I lead a ministry in Austin, TX called Tribe. I also do a good amount of creative work for clients with my company, Third Drive. But every once in a while, I just do a creative project for the sake of creating. “Dance With Me” was one of those projects. It started off as an idea for a music video inspired by a spoken word piece called “Dance With Him” by Amena Brown. I loved the analogy of faith being a dance with God. It only works if you let him lead. It gave me an idea for a story. Two dancers have to dance together, only one of them is a Christian. Can he help her understand God through dance?
I went on a bike ride with my wife Deb and told her the story. Would it be worth doing something with? She loved it! She thought it could be more than a video – why not a short film and a theme song with a music video? We were going on a mission trip to Russia in two weeks. She thought we should reach out to some ballet dancers we know in Moscow. I didn’t think it was very realistic. We had no actors, no choreographer, no crew, no locations. Two weeks to find everyone and everything. Did I mention we had no budget?
I wrote the script in four hours and figured, might as well show the script to the top people. So I sent it, through a mutual friend, to a Prima Ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, which is like the Mount Everest of the ballet world. She loved the script and the spiritual message in it! She provided two of the lead dancers of the Bolshoi, she choreographed a modern ballet piece, and she allowed us to shoot in the legendary rehearsal hall number one. God provided us with the gear, a volunteer crew and a beautiful soundtrack from a Hollywood composer Peitor Angell. My buddy Dmitri Northman and I wrote the theme song in two languages and recorded it in about five hours. We shot the film in four days. All of this came together in just a few weeks.
The film “Dance With Me” was the official selection to six different film festivals. It premiered in Austin, TX last year at The Attic Film Fest. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives us crazy ideas that we find too hard, or too expensive, to bring to life. When that happens, I say go for it! If it’s his will, it’s his bill. It’s amazing how many people just want to be a part of something spiritual and inspiring. How many professionals we think wouldn’t be interested, that are actually eager to do something for God. To spread the gospel in a way that might reach people who don’t go to church, but love movies.
I hope you enjoy the film. To see the details, credits, back story and the music video to the title song, click here. For the right to show it to your congregation, just send us a note.
