Invitation to the Dance

The Wizard of Oz

August 1939 •English

Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

June 1971 •English

When eccentric candy man Willy Wonka promises a lifetime supply of sweets and a tour of his chocolate factory to five lucky kids, penniless Charlie Bucket seeks the golden ticket that will make him a winner.

Over the Santa Fe Trail

February 1947 •English

Curt Mason saves Doc Henderson's Medicine Show from being robbed by the Morrell gang but later earns the enmity of Carolyn when he blames the troupe for polluting a local watering hole. Arriving in town, the medicine show, which consists of Doc Henderson, Taffy, the singing group the Hoosier Hot Shots and Carolyn, begin their performance while Curt is unsuccessfully attempting to stop the Morrell gang from robbing the bank. The sheriff mistakes Curt for one of the gang, and to save their friend, Curt's buddies Biscuit and Big Boy stampede their cattle through town. In order to clear his good name, Curt and his friends go in search of the real bank robbers, who as it turns out are working under orders from Doc Henderson.

Oshidori kenkagasa

May 1957 •Japanese

ME

May 2024 •English

A musical odyssey about trauma and the retreat of humanity into itself.

A Chorus Line

December 1985 •English

A group of dancers congregate on the stage of a Broadway theatre to audition for a new musical production directed by Zach. After the initial eliminations, seventeen hopefuls remain, among them Cassie, who once had a tempestuous romantic relationship with Zach. She is desperate enough for work to humble herself and audition for him; whether he's willing to let professionalism overcome his personal feelings about their past remains to be seen.

Dig!

May 2004 •English

A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.

Porgy and Bess

June 1959 •English

In the early 1900s, the fictional Catfish Row section of Charleston, South Carolina serves as home to a black fishing community. Crippled beggar Porgy, who travels about in a goat-drawn cart, loves the drug-addicted Bess, who lives with stevedore Crown, the local bully.

Top Hat

August 1935 •English

Showman Jerry Travers is working for producer Horace Hardwick in London. Jerry demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel room, much to the annoyance of sleeping Dale Tremont below. She goes upstairs to complain and the two are immediately attracted to each other. Complications arise when Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

May 1942 •English

A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.

A Star Is Born

October 1954 •English

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

The Nothing Factory

September 2017 •Portuguese

One night, a group of workers realises that the administration is stealing machines and raw materials from their own factory. As they organize to survey the equipment and block the relocation of production, they are forced to stand at their posts with no work to do, as a form of retaliation, while negotiations over general lay-offs take place. The pressure leads to a breakdown of the workers along with the world around them.

The Burden

January 2017 •Swedish

A shopping center along a large highway is the scene of an apocalyptic musical. Animation with a strong sense of form set to auto-tuned music by Klungan. About liberation through great catastrophy.

CODA

January 2014 •English

This short animation draws on advanced digital technologies to offer a new vision of dance in cinema. With motion capture (MoCap) and particle processing, designers Denis Poulin and Martine Époque create virtual dancers free of their morphological appearance. In this balletic and hypnotic film, dynamic traces carry the motion of the real dancers behind the on-screen movements. Addressing environmental themes by way of metaphor, CODA is a fused universe where space and time collide, deploy, and dissolve. In this technically and formally innovative film, luminous bodies in the infinite space of the cosmos transform and evolve to the rhythms of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

West Indies

January 1979 •French

Aboard a giant slave ship in an abandoned Citroën factory, the history of the West Indies is traced through several centuries of French oppression. The ship becomes a stage for the people to tell stories via song and dance—from their enslavement to their displacement in Metropolitan France.

Basmati Blues

November 2017 •English

Linda Watt is a sheltered but brilliant young scientist who is plucked out of her company's lab and sent to India by her CEO to sell "Rice 9," a genetically modified rice she's created. However, unbeknownst to her, the rice will destroy the Indian farmers she thinks she's helping.

Inu-Oh

May 2022 •Japanese

A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.

Hotel a la Swing

March 1937 •English

In this musical-comedy short, an out-of-work theatre troupe assumes management of the debt-ridden Grand Majestic Hotel.

The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood

November 1965 •English

Everyone knows the story of Red Riding Hood. But every story has two sides and now the wolf has finally told his. This original musical comedy special, with songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, first aired on November 28, 1965 on ABC.

Zis Boom Bah

December 1941 •English

"Hey, kids, let's get together and put on a show!" That's the idea behind this raucous spoof about a vaudeville performer who's sent to college to spy on his bratty son.