Dancing in A-Yard
In prisons ruled by toxic masculinity, dancing is an absolute taboo. But at Lancaster’s A-Yard, near Los Angeles, a group of young men, willing to take a chance to be mocked in the yard, start a dance class led by French choreographer Dimitri Chamblas. This class quickly becomes an intoxicating escape from their grim reality so they decide to create a dance show. In this exceptional context, the inmates engage with overwhelming sincerity, evoking their childhood, ganglife, the crimes, the prison, and their desire for transformation. Beyond damaged lives and a prison system on the edge of the abyss, DANCING IN A-YARD explores redemption and the capacity of human beings to reinvent themselves, when given a chance. And more importantly, how art and introspection can help see the light.
- Year: 2023
- Country:
- Genre: Documentary
- Studio:
- Keyword: prison, dance, california, rehabilitation, criminal rehabilitation, criminal justice, performing arts, incarceration, compassionate, los angeles, the arts
- Director: Manuela Dalle
- Cast: Dimitri Chamblas, Dr. Bidhan Ro, Dimitri Gales, Kenneth Webb, Antonio Toy, Jonathan Hammond
