American Masters Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, premiering nationally Friday, December 28, 2012 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings), tells the story of the first quintessentially American dance company, the Joffrey Ballet. Founders Robert Joffrey (12/24/1930 – 3/25/1988) and Gerald Arpino (1/14/1923 – 10/29/2008) revolutionized American dance by combining modern with traditional ballet to create a new and daring art form. Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award-winner Mandy Patinkin (Homeland), the 90-minute documentary is the first to chronicle the Joffrey Ballet’s pioneering dance philosophy. Award-winning filmmaker Bob Hercules traces the company’s struggles and triumphs: from its humble beginnings in 1956, touring the United States in a borrowed station wagon, to becoming one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies.  Read the rest of this entry »

Dance Camera West (DCW), recognized internationally for its annual presentation and celebration of dance on screen, announces its 11th annual Dance Camera West Dance Media Film Festival.  This year’s festival takes place at high profile Los Angeles venues including LACMA and The Hammer Museum, from Thursday, June 28 to Saturday, June 30, 2012.  The festival will feature 20 films in four screenings over three days representing work from Italy, France, the UK, Canada, Sweden, France and the US.  Please visit DCW’s website for continuous updates at www.dancecamerawest.org.

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Docurama Films is pleased to announce that Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, a feature-length documentary, directed by Bob Hercules (Bill T. Jones: A Good Man), will debut on DVD and standard digital platforms on June 12, 2012, following a festival premiere and nationwide theatrical release. The 2012 film chronicles the legendary Joffrey Ballet from its humble beginnings touring the country in a borrowed station wagon to becoming one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies.  Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award winner Mandy Patinkin, the documentary takes a look at this groundbreaking cultural treasure, known as the first truly American dance company.  Included on the single DVD is the 82-minute documentary film; a 12-page collectible booklet; full dress rehearsal of The Green Table ballet; “making of” featurette; deleted scenes (including one on the making of Robert Altman’s film The Company); French, Spanish and German subtitles.

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Dance Camera West’s (DCW) 11th annual Dance Media Film Festival opens at LACMA with the screening of its highly anticipated shorts program, which will include special guests (TBD) on Thursday, June 28, 2012. The next day, Friday, June 29, also at LACMA, DCW pays tribute to Soul Train with a screening of the 90-minute documentary Soul Train: The Hippest Trip In America with special guest Jody Watley, as well as a longer shorts program.  The festival closes on Saturday, June 30, 2012 with a documentary program at The Hammer Museum.

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Hybrid Cinema is pleased to announce the San Francisco premiere of the feature length documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance at the third annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 6:00pm.  The film, directed by Bob Hercules, chronicles the legendary Joffrey Ballet from its humble beginnings touring the country in a borrowed station wagon to becoming one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies.  The San Francisco premiere will feature a Q&A immediately following the screening moderated by the film’s director, Bob Hercules, with former Joffrey Ballet dancers as panelists.

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Hybrid Cinema, The Colburn School and the California Dance Institute (CDI) are pleased to announce the Los Angeles premiere of the feature length documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance at Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:00pm.  Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, directed by Bob Hercules, is the first film to chronicle how the legendary Joffrey Ballet revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern dance with traditional ballet.  The Los Angeles premiere will include a Q&A immediately following the screening moderated by Sasha Anawalt, Director, Arts Journalism Programs at USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, with panelists Leslie Carothers-Aromaa, Artistic Director of the Colburn School’s Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, Carole Valleskey, Founder and Director of CDI, Francoise Martinet Moriarty, former Joffrey dancer from the company’s earliest days in the late 1950s, and Jodie Gates, Artistic Director of the Laguna Beach Dance Festival, Associate Professor of Dance at UC Irvine and former Joffrey principal dancer.

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(photo credit: Nabil Elderkin)

Award-winning film Bouncing Cats, the inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda through hip hop, makes its US television premiere on Documentary Channel Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. (EST/PST). The film, narrated by Common and featuring interviews with Will.I.Am, and K’Naan, follows the legendary Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth in the war torn region that has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child.  The film, produced by Red Bull Media House and directed by Australian filmmaker and photographer Nabil Elderkin, toured the film festival circuit in 2010 and 2011, earning awards along the way at Urbanworld Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival, among others.  Proceeds from the film benefit BPU.

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Joffrey Ballet founders Robert Joffrey & Gerald Arpino, early 1960's. Photo credit: unknown

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, the first film to chronicle the legendary Joffrey Ballet, is set to premiere in New York City in January 2012 at the Dance On Camera Festival. The feature length documentary takes a look at this groundbreaking cultural treasure, known a s the first truly American dance company. Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award winner Mandy Patinkin and directed by Bob Hercules (Bill T. Jones: A Good Man), the film documents how the Joffrey revolutionized American ballet by daringly combining modern dance with traditional ballet, and setting it to pop and rock music scores. Following the North American premiere in late January, the film will embark on a theatrical tour to select cities in the U.S. Released through Hybrid Cinema, the documentary is expected to have a DVD release in the first quarter of 2012 as well.
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Award-winning film Bag It, a touching and often funny documentary about how we use and abuse plastic, is set to air nationally on public television during Earth Week starting April 17, 2011. The film, by award-winning director Suzan Beraza, is an eye-opening look at the environmental and health dangers posed by the global use of disposable, non-biodegradable plastic products. Told with wit and humor, Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world.

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Breakdance Project Uganda reaches youth in the slums of Kisenyi, Uganda (photo credit: Nabil Elderkin)

Award-winning film Bouncing Cats, the inspiring documentary of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda through hip hop, is on the festival circuit making its way around North America along with limited sneak peek screenings and benefit events.  Narrated by Common and featuring interviews with Will.I.Am, and K’Naan, the story follows the legendary Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth in the war torn region that has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child.*  The film, by director Nabil Elderkin, recently won “Best Documentary Feature Film” at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York, “Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking” at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and “Audience Favorite Award” at Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival.

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