Moving Stories (DVD)

A film, by Rob Fruchtman, Cornelia Ravenal, Mikael Sodersten, Wendy Sax Six, about diverse dancers from the acclaimed Battery Dance Company who travel the world, working with youth who have experienced war, poverty, prejudice, sexual exploitation, and severe trauma as refugees. In India they work with girls rescued from sex trafficking and gender violence; in Romania, with gypsy kids from one of Europe's worst slums; in South Korea, with young North Koreans who risked their lives to escape; and in Iraq, with a gifted young Muslim dancer, fighting to survive. Incredibly, they have just one week to teach the tools of choreography and collaboration to kids who may be enemies, who may have been abused, who may be suspicious and fearful, so that they can create dances to perform for their communities. As they struggle to break through, the dancer-teachers confront their own frustrations. Yet their students respond in extraordinary ways - and as they prepare to perform in public in what seems an impossibly short time, both students and teachers experience surprising transformations, unlocking feelings and stories in wellsprings of creativity.

• art
• documentary