ALL ARTS' 2024 Film Festival to Premiere Films by Ayodele Casel, Raja Feather Kelly & Katy Pyle

ALL ARTS will premiere films by acclaimed choreographers Ayodele Casel, Raja Feather Kelly and Katy Pyle on its free streaming app, website and local broadcast channel as part of the third Past, Present, Future dance film festival. The annual initiative features newly commissioned films in which dance artists partner with filmmakers to explore the past, present and future of their work.

The Past, Present, Future film festival premieres nationwide on Tuesdays, April 23-May 7 at 8 p.m. on the free ALL ARTS app, AllArts.org/PastPresentFuture, and in the New York metro area on the ALL ARTS TV channel (see channel lineup). 

Legacy is the throughline explored in all of this year’s films, from Casel’s compelling oral history of society-shaping historical figures created in concert with renowned civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill, to Kelly’s exploration of how memory works within the individual body and the choreographic process writ large, and Pyle’s spotlighting of little-known late-19th century “travesty productions” alongside their lineage of drag and gender play. 

“We're excited to partner with these three boundary-pushing artists for the third edition of our annual dance film festival. This year’s commissions deliver an electrifying blend of dance, film and history to viewers, and celebrate both the innovation and diversity in the discipline today,” said James King, senior artistic director of ALL ARTS.
 
ALL ARTS’ Past, Present, Future initiative launched in May 2021 and has produced commissions from dance artists Kyle Abraham, Jack Ferver, Pam Tanowitz and Omari Wiles as well as the disability arts ensemble Kinetic Light, led by Alice Sheppard.
 
All Past, Present, Future films will have audio description (AD) and closed captioning (CC) available. 
 

Past, Present, Future: Travesty

Premieres Tuesday, April 23 at 8 p.m. ET on ALL ARTS
 
In a film by Courtney Faye Powell, trans and non-binary dancers of Ballez, the company led by Katy Pyle, explore their place in a lineage of drag and gender-play rooted in the “travesty” productions of 1870s Paris, while wrestling with the restrictions of the contemporary dance world. Featured performers include Jules Assue, Cove Barton, Jay Beardsley, MJ Markovitz, Noel Olson, Katy Pyle and Arzu Salman.
 

Past, Present, Future: Simple Tenses

Premieres Tuesday, April 30 at 8 p.m. ET on ALL ARTS 
 
Choreographer Raja Feather Kelly (“A Strange Loop”) explores how the past, present and future collide in his body and intersect in his choreography, creating a rich collage where his memories come to life, are reenacted, embodied and remembered.
 

Past, Present, Future: Rooted

Premieres Tuesday, May 7 at 8 p.m. ET on ALL ARTS 
 
Artist, scholar and tap dancer Ayodele Casel reflects on the historical figures and events that have shaped society through an oral history with civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill and performances from a group of dancers, composers and writers including Jared Alexander, Naomi Funaki, John Manzari, Anthony McPherson, Jai Perez and Hank Smith.

Past, Present, Future Festival Encores

On Tuesday, April 16 beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET ALL ARTS will encore One + One Make Three, Katherine Helen Fisher’s film about disability arts ensemble Kinetic Light; If We Were a Love Song, a collaboration between choreographer Kyle Abraham, Abraham’s company A.I.M and filmmaker Dehanza Rogers; DANCERS (Slightly of Shape), a collaboration between choreographer Pam Tanowitz and director Liz Sargent; Nowhere Apparent, a collaboration between writer, choreographer, and director Jack Ferver and filmmaker Jeremy Jacob; and Our Name, Our Legacy, a film on ballroom culture by Omari Wiles and Jabari Taylor. These films are available to stream on demand on free the ALL ARTS app and AllArts.org/PastPresentFuture.     
 

Created by The WNET Group, ALL ARTS launched in 2019 to reduce barriers to experiencing the arts and build new audiences for cultural organizations. ALL ARTS’ New York Emmy-winning programming is available online nationwide through AllArts.org, the free ALL ARTS app on all major streaming platforms and @AllArtsTV on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. New York area TV viewers can also watch the 24/7 broadcast channel.
 

Film Credits

Past, Present, Future: Travesty is a film by Courtney Faye Powell and Katy Pyle. It was produced by Tate Nova.
 
Past, Present, Future: Simple Tenses is written and directed by Raja Feather Kelly with creative direction from LaQuann Dawson. It was edited by Laura Snow with and filmed by Quinn Wharton.
 
Past, Present, Future: Rooted is directed by Ayodele Casel and Torya Beard and filmed and edited by Kurt Csolak. 
 
For ALL ARTS: Anna Campbell and Jake KING are Senior Multimedia Producers. Kristy Geslain and Joe Harrell are Executive Producers. James KING is Senior Artistic Director. Diane Masciale and Neal Shapiro are Executives in Charge.
 

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