!!NEWSFLASH!!

Updates & Upgrades!  Check out our fresh new logo made by the incomparable @chike_newman Dopeness at its finest! 

Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting updates to come 

#MDC #MDCFilms #screendance #dancefilm #newlogo #fresh #dopeness #excitingtimes #onwardsandupwards

finding my feet screened a few weeks ago @docuworldfilmfestival in London!   

Let’s keep it moving!

#TheMDC #MDCFilms #screendance #DanceFilm #findingmyfeet #docudance #mentalhealth

‘Anywhere is a Dancefloor’ is having its USA PREMIERE @screendanceinternational in Detroit.

Onwards and Upwards!

THRILLED to announce ‘Don’t Play with L(Kn)ives’ will be screening at @cinedans [one of our favourite film festivals] this weekend!!

‘Anywhere is a Dancefloor’ just finished screening at KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival 2022!

Thrilled to announce 𝑨𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒓 will be screening at Superbia Cinema @manchesterpride and the talented @jaiiandrew will be there to answer audience questions, so book your free ticket today! ・・・ 

Superbia Cinema

Join Superbia on Thursday 23rd June at @duciestreet as we showcase four fantastic films by LGBTQ+ creatives!  

> Anywhere is a Dancefloor - Directed by Mat Beckett 

> Other Half - Directed by Lina Kalcheva 

> Diva - Directed by Adam Csoka Keller 

> Tease - Directed by Jessica Brady  

Stick around after the screenings for a special filmmaker Q&A with @jaiiandrew, @divinadecampo and @aimlessostrich! 

Find out more and book your FREE tickets at: Superbia.org.uk/superbia-cinema-june 

Omari has been travelling a lot recently for some EXCITING work! Get a taste of what he got up to in Montreal with @migrationdance 👏🏾
・・・
|| ARTIST SPOTLIGHT //

Omari Carter is a screendance practitioner, lecturer, body percussionist, and founder and creative director of @themdcollective, based in London, England.

During Omari’s visit to Montreal as a collaborator on PROCESSION | CREATIVE, he also participated in the second segment of our REFUGE shoot as an Assistant Director.

Thank you Omari for your dedication to the art of screendance!

Photo: Saria Chatila

⚡️NEWS!!⚡️

Omari has been busy on the adjudication panel for @screendanceinternational

Can't wait to showcase all the amazing films that have been selected!

For more information, visit:

https://www.screendanceinternational.com/

Last weekend @flatpackfestival the 8 films commissioned and produced by The MDC for #BIDF2021 were screened as part of the Screendance programme 🤗🎞🤩

・・・
🎉 The #Flatpack22 programme is live, and chock-full of delights for all the senses. 🎉

A massive thanks to @vivapica, @misterdodds & @jacques_kleynhans for this year’s gorgeous animated visuals

TOMORROW NIGHT 🎬 ‘finding my feet’ is screening for V&A Friday Lates @vamuseum 👀

Where: V&A Museum
When: April 29th 2022, 18:30-22:00
🎟 IT’S FREE 🎟

Hope to see some familiar faces there!

SCREENDANCE CONVERSATION A-GO-GO‼️

Yesterday was Day 1 of the Screendance Symposium and to kick off the festivities there was a live panel discussion on
▪️‘Dance, Film and Future Landscapes’ with Gabri Christa, Li Chiao-Ping, Omari "Motion" Carter, Katrina McPherson, Harmony Bench, Charlotte Griffin & Cara Hagan 🙌🏾🙌🏼🙌🏻

Great to be involved in this important conversation, let’s keep it moving!

Photo: Gitta Wigro

WE OUT HERE 💥🙌🏾☺️

・・・
Omari ‘Motion’ Carter, International Visiting Artist at UW, is crossing the pond TODAY! The next 9 days are full of opportunities to engage with Omari and learn about screendance and the arts, starting with a screening of Omari’s film, “In Pursuit of Joy: A Screendance BBQ,” at the Wisconsin Film Festival! 

The excitement is REAL‼️
・・・
Join us for this year's International Screendance Symposium either in person or via Zoom! Thanks to @uw_artdept and @uwdancedept

We are excited to have such a knowledgeable and influential gathering of some of the most influencing folks in the business!

For more information, visit:

https://screendancesymposium.art.wisc.edu/

Omari is looking forward to once again judging @sanssoucifest 💥

You still have time left to submit before the final deadline!
・・・
19TH ANNUAL CALL FOR ENTRIES OPEN NOW!
ALL categories NOW open for submission in our 19th annual call for entries! See their @filmfreeway page for complete rules and terms.

On Tuesday our Founder & Artistic Director had the pleasure of speaking at a PoP MOVES Salon on his work within the urban dance and dance film realms through @themdcollective 🙌🏾. This was also followed by a talk on house dance with the incomparible and Frankie Johnson @thereddreadhousehead.
Thank you for the great conversation & for having us @popmoves ⚡️
・・・

This Tiny Pop Moves Salon provided an opportunity to practitioners of popular dance to highlight specific systemic issues and need for support. What would academic support for practitioners look like if it were designed from the inside out?

⚡️Flashback Friday⚡️

A few weeks ago Omari was in the studio @impactdanceuk for a mobile screendance workshop for @slidingdoorscollective 📱
・・・
Special thanks to Omari from @themdcollective & @slidingdoorscollective who came into the studio recently to deliver a filming on phones workshop with our Academy and FFI dancers!💜⁠

In early February Omari was in Bournemouth @pdsw_org for the second R&D of 𝑽𝑰𝑩𝑬𝑺.

Commissioned by @thespacearts
Sponsored by @soundbrenner

Thank you to all the artists and technicians involved. Stay tuned for what the team got up to!

Photo: MAL

Excited to announce ‘Anywhere is a Dancefloor’ has been selected for Brighton Rocks Film Festival @brightonrocksfilms 👏🏻🎉🏳️‍🌈

• • •
Produced by The Motion Dance Collective
Director & DoP: Mat Beckett @riverreafilms
Concept & Music: Adam Carver @fattbutcher
Concept & Choreography: Jaii Andrew @jaiiandrew
Executive Producer: DanceXchange @dancexchange_
Producers: Matt Critchfield @mattcritchy & Anna Clifford @annaleaclifford

💫 Through the Looking Glass 💫 had its first festival screening at Stafford Film Festival 2021 and was a Quarter Finalist!
• • •

Director @jgjuggler
Assistant Director @omarimotion
Cinematographer @jw_cinematographer
Composer & Sound Engineer @sambarnettsound

💫Produced by The Motion Dance Collective
💫Featuring Broadway Blazers
💫In association with Lewisham Council

DRUMROLL PLEASE… 

‘Anywhere is a Dancefloor’ has won the 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗟𝗚𝗕𝗧 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 at Colours of Love - International Queer Film Festival!

Talk about starting the new year with a BANG!  Huge congratulations to the incredible artists and collaborators involved...

Produced by The Motion Dance Collective  

Director & DoP: Mat Beckett   

Concept & Music: Adam Carver   

Concept & Choreography: Jaii Andrew  

Executive Producer: DanceXchange  

Producers: Matt Critchfield & Anna Clifford

The screening on Saturday for #DUFest21 was special.  It was incredible to see some of our favourite dance film makers share a screening.  

Thank you to the artists - 

Katrina McPherson @katrinamcphersonart  

Simon Fildes @srfildes  

Benjamin Skop @benjaminskop  

Mitchell Rose @mitchellrosefilm  

Cara Hagan @caralittleunicorn  

Vilma Tihilä 

Marlene Millar @millarmarlene  

Sandy Silva @migrationdancefilmproject   

And big thank you to @danceumbrella and big man @fopokuaddaie for having us! 

#DUFest21 is running until October 24th so be sure to check out all the amazing performances and opportunities!  

It’s going down this weekend @watermansarts & we hope to see some familiar faces there! Book your ticket via link now for only £5!

Join us in the @watermansarts cinema for an International Dance Short Film Programme curated by @omarimotion, as part of our #DUFest21 Watermans Takeover on Sat 16 Oct 

The films: 

Feltham Moves (2021) (UK) Age UK Hounslow, Grounded Movement and Dance Umbrella

There is a Place (2010) (SCOTLAND/HONG KONG) Sang Jijia / Katrina McPherson / Simon Fildes  Temporal Lineation (2017) (DENMARK) Benjamin Skop  

Attention Span (2020) (USA) Mitchell Rose  

Cygnus (2018) (USA) Cara Hagan  

Observations III, Mami Wata (2021) (FINLAND/BENIN) Vilma Tihilä  

NAVIGATION (2020) (CANADA/IRELAND) Marlene Millar

THRILLED to announce that ‘finding my feet’ will be at @sfdancefilmfest this year as part of the ‘Dance Heals’ shorts programme!

"Dance Heals" features eight documentary-focused shorts that bravely explore how dace can help assert identity and heal the wounds of the past, addressing topics such as sexuality and family relations.  

Streaming at #SFDFF2021 through @MarqueeArtsTV from Oct 15-24. Reserve tickets and passes today!

#BIDF2021 IS BACK!!!

Check out our Midlands Made Films commissioned by DanceXchange showing this weekend at MAC Birmingham.

⚡️FREE SCREENINGS Sat Sept 25th / Sun Sept 26th
⚡️Featuring ‘Don’t Play with L(Kn)ives by Brooke Milliner & ‘Anywhere is a Dancefloor’ by Adam Carver and Jaii Andrew produced by The Motion Dance Collective

DETAILS HERE:

https://bidf.co.uk/shows/midlands-made-screendance/

We are still reeling from being featured in Dance Magazine last month 🤩

Check out the article; it gives a shoutout to one of our most recent team projects Fracture/d Frame/s - which you can watch on our website or YouTube channel.

Grateful to be featured among such talented and inspirational screendance artists - be sure to check them out & follow their work!

READ HERE:

https://www.dancemagazine.com/dance-filmmakers-2654443029.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

Keep your eyes peeled, cursors ready and screendance senses sharp!
. . .

Announcement time #DUFest21 returns 8 - 24 October, and we're so excited to welcome audiences back for the first time since 2019 with a number of in-person performances across #London, alongside a collection of digital events.

Featuring live work from Dimitris Papaioannou, Takeshi Matsumoto, Ahilan Ratnamohan, Becky Namgauds, tyroneisaacstuart, Dani Harris Walters, Kesha Raithatha and Jennifer Irons, an international short film programme curated by Omari Carter, free dance workshops and more…

DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!

Extremely overjoyed to announce our very own Omari ‘Motion’ Carter has been published in the latest volume of The International Journal of Screendance - This Is Where We Dance Now: Covid-19 and the New and Next in Dance Onscreen.

Contributions:

1. ROUNDTABLE - "After Quarantine: The Future of Screendance" with Sandra Maduoma, Antoine Marc, Vilma Tihilä, Alice Underwood, James Williams - (Transcript and Video)

2.  "What Happens Next?" - A viewpoint and provocation written entirely in rhyme (Transcript and Soundcloud Audio Version - with original music by Omari and big brother, Stacy Carter)

Check out the full journal for FREE here:

http://dx.doi.org/10.18061/ijsd.v12i0

Founder Omari 'Motion' Carter is blessed to be in Wales - from the 11th - 20th of June 2021 - for Maynard's first residency in Abercych since January 2020!

Thank you to Simon Whitehead for the invitation.  Beyond grateful for the space & time to experiment, explore and create!

Click below for an insight into his playtime:

MAYNARD BLOG POST

"Omari Carter was here in the village back in June, he left some precious traces..." Simon Whitehead

Be sure to check out Frameform on your favourite podcast platforms and listen in on Series 2: EP9 

“Time for a dance film podcast crossover! This week, we connect with The Motion Dance Collective, the UK-based production company that aims to innovate screendance at every turn, whether it’s presenting thought provoking film or sharing insights through workshops and their podcast, The MDC talks. We discuss many topics, including the the niche-on-niche world of screendance podcasts as well as the dreaded question that hangs over anyone involved in screendance…”

- Frameform

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

END OF THE BLOCK keeps dancing it’s way through the festival circuit! HIP HOP HOORAY

FilmFest by Rogue Dancer: URBAN View Edition (June 2021)

June 25 - July 11th 2021

• • •

As our CITIES bustle, DANCERS hustle to carve a place in the LANDSCAPE. Through traffic, brick, bone and muscle these artists question

Featured DANCE Filmmakers:

Pelle Hybinette & Skanes Dansteater (SWEDEN),

Nauris Buksevics (UK),

Kati Kallio (FINLAND),

Ulises A. Morales (SPAIN),

Lucila Brindisi (ARGENTINA),

Astero Styliani Lamprinou (GREECE), Jordan Fuchs (USA),

Kyle Stevenson & Omari 'Motion' Carter (UK),

Penny Chivas & Paul Michael Henry (UK),

Allen Hahn, Ryan Newman & Elizabeth Shea (USA),

Jody Oberfelder (USA),

Carolyn Pampalone Rabbers (USA),

Layla Wei x ScRach MarcS (SINGAPORE),

Tanin Torabi (IRAN),

Jevan Chowdhury & Laura Obiols (UK & SPAIN) 

Raven M Jackson & Donald C. Shorter Jr. USA

Thrilled to announce our Founder/Director, Omari ‘Motion’ Carter is a featured artist at this years ADF's Movies By Movers

Presenting and talking about some of his work including:

End of the Block

Finding My Feet

In Pursuit of Joy: A Screendance BBQ

HOPE YOU CAN TUNE IN!

Thursday 17 June 19:00 EST/ 00:00 BST (Available on demand for 1 week)

https://americandancefestival.org/.../movies-by-movers.../

Onwards and sideways

HOTFOOT Spring 2021 has now landed and we are thrilled to share that our podcast  •The MDC Talks• has been featured in HOTFOOT SPRING 2021 as a recommended listen!

We love diving deeper into creative conversations about all things dance on screen. If you haven’t already tuned into the podcast, be sure to check it out on the Podcast tab at top of our website page.

The theme of HOTFOOT’s Spring 2021 edition is Paving the Way: Rebuilding and Reimagining. Looking at new approaches and emerging voices, which is apt considering the turbulent year it has been for the arts. You will find articles looking at education, careers and artistic expression.

Please find your article link below:

• Podcast Article - http://bit.ly/HOTFOOT21Podcasts

• HOTFOOT Spring 2021 link – http://bit.ly/HOTFOOTOnlineSpring2021

On May 21st we had an intimate sharing of Omari’s prototype for an vibro-tactile percussive dance-film installation!

Thank you to Pavilion Dance South West for creating the time and space for this test, we are so excited to see how we can develop it further!

Gratitude to PDSW Digital Producer Lizzy Maries, collaborators Rod Cossou, Shae Carroll, Mike Winship and Ellis Keates and to everyone who showed up to offer their feedback and insight

Onwards and sideways!

Check out the blog post here for more insight into our process!!!

The Motion Dance Collective are excited to share EIGHT (yes you heard right) new dance-films with you as part of #BIDF2021 in partnership with DanceXchange.

MIDLANDS MADE COMMISSIONS:

Anywhere is a Dance Floor by Fatt Butcher & Jason Andrew Guest

• This new work celebrates the creativity, resilience, and fierce spirit of Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ nightlife community

Dont Play with L(Kn)ives by Brooke Milliner

• An original Hip Hop Screendance piece that explores knife crime in the UK. Bringing together some of the UK’s finest Hip Hop dancers, a live violinist & a spoken word artist.

PLUS 6 AMAZING one-minute screendance commissions from artists across the Midlands!

HIP HOP HOORAY!!!

INA AMA had its first international festival screening this May 2021, at ScreenDance Festival Sweden. 

It was screened alongside Marlene Millar's NAVIGATION of which Omari 'Motion' Carter had the pleasure of assistant directing! Excited to see where these dance film travels to next! Forward movements!

On April 17 2021, the incomparable Simon Fildes passed away.

We feel his absence greatly and will forever be grateful for his presence in our lives and his guidance in our work.

A friend, mentor, inspiration and as Omari likes to call him... the sensei of screendance Simon’s legacy will live on through his incredible collection of work and the minds and hearts he inspired within the screendance community he created.

We miss you and we will continue to be guided by your wisdom and vision.

Rest in Power!

Talk on Re-imagining South Asian Dance on Screen.

• April 23rd 2021 | 16:00-18:00 BST

• Online via Zoom

• Only £9! Book online via  bhumidance.com/unnati-omari

Omari will be talking about his screendance practice and recent experiences of re-imagining South Asian Dance works for screen with The Motion Dance Collective, including Akademi and Pagrav Dance Company!

"We’re incredibly excited to be working with Omari ‘Motion’ Carter as our ‘Digital Creative’ over ten days from now – May. Omari will work with us to make, explore, challenge and reflect as we think about our Digital work and how we build this new area of our programme. Omari’s innovative and collaborative approach to screendance and digital works makes him a brilliant addition to the PDSW team." Lizzy Maries - PDSW Digital Manager

Photo: @ambientjade

It’s almost time!!!

Check out our latest collaboration with Northern School of Contemporary Dance for FLOCK FEST on March 26-27th 2021!

Choreographer and MDC Editor duos showcasing their dance films this weekend:

Antonio Bukhar & James Williams

Gracefool Collective & Alice Underwood

Alethia Antonia & Joe Archer

Keira Mari Martin & James Haslam

. . .

A highlight from Screen.dance festival was awarding the very first ‘Simony Screendance Award’ - for achievement in the field of screendance!

A tribute to announce the award was made by Mitchell Rose and Marlene Millar.

WATCH IT HERE!

Congratulations to Simon Fildes and thank you for all that you do!

This Is Where We Dance Now: Covid-19 and the New and Next in Dance Onscreen

Online symposium and special issue of the International Journal of Screendance

Our very own Omari ‘Motion’ Carter will be moderating the roundtable discussion on Saturday March 13th @ 17:00 GMT 

Featuring:

Sandra Maduoma

Antoine Marc

Vilma Thiliä

Alice Underwood

James Williams

CLICK HERE to see the event video and transcript!

WORLD PREMIERE by Pagrav Dance Company and The Motion Dance Collective at #ADFF2021
. . .
Kattam Katti transports you to Uttarayan, the world-famous festival in Gujarat, North India, where millions of people from different cities, religions and social classes come together to fly kites in a unique event marking the transition from winter into spring.

Uttarayan is extremely competitive. Participants go so far as to coat their kite strings with glass pigment; while this is visually appealing, it is also designed to cut the strings of other kites. Tapping into this competitive chaos, creativity and colour of the event, Pagrav Dance Company and The Motion Dance Collective brings this theatre work in the form of film with enchanting lyricism, exquisite technique and strong drama.

CLICK HERE for the Official Behind the Scenes Video

WORLD PREMIERE of APOTHEOSIS. A dance-film by Akademi & The Motion Dance Collective, filmed in The British Museum. 

After the premiere you can see the film later in 2021 on The British Museum Website
The glorification of a subject to divine level and most commonly, the treatment of a human like a god.
APOTHEOSIS is Akademi’s first screendance collaboration with The Motion Dance Collective and The British Museum.

CLICK HERE for the Official Behind the Scenes Video

Curated by our Creative Director, Omari 'Motion' Carter and Artistic Director of Akademi, Suba Subramaniam, the festival featured new and archived South Asian dance-films along with selected talks with filmmakers and dance artists.

The films covered a wide range of topics from motherhood, the queer body and the commoditisation of identity, to India’s dream robot to the moon, amongst other thought-provoking subjects. Several of these films were a direct response to life in lockdown.

We also commissioned three short original screendance works that were shown during the festival.

For more info on the festival, visit the official festival website page: https://akademi.co.uk/adff2021

Our Founder and Director @omarimotion will be speaking this Thursday March 4th 2020 @ 15:00 GMT for ‘Developing a Toolkit for Screendance’ @southeastdance as part of #MindTheGap online programme for young artists 💥💥💥

What do dance artists need to consider when making work for the screen? Join creative producer and researcher Laurence Hill, screen dance practitioner Omari ‘Motion’ Carter, dance artist Munya Muchati and ticketing & CRM specialist Nick Kime on Thursday 4 March for the latest instalment of #MindTheGap – our free expert advice programme on starting out in the industry.

END OF THE BLOCK is screening this Sunday as part of ‘Playing Favourites: Motion State Dance Film Series Online’ @motionstatearts @nohoarts @scdtnoho 💥

When: Sunday Feb 21 2021, 19:00-20:30 GMT / 14:00-15:30 ET.
Where: Online
Cost: FREE

Q&A after the screening! Tune in if you can 🎬‼️.

Excited for this virtual short course as part of Tramway Evolves @glasgowtramway next week, we hope to see some familiar faces! 🤩
・・・
Tramway says: “Our venue may be closed but we still have plenty going on online. Artists working in contemporary performance are invited to join this free course from The Motion Dance Collective @themdcollective from 25-27 Jan 2021.

Moving body and moving image practices and techniques will be implemented, adapted and manipulated to adhere to the specific needs of the participants, resulting in attendees gaining practical experience with tools that inject an essence of hybridity into their ongoing practice.

The Digital Masterclass for Aethestica Short Film Festival @asffestival @aestheticamag zoomed by... 😉

Talking with fellow artists Shobana Jeyasingh and Alexander Whiteley @shobanajeyasinghdance and @whitleydance and screendance empress Gitta Wigro was an absolute pleasure.

Omari also had the pleasure of judging the Dance Category for the festival alongside the Shobana and Alex!

Let’s keep it moving!

Omari will be appearing as a panellist for ‘SCREENSHARE: THE FUTURE OF DANCE ON SCREEN’ on 22 October 2020

Alongside fellow Screendance practitioners @jonzid @mirandasheehy @alice_underwood_films @ankurbahl the discussion will be chaired by Emma Cahusac of the BBC and hosted by @alisonthomasdance of @thefi.eld @east.london.dance .

We are looking forward to a critical discussion of our practice and the changing nature of the industry in the current times!

‘In his presentation Omari intends to draw from his postgraduate study, which focused on hip hop dance’s relationship to narrative and the label of ‘urban’ within a screendance context. As a hip hop dance culture aficionado, studying under the roof of a contemporary dance school, Omari was concerned about who my research was going to reach; who was it for? The screendancers? The hip-hop heads? Film and video practitioners? The academics/scholars of either form? If his research hopes to be an academic contribution to hip-hop culture, will any hip-hop practitioners outside of academia actually read it?’
.
Check it out! Go to https://www.screen.dance/festival-2020/artist-presentations/omari-carter-artist-presentation/