Five Dances
Broadway star Ryan Steele (Newsies, Matilda) makes his big screen debut as a young gay dancer in New York City in Alan Brown‘s sensitive drama Five Dances. Collaborating with internationally renowned choreographer Jonah Bokaer, writer-director Brown has taken five gifted New York dancers, and fashioned a story about Chip (the wonderfully handsome Ryan Steele in his first film role), an extraordinarily talented 18 year-old recently arrived from Kansas who joins a small downtown modern dance company.
In his first weeks of rehearsal, Chip is initiated into the rites of passage of a New York dancer’s life, where discipline and endless hard work, camaraderie and competitiveness, the fear of not being good enough, and the joy of getting it just right, inform every minute of every day. Shooting in and around a Soho dance studio, Brown and his longtime cinematographer Derek McKane capture the exhilaration and emotional turmoil of a small dance company, and all of Chip’s poignant firsts—the forging of friendships, being chosen for the important solo, his first ever love affair—with the intimacy and immediacy of a documentary. The result, Five Dances, is Brown’s most dynamic film.
Awards & Press Quotes
WINNER!
- Best International Narrative Feature, Tel Aviv LGBT International Film Festival, Israel
- Best Feature Film, Office Jury, Rio Gay Film Festival, Brazil
- Best Feature Film, Popular Jury, Rio Gay Film Festival, Brazil
- Best Actor – Ryan Steele, Iris Prize Festival, Cardiff, Wales
“The sensual movement of bodies through space creates a visual language whose infinite variations seduce and fascinate” – Variety
“FOUR STARS! A deft, graceful depiction of dance that uses a simple narrative for emotional power.” – So So Gay
“(Five Dances) has one of the sexiest gay-male sex scenes that anyone has seen onscreen in some time.” – OUT Magazine
“Tells a powerful story through choreography – Five Dances explores so much more than just dance and a simple love story.” – Stage Door Dish
“Filmed with rare sensuality. A beautiful voyage!” – Premiere
“Stunningly beautiful!” – Next
“Stunningly beautiful, evocative….” – OUT magazine
“Graceful…gorgeously photographed!” – The Village Voice
“Sensually photographed… haunting choreography. A lovingly shot valentine to work and body and art, and a generous, ultimately happy story of a lost boy finding a community and a kindred soul.” – NPR
“Gorgeous physicality! Impressively filmed and edited.” – Hollywood Reporter
“Captivating!” – Dancer’s Turn
“A stunning example of just how far dance cinematography has come in the last ten years. The true beauty of dance on film! Danced to breathtaking perfection by Steele.” – The Dance Enthusiast
“Truly stunning” – The Pop Culture Beast
“Enthralling…writer/director Alan Brown has crafted a visually stunning and thrillingly sexual glimpse of life and first love in the contemporary dance world.” – Inside Out Ottawa
“Touching, thoughtful, and beautiful…” – The Austin Chronicle
