Rise London Director Saam Farahmand enlists the talents of fifty dancers to highlight youth homelessness during lockdown
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    Music & Dance

    Rise London

    Director Saam Farahmand enlists the talents of fifty dancers to highlight youth homelessness during lockdown

    British film and music video director Saam Farahmand has released a film featuring fifty dancers performing at the intersection of ballet, hip hop, waacking, and break dancing styles to raise awareness for Centrepoint—a charity working to end youth homelessness in the UK. 

    Soundtracked by The Prodigy’s fearsome hit song “Out Of Space”, each dancer performs a high octane routine on their doorsteps in London during lockdown. To maintain social distancing measures, Farahmand did not even leave his car while filming.

    Farahmand, who has created atmospheric and award-winning films for the likes of Tom Vek, The Last of the Shadow Puppets and Mick Jagger, came to the project with the idea of documenting problems facing the dance community as a group of freelancers and artists who need their bodies to work. However, after a few conversations with the dancers, he realized the film could be used as an opportunity to highlight the plight of people even more severely affected by Covid-19.

    “There was a more vital cause that was happening right on those doorsteps [they] danced on,” says Farahmand, “And that is youngsters in our city who do not even have a door to walk out of from isolation.” The coronavirus outbreak has pushed an unprecedented number of young people to the brink of homelessness, with Centrepoint’s call center seeing a fifty percent increase in calls. Not only does the charity help with housing, but they also provide counseling, skills development and career preparation. 

    Long-time fans of Nowness will recognize some familiar faces, such as dancers from House of Decay, Holly Blakey’s Cowpuncher, and rising ballet star Mukeni Nel coming together to show the strength and heart of the dance community. “My hope is that the young dancers in other cities will see what we did, respond with their own films, and raise awareness and aid for similarly vulnerable youths in their own locales,” says the director. “Hopefully these efforts can continue to spread and inspire. This is how local efforts can create global change.”

    Donate to Centrepoint's coronavirus emergency appeal

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