A lovingly shot valentine to work and body and art, and a generous, ultimately happy little story of a lost boy finding a community and a kindred soul.
Overview
FIVE DANCES, written and directed by Alan Brown, is a creatively adventurous narrative feature film set in the New York 'downtown' modern dance world. The story follows the rocky emotional journey of an 18-year old dancer (the amazing Ryan Steele) with talent to burn, who must choose between his responsibility to his broken family in the Midwest, and forging a life and career for himself. The film features five of New York's most gifted dancers acting on film for the very first time, and performing the choreography of internationally acclaimed choreographer Jonah Bokaer.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Five Dances should well impress dance aficionados even if its skimpy narrative proves less than inspired.
Rather than adapting the pieces to conform to his paper-thin narrative, Brown explores the tensions and contortions of dancers expressing fresh emotion through a pre-existing art form.
There's an interesting vibe there, but it's not enough to save what seems like a failed experiment.
Though the film's untested cast struggles with the drama, and the sketched-out story is often banal (there are several amateurish calls-to-mom scenes), the presentation of a specific city subculture is etched from the heart.
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