DANCE IS LIKE WATER

Dancing was forbidden by my upbringing.

I had to secretly go to my room which really wasn't my room, as I shared it with my sister, to dance.

I was allowed to go, but I couldn't dance at my high school prom.

I love dance more than anything. Then I love music next.

Dance and Music - the best about being alive.

I can dance while home alone and it makes me feel great.

I love to dance every summer at the music concerts at Waterplace Park in Providence by the river.

Dance is like water.

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Uploaded by lovemylifesblog

This dance was originally danced by Judith Jamison. It is danced here by Dwana Adiaha Smallwood on the Oprah show.

The original music is not used in this Youtube because Warner Music Group may own rights to the music.

Cry (1971) Choreography by Alvin Ailey. The original dance music by Alice Coltrane, Laura Nyro and Chuck Griffin. Costume by A. Christina Giannini.

Interview with Dwana Smallwood:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=05AXVBm8n_I

See another video, but danced by Renee Robinson:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSCZBhe77B0

The Youtube links included below are also of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
and have the original music with the videos.

Alvin Ailey Dance Performances:

Blues Suite
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z0FeZsG9oM

Wade In the Water from Revelations
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9uEq9Sjefg

Revelations - Part 1
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWJzSP7irwM

Revelations Part 2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvP9dmH5PBA

Fix Me Jesus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CXk1mQVCgI

Love Stories 2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eKHLBMZU6w

Alvin Ailey and Katherine Dunham 1988
www.youtube.com/watch?v=edhwJHAey1o

Alvin Ailey speaks
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYhiV8oqAKU

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre is more than dance
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2T-Rbf_z54

The music is Miyela Africa by Vusi Mahlasela
from the CD A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AFRICA
The CD is available for $13.98 US
at www.amazon.com
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I saw this independent film Sunday, June 7, 2009 by Anne Bass
Dancing Across Borders

See some clips of the movie
www.dancingacrossborders.net/videos

The story of ...

SOKVANNARA (SY) SAR

www.dancingacrossborders.net/bios

Sokvannara (Sy) Sar was born in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where he studied traditional Khmer dance from the age of ten at the Wat Bo School. He often performed with the school’s troupe at Preah Khan Temple for guests of the World Monuments Fund. In 2000, Anne Bass, an American enthusiast and supporter of ballet, saw him there and was impressed by his talent and invited him to visit the School of American Ballet in New York.

Sar studied at the School of American Ballet for five years and ultimately joined Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle when his teacher, Peter Boal, became Artistic Director.

Sar was a semifinalist in the International Ballet Competition, Varna, where he performed variations from Giselle, La Sylphide, Coppelia, and Le Corsaire. He was also a guest artist at the cross-cultural evening at the Chatomuk Theatre to celebrate the opening of the new United States Embassy complex in Phnom Penh, where he danced variations from Square Dance, Tschaikovsky pas de deux, and Le Corsaire. He has originated roles in Benjamin Millepied’s On the Other Side, 28 Variations of a Theme by Paganini, and 3 Movements. In July, 2008, Sar performed On the Other Side, accompanied by Philip Glass, for the opening night of the Vail International Dance Festival. In addition, he has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s La Sonnambula, William Forsythe’s One Flat Thing, reproduced, Kent Stowell’s The Nutcracker, and Twyla Tharp’s Waterbabies Bagatelle.

While still in Cambodia, Sar placed third in the National Japanese Language Competition. During his years at the School of American Ballet, Sar also attended Professional Children’s School, from which he graduated in 2003 with honors. He has attended Fordham University and Seattle Community College.

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The Film

On a trip to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia in January 2000, filmmaker Anne Bass came across a sixteen-year-old boy who moved her immensely with his amazing natural charm and grace as a dancer.A longtime devotee of the world of dance, Bass felt compelled to give this young boy the opportunity to leave his home and follow a dream that he could not yet have fully imagined. From the serene countryside of Southeast Asia to the halls of New York’s School of American Ballet to the stage of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, DANCING ACROSS BORDERS peeks behind the scenes into the world of dance and chronicles the intimate and triumphant story of a boy who was discovered, and who only much later discovered all that he had in himself.

Read more synopsis

The teacher - Olga_Kostritzky

About Anne Bass at production

Dancing Across Borders Press Package