The Real Dance: A Micro Reality TV Show is a web series that approaches contemporary dancemaking through the low-stakes, high-investment aesthetic & entertainment lens of reality TV, focusing on the daily lives, dramas, and backstories of people who make dance, with a particular focus on queer and trans dancemakers.

Episode 1, for which the series title was chosen, is “the true story of five dancers, forced to live in their houses, dance (mostly) alone, and have their improvisations taped, to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start moving for real.” It follows 5 Chicago performers - Christina Chammas, Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop, Irene Hsiao, Nora Sharp, and Dorian Vanunu - through their creative process over the course of 1 month at the cusp of the pandemic vaccination era.

Episode 2 explores dynamics of codependence and interdependence at the intersection of queer relationships and artmaking. It follows the co-leads/co-directors, Grace McCants and Nora Sharp, working to make a dance together as two people who are not only collaborating artists but also romantic life partners.

The series continues on an annual basis, digging into social and creative themes that hit and fit the moment, managing to make art that is about the process of making art itself, yet manages to be engaging, accessible, and relatable to everyday audiences whether or not they are dance lovers themselves.

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CREDITS

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Director: Nora Sharp
Performers: Christina Chammas, Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop, Irene Hsiao, Nora Sharp, & Dorian Vanunu
Original Score: Dorian Vanunu
Assistant Editor: Sydney Sullivan
Dramaturgy & Creative Consultation: Grace McCants & Aaron Greer
Graphics & Video Development: Sydney Sullivan
Editing & Captions: Nora Sharp

Commissioned by the Pivot Arts Festival, Chicago, 2021

Episode 2 (2022)

Co-Directed & Co-Edited by Grace McCants and Nora Sharp

Cast: Grace McCants & Nora Sharp

Assistant Editor: Sydney Sullivan Cinematography by Bea Cabrera, Spence Warren, and Sydney Sullivan

Music:

- “Love Is a Hurtin' Thing" - Performed by: Gloria Ann Taylor; Writer(s)/Composer(s): Ben Raleigh, David Linden - Courtesy of Ubiquity Recordings, Inc., Wise Brothers Music LLC ASCAP, & Wixen Music Publishing obo Rawlou Music BMI. All Rights Reserved

- Space Chess, Zero Gravity Interlude, #1479, and #9677 by Yuri, courtesy of the artist

Premiered at the Pivot Arts Festival & IN/MOTION Dance Film Festival, June 2022

Additional screening at Elevate Chicago Dance, October 2022

Creative Consultation by Gina Hoch-Stall and Aaron Greer This project is partially supported by an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.