Film by NYU Shanghai Dance Professor Earns International Acclaim
Film by NYU Shanghai Dance Professor Earns International Acclaim
A new film by NYU Shanghai Associate Arts Professor Aly Rose exploring traditional Chinese Buddhist devotional life through the medium of dance for camera has been earning accolades from film festivals around the world.
“MONK” has earned Official Selection honors from 20 film festivals around the world, including the prestigious San Francisco Dance Film Festival and the Los Angeles Experimental Film Festival. The film earned an Honorable Mention for Best Short Film in the April 2019 Global Shorts competition, and was also named a finalist for best short film at the dance film festival Choreoscope and Out of the Can International Film Festival.
Shot in 2017 and completed in early 2019, the film was a truly collaborative effort between Rose, filmmaker Ni Ba (泥巴), the Hangzhou Nanshan Monastery (杭州南山讲寺) led by senior monk Changle Fashi (昌乐法师), and students and professors from NYU Shanghai. Students Cameron Lee Shetler ’20 and Amy Ernst ’20 both appeared in the film and acted as dance instructors for the monks who joined the project, while Assistant Arts Professor of Dance Tao Siye (陶思烨) performed in the film and assisted in the editing process. Study away student Charcy Ye NYU ’19 also worked extensively with the monks prior to filming to train them in the foundations of movement and dance.
