Workshops

two adults demonstrate filmmaking storyboarding to children at a dance film workshop on a working solar farm

Dance Filmmaking 101: SSF’s Spring Break Youth Workshop

  • Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday March 25
  • for ages 9 and up
  • 1pm-4pm
  • snacks provided
  • free of charge
  • located at The Spark in Boulder

who

Everyone age 9 and up is invited, dancer or otherwise! Ramp access available on the side of the building. Please mention any other accommodations you might need on the registration form.

what

Love to dance? Want to perform in a film? Join us for this unique and exciting workshop where we’ll learn about the basics of dance filmmaking, choreographing for the camera, and using movement to express an idea through film. Workshoppers will get a chance to put together costuming, scout for locations, create their own movement, and perform or direct from behind the camera — a taste of the creative process from start to finish.

where

Our special co-host for this event is The Spark: A Performing Arts Community on Pearl Street in Boulder.

two children dance in a field of solar panels while a dance filmmaker films them
students improvise movement while two professional dance filmmakers instruct and film them
students and dance film workshop hosts pose for a picture at a working farm
a child throws her arms up in joy while standing in a field of tall green grass under ground-mounted solar panels

the details

Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema has been screening dance films for over 20 years in the Boulder community! This workshop was created as an opportunity to share our knowledge of dance and filmmaking with aspiring young artists, and make a project together!

Sans Souci’s Community Dance Film Project was created to engage Boulder dancers of many genres, as well as local musicians, to inspire our local Boulder community to recognize all we have to offer. The first iteration of this process was a professional dance film, in which 17 local professional dancers were paired with a location at one of the City of Boulder’s most iconic outdoor sites — Chautauqua, Dushanbe Tea House, the Flatirons, etc. Dancers from Boulder Ballet, Frequent Flyers, BEAM+, VisKosity Dance Collective, Block 1750, The Spark and more were involved. Between the companies and freelance artists, the work encompassed ballet, tap, contemporary, house, waacking, aerial dance, and samba; artists hired included BIPOC and LGBTQ performers, those with disabilities, and dancers on the older end of the age spectrum.

At this event, we’ll recreate a similar process in creating a new film, from idea development, to choreography, to performance, to directing from behind the camera. We’ll learn the basics of how to frame and film a shot, to editing it all together.

need to know

The event is free, but requires registration. Please complete one registration per workshop attendee. Space is limited. Participants may arrive up to 15 minutes early, and must be picked up on time.

This event is supported by the Boulder Arts Commission.

logo of the Boulder Arts Commission