Mary John Frank

Dance On Camera / Career Development + Preparation

Biography:

Mary John Frank is a choreographer and director who creates dance for films, music videos, the web, and mixed media stage works. Mary John has created content for New York City Ballet, Vogue.com, Du Jour, Pull & Bear, American Apparel, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Refinery 29, and more. In 2012 she received the Dance and Video award at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and received her MFA in 2013. Before moving to New York, Mary John lived in Los Angeles where she worked in the film business at studios including Paramount, Lionsgate, and Warner Bros. She is now combining her two favorite art forms, dance and film. Mary John's first film to direct, write, and choreograph, EINSTEIN'S DANCE, received Panavision's New Filmmaker Grant and festival recognition in the U.S. and Asia. It has also received awards for Best Film and Film Direction at the Women's Independent Film Festival in Los Angeles and other festivals worldwide. Mary John shoots, edits, and creates dance, and looks forward to sharing what she has learned thus far with the students at Peridance!

Class Description:

IDance for Camera is geared towards dancers and choreographers interested in filmmaking and documenting their dance works. This workshop aims to get students excited and curious about implementing technology into their process as well as thinking about how the camera can enhance their dance creations. A portion of the classes will be spent on choreographing for the camera, practical shooting and production elements, and hands on recording, observing, and performing as well. We will end each session observing the work we made in class and discussing what worked, and equally as valuable, what did not! Ideally, students will walk away with a better understanding of how to capture their own works and a clearer vision of how to go about creating a high quality, thoughtful dance for camera projects.