In FRAME: BalletBoyz

Photo credit: Courtesy of BalletBoyz

Last month's newsletter and blog featured an article on digital dance including the exciting opportunities inherent in the medium of dance on screen. This month, BalletBoyz is co-presenting [FRAME] The London Dance Film Festival. In this interview, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, co-founders of BalletBoyz, discuss dance on camera, FRAME, BalletBoyz, and the company's projects.

Frame Film Festival, the major new festival that enjoys the best that dance and dance film offers will take place across Kingston from 9-12th June. Can you tell us a bit about what to expect with this exciting festival?

Frame is a dance film festival, highlighting the very best in dance film making, a notoriously tricky genre to define and to get right. We have been watching hundreds of films, looking for great story telling, original choreography, and unique voices in the film world. But we haven't turned our backs on the past as we want to show some of the best classic dance films from great filmmakers. There will be prizes for dance films along with innovation and technology, and hopefully we will find some great new talent to inspire new ideas and collaborations.

Following its hugely successful run at Sadler's Wells in 2014, Young Men has been developed into a feature length film. Describe for us this project and the process of creating dance for film.

The film is a feature length, silent movie with a score by singer songwriter Keaton Henson. It's the story of young soldiers in or around the time of the First World War. No specific army, battle or nationality -- just young men facing death every day. It uses Iván Pérez's choreography from our stage version that we adapted for film and we took the entire company to Northern France in November 2015 for two weeks to shoot. It was an incredible experience and has given us a taste of feature film making. We can't wait for the next one!

Read more about BalletBoyz.

By Tamara Johnson

The World Dances --

So Should Schools!

The song goes, "Animals in the mountains, hey yo hey yo. Animals in the mountains hey yo hey." When the song stops, the teacher (in this case, me) calls out an animal native to the Himalayas, and a group of 30 first graders who live in rural mountain villages in Ladakh (in the Indian Himalayas) channel their best snow leopards, yaks, mountain sheep, and eagles through dance. The youngest students speak almost no English, and I speak almost none of the local language, called Bolti. But within 30 minutes, the students are forming food chains and depicting their local ecosystems through their own animal inspired, improvised choreography.

I am fully biased toward loving this instance, but it's only one of many examples of arts helping students to learn about various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects. Educators are increasingly realizing the value of desegregating arts and science. The pedagogical model is called STEAM (add Arts to STEM), and the approach is helping students with different learning styles to enjoy and tackle technical subjects. Read more about the inspiring and effective impact of STEAM education here.

By Tamara Johnson

Goal Setting to Make the Most
of Your Summer Intensive

Maddie Goodman

Whether you're heading to your first summer intensive or returning to a program you have attended previously, establishing clear goals will definitely make your experience more fulfilling. Dancers know they want to improve over the course of their summer intensives, but better defining your goals will help you focus and stay positive. Do you want to improve your turns, learn repertoire, diversify your training, get an invitation to study year round? Determining and refining your goals, delving into why you chose your particular program, and writing down your goals as you prepare for your intensive will help you get the most from your summer program.

Erica Raver, April 2016 Harlequin Floors scholarship winner, identifies becoming a stronger dancer mentally and physically as a goal to work on at the Boston Ballet Summer Intensive this year. Maddie Goodman, March 2016 Harlequin Floors scholarship winner, will be returning to the SAB Summer Intensive. Maddie wants to build on what she learned last year and to become stronger in the Balanchine technique. Viviane Lovato, another March 2016 scholarship winner, tells The World Dances she will be focusing on corrections, improving her overall flexibility, posture, and where she directs the energy of her movement while attending the Kansas City Ballet Summer Intensive.

Instructors tell us that keeping a log of your corrections during your intensive will help you focus both during and post-program. They also remind us that staying positive and being kind to all around you will enhance your summer intensive experience. We wish all summer intensive students and instructors the very best in your upcoming summer programs. We look forward to hearing about your goals and experiences!

Harlequin Floors is a
Proud YAGP Sponsor

Harlequin Floors executives attend 2016 YAGP Gala: Chrissy Ott, Marketing Director; Bob Dagger, Owner & CEO; Patricia Basileo, Executive Vice President

Congratulations to all the 2016 Youth America Grand Prix participants. The "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow" Gala performances were another stunning example that YAGP is successfully meeting its mission to Ensure the Future of Dance. What a wonderful opportunity to see the 2016 YAGP finalists and a star-studded roster of world renowned dancers perform at BAM on Harlequin floors.

New Career Opportunities
in the Arts

Check out the more than 65 current job listings on TheWorldDances.com. New York City Ballet is looking for Dance Teaching Artists. Do you have the skills set to be the new Academy Director at BalletMet? Florida State University School of Dance seeks a Production Technician. Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation is hiring a Marketing Manager and a Manager of Individual Giving. ODC is looking for a Director of Development. New World School of the Arts is seeking Full Time Faculty Members. You will find these updated listings and many more at TheWorldDances.com to explore career options in the arts.

TheWorldDances E-Newsletter Team

Publisher: Karla Johnson

Editor: Tamara Johnson

Producer: Ester Rodriguez

May 6, 2016

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Meet the April 2016 Harlequin Floors Scholarship Winners

Congratulations to the April 2016 Harlequin Floors Scholarship winners Erica Rave, Marina Halama, Gabriella Annalise Flanders, and Courtney Campbell. We are constantly amazed at the high caliber of videos submitted every month to enter the Harlequin Floors Scholarship contest. Thank you to all of you for sharing your terrific dancing with us! Do you watch all the fabulous dance videos on TheWorldDances.com? You will find more than 2100 dance videos to inspire, teach, and entertain you. Harlequin Floors is honored to support dancers by awarding $1000 in scholarships every month. Please post your video today for the May Harlequin Floors Scholarship Video Contest. We can't wait to see you dance!