensuring they both end up placed with families in Melbourne, Australia. Fifteen years later, summer dance camp roommates Simone Stark and Hannah Segal immediately notice their striking physical similarities and conclude (with the help of a quick DNA test) that they are identical twins separated at birth. Their similarities end with their appearance, however. Shy, studious Simone would love to give up her spot at an elite dance school, but her rigid single mother won’t ever listen. Outgoing Hannah wishes she could turn her extracurricular dance into a career, but her book-publishing parents want her to take academics more seriously. After successfully switching identities at camp, the teens prepare each other for trading families. The ups and downs of juggling new friends, boyfriends and parents are predictable yet satisfying. Catholic Simone’s struggles with navigating a Hebrew school and Hannah’s fears of getting kicked out of dance school for lack of talent create a light tension, while text messages from an unknown sender who threatens to reveal their secret add a hint of mystery.

Just like the Disney film, there’s clean fun as sisters bond and romance builds.