Edinburgh International Festival releases short film following local dancers debut 2023
Edinburgh International Festival releases a new short film following local dancers making their professional dancing debut at the 2023 International Festival.
Article Source: Edinburgh International Festival
Last Updated: 23 January 2024 13:00
Watch the short film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w5dDpGqelM
23rd January, Edinburgh: Edinburgh International Festival today releases a short film, A Dancer's Dream: Three of Scotland's emerging dancers join Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on the Edinburgh International Festival stage documenting their first collaboration with renowned US dance company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which is available on the Edinburgh International Festival’s YouTube account.
In May 2023, Edinburgh International Festival issued an open call out for a cohort of 25 diverse and dynamic emerging dancers aged 18-25, who lived in, were born in, or trained in Scotland. They would rehearse at Edinburgh College with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and perform with the company in its classic piece Memoria, at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh in August. This was a paid, professional opportunity and Edinburgh International Festival provided travel and accommodation to remove all barriers to participation.
Following the call out, 137 dancers from around Scotland were invited to audition and 25 were handpicked. by Ronni Favors, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Rehearsal Director. As well as running the the auditions, she was brought from New York to Edinburgh by the company to run rehearsals and teach the choreography.
The dancers were filmed throughout the audition and rehearsals, and the resulting short film, made by production company Chocolate Films, documents the journey of three dancers, Alana Cowie, Gregor Campbell and Kathleen Lawlor. Throughout the film they rehearse and prepare for their performance with the company; their first professional job as young dancers.
The film will be available on Edinburgh International Festival’s YouTube channel from the 23rd of January 2024. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Project was part of our Learning & Engagement programme, which was made possible thanks to our Learning & Engagement Partner, Baillie Gifford Investment Managers.
Caroline Donald, Head of Learning and Engagement at the International Festival, said:
“The International Festival believes that the arts are for everyone and aims to connect with people of all ages, both locally and internationally. The talent development opportunity offered through Memoria allowed the International Festival to connect emerging dancers with one of the world’s leading dance companies in one of the flagship performances of the 2023 Festival programme.
Projects such as this reaffirm our commitment to making a significant contribution to nurturing emerging talent on and off the stage, by connecting and inspiring a future generation of Scottish and international arts leaders.”
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