Behind the Scenes – Moon Language

A look behind the scenes of Moon Language, a collaboration between Stopgap Dance Company,  Icknield School and Wellington Academy. It celebrates the 10th anniversary of The Lights, in Andover. Led by Choreographer Sibohan Hayes, the team created a performance inspired by some of the existing art work that features on the doors and walls of this creative hub.

Cass productions talked to the creative team, dancers, students and teachers throughout the process to capture the project development and clearly articulate the context of the piece.

The atmosphere and tone of the film is set by the use of slow motion and steadicam techniques.

Dance Filming:

We have been filming dance performances since 1998. This includes ‘dance for camera’ films as well as live performances for professional dance companies and community dance schools, covering contemporary, street, ballet and modern dance styles. We have also made a number of dance documentaries. Our clients include StopGap Dance, Hofesh Shechter, Avant Garde Dance, Hampshire Dance, National Youth Dance Company, Dance For Life, Youth Dance England, The Place, Commotion, Dance-Africa, Udify, The Point, Trinity Laban, Florian School of Dance and Salisbury Dance Studios.

Contemporary Dance Film

Altar Image

A Contemporary Dance Film that fuses street dance styles with a gothic twist. Originally commissioned for Collabo South by renowned choreographers Tony Adigun and Vikkie Steege, this film was directed by Gary Cassey and featuring Tiffany Hamilton-Atkins and Baanji Muteto. This dance film was filmed in a single day at an amazing church in Hampshire and has since featured in a number of dance festivals throughout Europe and even as far afield as Brazil. The film has also been shown as part of a series of dance films on TV in the USA.

Collabo and Collabo South are the brainchild of Avant Garde founder Tony Adigun. Avant Garde is a London based company pushing the boundaries of hip-hop and contemporary dance. Their dynamic performances have musicality at their core and explore a myriad of styles, themes and media. Their mantra ‘Innovate Never Replicate’ is clearly evident throughout their wide portfolio of work, and led by Artistic Director Tony Adigun they are committed to producing artistic work that is entertaining and challenging. Find out more about Collab here on their website: Collabo

About the Performers
Baanji Muteto
Baanji is an open minded and extremely enthusiastic young dancer with a strong passion for choreography, dance teaching and performance. He has a strong passion for dance and appreciate all forms of dance, ranging from Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz and both his favourite and strongest style, Hip Hop.
Tiffany Hamilton-Atkins
Dancing in such high profile performances such as the Olympic Closing Ceremony 2012: Extinguishing of the Flame with Darcey Bussell, UEFA Champions League Final 2011 Opening Ceremony and Duffy’s ‘My Boy’ video, Tiffany is a talented contemporary, jazz and ballet dancer.

If you are interested in making a dance film please call or email us to discuss your project.

Community Arts Films

In These Four Walls Trailer

Working on Community Arts Films provides us with opportunities to film in stunning locations such as the imposing Great Hall in Winchester. The Hall featured as the backdrop for a new dance work by Hampshire choreographer Liz Richards. Performed by 20 members of Hampshire Youth Dance Company and 20 members of the local community, the history of the building and its striking architecture is juxtaposed with the fluid beauty of contemporary dance.

‘In These Four Walls’ was the first 20:20 Vision project, a series of exciting commissions over several years by Hampshire Dance that celebrated 20 years of achievement and innovation and looked forward to the future development of this fantastic organisation. Here at Cass Productions, we produced a dance for camera film as well as a short trailer to promote the project and raise awareness of the achievements to date. We regularly work with a wide variety of dance organisations in Hampshire, Surrey, Wiltshire and London, a legacy of our initial base at The Point, Eastleigh.

The project is supported by Hampshire County Council, and Arts Council England and the National Lottery and the Community Arts Film was directed by Gary Cassey for Cass Productions.

Find out more about National Lottery Funding for various arts, culture and heritage projects on their webiste at here.

To see a part of the dance performance in the formative stages of rehearsal, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR5Xb4tT46c.
‘This clip was taken during rehearsals on Saturday 18th February 2012, and shows the final section from ‘In These Four Walls’ before it in the Great Hall, Winchester. This was the first commission from Hampshire Dance’s 20:20 Vision programme, celebrating their 20 years of achievement. This collaborative performance, by members of Hampshire Youth Dance Company and local community members, was choreographed by Liz Richards.’

Dance Film

BOXBEAT

BOXBEAT is a conceptual dance film starring NoCo, Hampshire Dance’s innovative street and hip hop youth dance company. Directed by Gary Cassey and choreographed by Vikkie Steege, the film follows 2 young people as they make the transition to adult life, confronting and selecting the different pathways presented to them. Their ultimate aim is to break out of the confines of their stifling environment and control their own destiny. Original music by Gary Cassey & Sean Hughes.

Dance for camera and and dance films are a particular speciality of ours and we’d love to hear from you if you are thinking of making one. Our films have been screened at festivals throughout the UK and the rest of the world and are often shown on television. We often come up with the concept ourselves but are also very interested in collaborations. We have previously worked with a number of renowned choreographers as well as dance groups, arts organisations and local authorities.

To find out more about Dance Up (formerly Hampshire Dance), click HERE

Documentary

Youth Dance & Health

In this short Documentary, we teamed up with Hampshire Dance and Youth Dance England to visit some of the most successful Youth Dance & Health projects in England. Did you know that in a recent school sports survey, dance was identified as being the second most popular physical activity for young people in England after football? And with increasing rates of obesity threatening the health and happiness of our children, there couldn’t be a better time for young people to get dancing. A number of organisations in England are working hard to harness the current popularity of dance in order to encourage young people to get moving, get healthy and form good exercise habits for life. This Documentary explores this in an engaging and inspirational way.

The film was narrated and presented by Camilla Dallerup, star of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Camilla said:

“Dancing is a fantastic way to get physically active, to stay fit and, most importantly, to have fun. This film illustrates these benefits in projects that take place all over the country, and I’m very pleased to be able to be involved.”

About Hampshire Dance :
Dance can have a transforming and lasting impact on young people’s lives. Hampshire Dance creates innovative opportunities for young people to participate, improve and excel in dance. Hampshire Dance is a vibrant and innovative regional dance agency that leads on youth dance across the south east, initiates development opportunities for dance professionals and provides information and advocacy about dance. In 2007 Hampshire Dance was awarded funding from The Big Lottery Wellbeing Programme (through the chances4change portfolio) to lead VitaliSE, a three-year regional youth dance and health programme across the south east of England. In 2010 Hampshire Dance became the first organisation in England to commission a young person to choreograph for a professional dance company. 18 year-old Oliver Gratton created Out From Out Where for Udifydance Company.

Promotional Dance Film

Udify

Due to our experience of filming dance performances and making dance films over the last 15 years, we were asked to create this promotional dance film . In 2010 Hampshire Dance commissioned 18 year old Oliver Gratton to create a new choreographic work for Udify Dance Company. It was the first time a young person had been commissioned to create work for a professional dance company.
Out From Out Where became part of Udify’s repertoire for their 4Men:Move tour.