New Media and "Old" Media

February 1, 2015

When has a First Lady ever started something that was this much fun? Last year Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign asked MFA student Callie Lyons and her teacher, NYU’s Dance and New Media director Paul Galando, to make a film in support of the campaign. The wonderful short film he made in response was shown at the Dance on Camera Kickoff Gala last Wednesday.

Galando decided to collaborate with Lyons and five other grad students at NYU Tisch and with dance photographer Lois Greenfield. The final product, which gives each dancer a solo while also showing Greenfield’s skill in shooting stills, is bursting with urban energy. It jumps back and forth between the dancers improvising on a rooftop in Long Island City and posing on a seamless for the famed photographer. It’s fun, it’s real, and it’s a peek into Greenfield’s process. The students are a diverse group of six spirited dancers, and Galando catches their energy.

At the gala, Dance Films Association (producer of Dance on Camera) honored Lois Greenfield with its Dance in Focus award. It projected 80 of her photos from the last few decades. Watching these rich, provocative images flash by, I realized how constantly innovative she has been over the decades. She has transformed dance photos from mere documents into a kind of performance of their own. As Elizabeth Streb said when she presented the legendary photographer with the award, “Lois and her subjects were wildly choreographing together.”

Just now posted: The terrific five-minute Galando/NYU/Let’s Move film (co-produced and choreographed by Callie Lyons with the dancers), just got posted on YouTube. Each of the NYU students has a different style, and Galando’s snappy editing allows each to shine in quick spurts. Click here to see the Let’s Move NYU Tisch Dance film.

Photo: Lois Greenfield on the set of NYU’s
Let’s Move film, photo by Paul Galando.