As the world becomes more technologically advanced, so do our entertainment options. The video game industry will have an expected market volume of $100.56 billion by 2024, according to techjury.net. Websites and applications utilize gamification to enhance user experience. Animation and traditional short and feature-length films are abundant as professional-grade software becomes easily accessible. The times are changing, but not for many Black and Brown creatives. With animated shows such as the Black Samurai series Yasuke (Netflix), and Mexican- American cartoon Onyx Equinox (Crunchyroll), one would assume the time of diversity has arrived – not quite. With COVID now a reality in 2022, many believe the doors of opportunity have been reduced. This is the same reality for many performing artists, particularly Black dancers. Ngoma Center for Dance (Ngoma), an organization in Washington, DC, has created a new program – Ngoma Film Works – to create innovative opportunities for dancers to become a part of the world of film, animation, and gaming.
The Washington, DC area, like many performing arts sectors across the US, is suffering from stifled production progress – especially amongst the Black dance community. Ngoma prides itself on being a host institution for the African-American experience and its supporters. According to Ngoma, there have been 37 Black dance company entities since 1932 – less than five remain. This was the motivation for Short to continue developing opportunities for local DC artists Black and non-Black alike. In the past, through Ngoma Center for Dance (founded in 2012) and its professional company Dissonance Dance Theatre (founded in 2007), Short has produced annual events and periodicals that have supported upward mobility of minority artists – past examples include Ngoma Reader Magazine (a bi-monthly online magazine), Black to Silver: A Black LGBT Experience (an annual Black LGBT dance production), and Black Dance DMV (the only two-weekend dance festival dedicated to Black dance professionals). DC dance needed higher visibility of its Black-led dance activity – Short is providing a way.
Dance is in need of advancement to compete in the streaming-led world of entertainment, and Shawn Short is working to accommodate this through non-traditional methods. A graduate of Howard University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Liverpool, and now NYU Tisch School’s Film and TV certificate program Short has been developing himself to better understand the new landscape of digital entertainment. While learning behind-the-scene best practices in the mediums of photography, film, screenwriting, and film distribution through masterclasses and courses from names such as Issa Rae, Marc Clebanoff, Brendo of Bytheway-May, Rocco Ancora, and Lindsay Adler to name a few Shawn noticed an innovation to provide an opportunity for dancers in the Washington, DC area through collaborative creativity. It was then, that Ngoma’s Film Works program was born.
Since 2020, Ngoma Center for Dance’s newest program, Ngoma Film Works, has been buzzing with its latest productions. Ngoma Center for Dance, and its Film Works program is directed by its Black Founding Director/Creative Shawn Short. In partnerships with Dog Bark Media LLC, a Black-owned media company in Washington, DC, Ngoma Film Work’s initial projects have received selection in more than 10 national and international film festivals – including American Dance Festival’s Movies By Movers. Ngoma films such as Mute: Dance Silenced by COVID, an award-winning short film documentary of six US dancers and their experiences within the initial months of COVID (speaking to personal reactions to George Floyd’s murder, artist unemployment, new hopes, and creativity) have been presented theatrical releases in local theaters with panel discussions to involve communities in conversation.
Animation became a pursuit interest for Short as he dreamed of engaging a broader audience. Initially, with the assistance of animator Jeremiah Jones, Ngoma first utilized animations to advertise its summer dance programming. Inspired by applications such as Wii Fit U, Ngoma plans to make use of animated films (short and long form) to educate and inform new audiences about dance and DC history projects. Ngoma Film Works has begun to search for emerging and professional animators for upcoming projects.
21st-century user experience (UX) design, considers gamification to enhance the user’s experience. Video games such as Plastic and Santa Monica Studio’s Bound (an art video game featuring a dancer as the main character), have placed dance in the center of gameplay for many gamers. Add your favorite emotes, fancy moves, and stunts, and you have the making of a great gamer experience. Under Short’s creative vision, Ngoma’s Film Work program wants to develop a motion capture and stunt academy that works with local video game companies such as Bethesda Softworks to provide new opportunities for employment outside of film and stage performances.
Sooner or later times change, and Shawn Short is adjusting with the times. Ngoma Center for Dance and its new program – Ngoma Film Works – is creating innovative opportunities for DC-area dancers to have a direct path to opportunities in the world of film, animation, and gaming. We excitingly anticipate Short’s progress as he executes his vision.
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