Award-winning community dance artist Nicholas Rowe journeys through seven cities to explore how very diverse dancers respond to their urban landscapes. Filmed in Laos, Fiji, Lebanon, Italy, Palestine, Finland and Australia, this dance film weaves performances from marginalized community groups, to question how creating dances together can foster a sense of belonging.
Featuring performers from:
Court di Miracoli, Siena, Italy
Lao Bang Fai, Vientiane, Laos
The Grey Panthers, Darwin, Australia
VOU, Suva, Fiji
University of the Arts, Helsinki, Finland
Merkez al Rabiah Filistiniyah, Beirut, Lebanon
El-Funoun Popular Dance Troupe/Bara’em, Ramallah, Palestine
Nicholas Rowe is an Associate Professor in Dance Studies at the University of Auckland. He has directed community dance projects across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific for more than 25 years, working with local community arts organizations. His previous feature-length films include The Secret World and his books include Raising Dust: A cultural history of dance in Palestine, Talking Dance: Contemporary histories from the Southern Mediterranean and Art During Siege: Performing arts workshops in traumatized communities. Nicholas is a graduate of the Australian Ballet School and holds a PhD from the London Contemporary Dance School/University of Kent at Canterbury.
Produced with funding by:
ECREA-FRDF-PBRF University of Auckland
ArtsEqual, Academy of Finland (293199)