As their dance college NAISDA battles to survive a funding crisis, students Clarence and
Rachel embark on journeys of cultural awakening and strive to become professional dancers.
|
|
|
As their dance college NAISDA battles to survive a funding crisis, students Clarence and Rachel embark on journeys of cultural awakening and strive to become professional dancers. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Over four half-hour episodes the audience will witness an intimate account of the challenges a group of young indigenous performers face in the pursuit of their dreams, as the staff of their dance college battle to keep the organisation from being closed down. We follow Students Clarence and Rachel as they embark on journeys of cultural awakening and strive to become professional dancers. |
||||||||
|
QuickTime
28 second |
|
QuickTime
2' 46 "
TRAILER Up to 10 min download time. File size - 4.7 Mg 
|
||||||
|
Producer:
Marcus Gillezeau & Ellenor Cox & André Castaldi Screening 2001:
ABC Australia, APTN Canada |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
Over the course of one year, this series bears witness to the struggle for survival that subsumes NAISDA’s principles and students as they fight to keep their organization from being closed down. NAISDA has been in existence for 25 years and has produced some of Australia’s most successful indigenous performers including Christine Anu and the Page brothers, as well as playing a vital role in the preservation and promotion of Australia’s indigenous cultures. Despite these successes the college struggles to raise the annual budget and has been made to prove it’s worth by successive governments. As the Federal Department of Arts threatens to cut the funding, the staff and students of NAISDA must ‘get on with it’ in the name of their culture. Students Clarence and Rachel, embark on journeys of cultural revelation and try to become professional dancers. We will witness the development of these individuals as they grapple with their identity through rigorous training in contemporary and traditional dance, a traditional tour to a remote indigenous community and various public performances. Showcasing the pressure and pain of getting fit for your art, there’s plenty at stake... from the students’ attempt to successfully complete their course, their navigation through their private lives as they grapple with issues of identity and self esteem, to the very survival of their dance college. Production Notes Dreamtime to Dance was filmed over the course of one year, Unique access was gained to the college through a longstanding relationship between the production company and the organisation. André Castaldi camped out at the college day in and day out and gained the trust of staff and students alike. The result is a personal and intimate level of access that sees this film traverse the individual journeys of two key students, Clarence and Rachel, as well as the principle staff members at the college. As the year developed André became privileged to the struggles that each individual had to overcome in the course of fulfilling their study, their professional positions and in pursuit of their dreams. |
||||||||
|
ANDRE CASTALDI - WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER André completed a first class honors degree in film theory and film history at University of Sydney in 1995. In 1997 and 1999 he completed two industry courses at AFTRS in production managment and business essentials for producers. André has worked as a producer, production manager, assitant director and assistant editor in documentary, corporate, multimedia and short film production. Most recently André has directed his first documentary series for Firelight Productions, Dreamtime to Dance.
|
 |
|||||||
