ChoreoCollective Workshops for Teens: Dance Films and Abrons Arts Center

Taught by Kash Gaines

Dance Films Association and Abrons Arts Center partnered to offer a guest workshop during their ChoreoCollective session, merging film techniques with choreographic techniques where the students to make their own dance films.

About Kash Gaines & YAK Films

YAKfilms is a production company and Youtube network that films street dance videos and events.
Founded by friends collaborating with varying interests of street dance, new music, and interesting cinematography. Moving to the future, they push the limits of all three, showcasing under represented new street styles, international underground beatmakers, and filming using the newest equipment !

A dancer, a host, a filmmaker…Kash Gaines has been traveling the world filming and studying new street dance styles from the USA and abroad.

Creating Dance for the Camera

Taught by Zach Morris

This introductory workshop addressed the unique technical, practical, and artistic challenges of creating dance film from a choreographer’s perspective.

Staging and choreographing for the camera are introduced through a series of focused exercises including storyboarding, elementary lighting techniques, framing/composition, and shooting strategies. Methods for approaching editing and post-production are highlighted throughout.

About Zach Morris

Zach Morris is a choreographer, director, visual artist and Co-Artistic Director of Third Rail Projects. He is also the organizer and moderator of the NYC Dance Film Lab, a Movement Research teaching artist, and an adjunct faculty member of the Florida State University School of Dance. He has previously served as the Co-Creator and Co-Director of the Westbeth New Works Program and as the Inter/National Program Associate at Dance Theater Workshop. Zach has a BFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University.

Exquisite Corpse: Dance Filmmaking Turned Creative Game by Brighid Greene

Frank Sinatra High School of Performing Arts

To magnify the collaborative process of dance filmmaking, students played a version of the surrealist game Exquisite Corpse, working together to sketch movement storyboards and then putting them into action!

View a sample presentation here.

About Brighid Greene

Brighid Greene, a native to the golden state, now lives in Ridgewood, Queens. At Dance Films Association, she facilitates the exhibition and creation of dance film as their Communications Associate. She’s performed in music videos for Zola Jesus and Friend Roulette and dances with choreographers Benn Rasmussen and KatieRose McLaughlin. She champions for dance by serving on the Dance/NYC Junior Committee. Past performances include Lady Han at Incubator Arts Project, Wave Rising Series, Performa 11, and Szene Salzburg. Brighid received a BFA in Dance and a double major in Religious Studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with the J.S. Seidman Award.

The Challenge of Filming Dance by Ellen Bar

Beacon School

Combing the Advanced Film Class and Hip Hop Class, Ellen Bar showed excerpts from her dance film Jerome Robbins’ NY Export: Opus Jazz and discuss the challenges of filming.

About Ellen Bar

Ellen Bar attended the School of American Ballet from the age of eight and was asked to join the New York City Ballet as a corps member in 1998.  She danced featured roles in classic works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins and Christopher Wheeldon, and was promoted to Soloist in 2006.   As a child, Ellen danced as a Candy Cane in Emile Ardolino’s The Nutcracker with New York City Ballet; as an adult she appeared in the feature film Center Stagedirected by Nicholas Hytner and created an animated character in Barbie of Swan Lake.  While dancing full-time, Ellen earned an Associate’s Degree in Business from Penn State University and continues to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in English at Columbia University.  In 2005, Ellen was part of the original ensemble cast of the NYCB revival of NY Export: Opus Jazz when fellow NYCB soloist Sean Suozzi conceived of a present-day, on-location film adaptation of the ballet.  Together, Ellen and Sean developed, produced and creatively helmed the project from inception to completion.  In May of 2011, Ellen retired from her 13 year career as a professional ballerina and is now Director of Media Projects at New York City Ballet.