Constructed Sight Dance Film Festival to Be Held Beginning This Month

Shana Simmons Dance will present the 2nd annual Constructed Sight Dance Film Festival (CSDFF). This festival is historically the only dance film festival ever presented in Pittsburgh. With a strong history of filmmaking in the Pittsburgh community, SSD is excited to bring back International Artists to the Pittsburgh screen. CSDFF also features SSD company members' dance film shorts blending public works of art around Pittsburgh with dance on film. This festival not only brings International Artists to Pittsburgh through the screen, but brings Pittsburgh's cultural works of art to a larger stage. The festival runs from March 30-April 10, 2023.

The ten day festival kicks off with an in-person Opening Night Event featuring curated selections from the pool of international applicants plus Shana Simmons Dance company members to create an hour and a half long show. Live music and dance round out this event and patrons can sip on purchased beverages or nibble on movie theater snacks. The Opening Night Event will be presented at The Oaks Theater in Oakmont, PA, plus be live streamed to a YouTube audience.

Constructed Sight is a platform for a wide variety of dance films. We consider movement to speak and film to be a lens to see this communication. We value artistic commitment, creative relationship between screen and dance, and thoughtful presentations. We're looking for films that are true to the artists' voice in an effort to curate entertaining compilations of films. We accept and present films of all production values and budget sizes. We are interested in films that incorporate site specific locations as inspiration for the work and pieces that incorporate visual art in some way, but are not limited to these elements.

After the March 30th event, CSDFF will be available through a Vimeo playlist for ticket buyers' viewing at their leisure. Films in the online festival run under 30 minutes with a total viewing run time of 3 hours. Audience members via the online festival can vote/like their top three films to help decide who the cash prize winners will be. Throughout the ten days of access, SSD also presents an online Meet & Greet Event for participating filmmakers/artists (open to the public) and an online Dance Film Workshop for the community. One artist in 2022 stated, "I've never experienced a dance film festival with such a sense and feeling of community before."

SSD has received 53 international submissions which a panel of 7 judges are actively curating to select who is a part of the festival and who will be chosen as our "Panelist Picks." The panel has created three categories for viewing:

• Panelist Picks: a category that truly highlights outstanding creative voices and high quality films
• General Festival: films from all over the world with strong artistic vision and commitment
• Emerging Artists: younger, less established artists new to dance film that promise vision and creativity

Constructed Sight is a platform created by Shana Simmons, Jamie Erin Murphy, and Brady Sanders to showcase a variety of dance films through entertaining events. These seasoned choreographers collaborated on generating new films through site specific choreography since Fall 2020 in response to the pandemic aiming to generate entertaining dance works through new mediums which were originally inspired by public works of art around Pittsburgh. The trio has individually created 15 separate films to date.

The Constructed Sight portion of the festival features artworks "Uptown Rhythm" by James Simon, "Joy of Life" by Virgil Cantini, and multiple murals at St. Nicholas Church by Maxo Vanka. Simmons will be creating a new dance film featuring music by local band Else Collective and brand new premieres by Brittany Nettles and Alx Golembiewski will be included.

Simmons says about this series:

"Constructed Sight is one of my favorite presentations SSD has created over the years.
Dance films are like watching mini-movies through movement, visual imagery, music, and storytelling. It's exciting to see these films from different locations around the globe
and a truly special culmination of artists."

Constructed Sight Dance Film Festival

Dance that speaks. Art that moves.

March 30-April 10, 2023

In-person + Online festival experiences

Shana Simmons Dance (Pittsburgh)
Featuring International films + SSD company members

Opening Night In-Person Celebration/Premiere Event

A curated event featuring selected films from the online festival, the SSD company members dance film shorts blending public works of art of Pittsburgh with dance film, live music and dance performances.

The Oaks Theater

310 Allegheny River Blvd

Oakmont PA 15139

Thursday, March 30, 7:30pm
Doors Open 6pm
Full Bar + Theater Snacks available for purchase.

Dance Film Festival available online

March 30-April 10, 2023

Access anytime

Online Access/Link provided on March 31

Film Workshop

Details TBD

Online Artist Meet & Greet

Wednesday, April 5, 10am

TICKETS:

In-person Opening Night Event (Includes Festival Pass): $40

Online Festival Pass: $15

Student/Artist Discounted Tickets (limited availability): $10

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