DENVILLE — Halls of Ivy, a dance film created by the Morris County School of Technology’s Academy for Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) Dance Class of 2018, was selected as the winning Capturing Motion NYC film at the 45th Annual Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center. As the winning film, Halls of Ivy was screened at the Walter Reade Theater with the Experimental Shorts Program on February 7.
Led by Dance Film Guest Artist Brianna McGraw (Creative Director of B. RUTH CREATIVE), students choreographed site-specific dance phrases, filmed the scenes using iPhones and edited footage to create Halls of Ivy, all on location at Morris County School of Technology.
Dance students Caroline Yorke and Sarah Row represented VPA at the adjudication round of the competition held on February 6, 2017. Yorke and Row spoke about the creative process behind this work and received feedback from the panel, Gabri Christa (Assistant Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University) and Mickela Mallozzi (Emmy Award-winning host and producer of Bare Feet in NYC). The composer for Halls of Ivy, Gisel Costa, was also in attendance.
Sponsored by the Dance Films Association (DFA), “Capturing Motion NYC is an annual workshop series and dance film competition for high school students in the five boroughs. DFA facilitates school workshops in interactive dance film education for students and teachers. The workshops culminate in the Capturing Motion NYC competition, in which students submit their work to be a part of Dance on Camera Festival.” DFA opened up the competition to students outside of the five boroughs so the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts could participate.
McGraw accepted the award on behalf of the VPA students at the Walter Reade Theater, home of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, a co-presenter of the Dance on Camera Festival. This award is especially significant since McGraw is an alumna of the VPA-Dance program. VPA-Dance began its Dance Technology Curriculum approximately 17 years ago and it continues to evolve as technology in dance becomes ever present in college programs and professional dance career work.
Pictured: Award-winning Academy for Visual and Performing Arts students in Denville celebrate Halls of Ivy, the film that won the 2017 Capturing Motion NYC film at the 45th Annual Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center. Brianna McGraw of Morristown, guest artist and film director (center) holds the award acknowledgement with Lisa Peluso, Dance Instructor at Morris County School of Technology.
VPA-Dance is a training ground for college preparatory dance study and dance vocations. The program provides quality dance education and is under the direction of Lisa Peluso. For more information about Morris County School of Technology and the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, please visit www.mcvts.org or call 973-627-4600 ext.277
