Have you ever walked down a city street and happened upon random and seemingly unplanned movement that is, or looks like dance? It could be accidental, it might be intentional, but whatever it is, it has the look and feel of dance? Perhaps it’s a street corner preacher dragging one foot and pointing as he follows a potential recruit… Maybe it’s a group of choreographed performers – collection hat out – testing some moves… It could just be a joyful person dancing as if the star of her own private movie, or an old man simply dancing to the divine. In any case, planned, random, or accidental, Cultural Weekly and ScreenDance Diaries invites you to be there, create it, and/or capture it on camera, and submit it to our first upcoming International Dare to Dance in Public Film Festival.
Dare to Dance in Public Film Festival will be accepting submissions starting on October 15, 2015. We will publish the rules on October 15, and you must follow the submission process exactly; no submissions will be accepted before we open the contest.
Short films five minutes and under will be judged in three categories: Best Interface of Dance and Camera, Best Original Choreography and Best Use of Location. Judging will be done by a distinguished panel of professionals including Valerie Faris (director w/ Jonathan Dayton, “Little Miss Sunshine”), d. Sabela grimes (US Artists Rockefeller Fellow, choreographer, writer, composer & educator), Julie McDonald (Dance Agent & Co-Founder McDonald Selznick Associates), Tony Testa (choreographer Janet Jackson, Kylie Minogue, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears and others) and yours truly, Sarah Elgart. In addition to the above, an Audience Choice Award will be voted on and determined by an international panel of dance enthusiasts… You: Cultural Weekly readers. And… Winners in each category will receive prizes (to be announced) as well as have their films featured and written about in Cultural Weekly.
As much as anything, Dare to Dance in Public Film Festival is an opportunity to bring dance out of the black box theaters and onto the streets. And, with the immediacy and power of the media, we can capture it, share it, and promote the urgency of dance as a unifying and unbridled life force.
So filmmakers, dancers and choreographers… Whip out your iPhones and cameras… Go look for some great locations… And get warmed up and ready for ScreenDance Diaries and Cultural Weekly’s first international Dare to Dance in Public Film Festival. All eligible entries must be uploaded to YouTube and then submitted via Submittable.com. Stand by… Complete rules will be posted soon!
Meanwhile, for inspiration take a look at some of ScreenDance Diaries favorite short films done in public:
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And ScreenDance Diaries’ very first selection, Batsheva’s Home Alone.
And finally, check out this week’s ScreenDance Diaires short, which is evidence of a completely accidental and spur of the moment dance in public that one passerby had the great impulse to create, and another had the great good sense to film.
We dare you to dance in public and we can’t wait to see what you come up with!