FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 6th, 2021
Contact Shawn Short, 202-540-8338
DC’s Dissonance Dance Theatre Director Gains Official Selection into Cannes World Film Festival
DDT Website: www.ngcfddt.org
Media Company Website: www.dogbarkmedia.com
Direct Video Trailer: https://dogbarkmedia.com/mute/
Vimeo On Demand Link: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/mute
Black Choreographer and now filmmaker, Shawn Short receives his first official selection for his directorial debut on the dance documentary film Mute: Dance Silenced by COVID.
Created through Ngoma’s exciting public/private partnership with Dog Bark Media, Mute: Dance Silenced by COVID is a short documentary of six US dancers and their experiences within the initial months of COVID. A “light on the other end of the tunnel” story, Mute: Dance Silenced by COVID also speaks on personal reactions to George Floyd’s murder, artist unemployment, new hopes, and creativity. The film shot solely through cell phone footage features dancers from Dissonance Dance Theatre’s COVID-inspired DDT Ambassador Project.
“ As the world begins to wake from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to be reminded of the joys that kept us going – the arts. The arts laid dark for many months, casting a sector of people from their livelihoods. Mute: Dance Silenced by COVID gives voice to dancers across regions and conversations, as they tell stories of simple life and complex reality, says Short. He further states, “Dance is not solely esoteric, but a digestible and essential part of every culture. This film provides a COVID “time capsule”, one that shares the thoughts of an over-giving (but often undervalued) group of expressive human beings.”
Mute: Dance Silenced by COVID is Vimeo On Demand streaming through July 25th, 2021. The film is a finalist in the Oniros Film Awards NYC. Shawn is the Founding Director of Dissonance Dance Theatre, the only self-proclaimed Black-managed contemporary ballet company between NYC and ATL; celebrating 15 years in Fall 2021.
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Named “one of the 11 small-but-mighty dance companies outside of LA and NYC” by Dance Spirit Magazine, Dissonance Dance Theatre is a Washington, DC-based professional dance company founded in 2007 by Shawn Short. Evoking emotional experiences in the audiences we touch, Dissonance’s cutting-edge repertoire features works that are socially and visually appealing to audiences while remaining true to its mission; challenging the audience’s assumptions about the human experience through dance. Dissonance Dance Theatre is the resident ballet of Ngoma Center for Dance in Washington, DC. For more information visit, www.ngcfddt.org
