Overview
The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Performing Arts Division (PERF), in collaboration with Los Angeles Dance Worker Coalition (LADWC), is excited to announce an open call for dance on-film submissions. Selected video artists and choreographers will be commissioned to create new works for Dance in the City 2024, formerly named Dance in the Districts, to be presented at the Lankershim Art Center in North Hollywood in October 2024.
DCA invites emerging artists focused on dance on film exploration, to apply for the opportunity to create video works influenced or inspired by the 1950s and 1960s gimmick thriller films of William Castle, as part of a larger program scheduled for the middle of October: LankerSCREAM Spooky Show.
Awarded artists will be asked to create and produce an original dance-on-film video inspired by the works of William Castle. In an effort to amplify dance on film, artists should consider the third wall that presents itself with dance on film works, and choreograph works visually designed specifically for a video file format. For this dancer-stimulation project award, applicants must create, produce, edit, and submit a two- to four-minute video dance performance that is family-friendly, free, and publicly accessible for the DCA, LADWC, and other partnering organization’s websites.
Selected by peer panel review, ten commissions of $2,500 each will be awarded to emerging artists to facilitate the production costs of the video creation, and can include any of the following: choreography, artist fees, costuming, videography, collaborators, permitting, music rights, and other expenses related to the video production. Awards may take up to six months after the presentation of the videos to have payment disbursed.
The deadline to apply is Sunday, July 28, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Please submit applications via email to dca-lankershimtheatre@lacity.org with “Dance in the City 2024” as the subject line.
ABOUT WILLIAM CASTLE
The director of over 50 movies throughout his career, William Castle is best known for creating low-budget thrillers with effectively promoted gimmicks, which became his trademark.
Ambitions unsatisfied after working with Columbia Pictures, Castle began making films independently. The inspiration for the 1955 French psychological thriller Les Diaboliques set the genre he would choose. He financed his first movie, Macabre (1958), by mortgaging his house. He came up with the idea to give every customer a certificate for a $1,000 life insurance policy from Lloyd’s of London in case they should die of fright during the film. He stationed nurses in the lobbies with hearses parked outside the theaters. Macabre was a hit.
One of the most famous versions of his thriller model is The Tingler (1959), filmed in “Percepto”. The title character is a creature that attaches itself to the human spinal cord. It is activated by fright and can be destroyed only by screaming. Castle purchased military surplus airplane wing de-icers (consisting of vibrating motors) and had a crew travel from theatre to theatre, attaching them to the undersides of some of the seats (in that era, a movie did not necessarily open on the same night nationwide). In the finale, one of the creatures is said to have gotten loose in the movie theater itself. The buzzers were activated as the film’s star, Vincent Price, warned the audience to “scream—scream for your lives!” Some sources incorrectly state the seats were wired to give electrical jolts. Filmmaker and Castle fan John Waters recounted in Spine Tingler! how, as a youngster, he searched for a seat that had been wired to enjoy the full effect.
ABOUT LOS ANGELES DANCE WORKER COALITION (LADWC)
The LADWC is a grassroots volunteer-based group of arts leaders, from across dance and arts disciplines, who came together at the beginning of 2021 to advocate for relief and recovery for the dance sector. The Los Angeles Dance Worker Coalition (LADWC) is described as “a goal-oriented effort by an alliance of dance professionals invested in collective action and advocacy for dance in Los Angeles.” The coalition aims to “provide equitable support to the diverse tapestry of individual dance workers who contribute to the vibrant culture of Los Angeles.” Continually looking at the City of Los Angeles to see where a difference can be made, their core purpose is to support dance in LA by reaching the most vulnerable people in this field: the dancer.