Movement One is a new, exciting dance documentary that follows producer and composer Jon Arpino and Emmy-nominated choreographer Teddy Forance as they create an original dance production for film.

Click here to download the documentary or buy the DVD. The original soundtrack is also available for download.

Now available for download and DVD purchase, Movement One is a new, exciting dance documentary that follows producer and composer Jon Arpino and Emmy-nominated choreographer Teddy Forance as they create an original dance production for film.

In just eight days, 20 dancers collaborated to choreograph and perform a 30-minute dance production set to an original score. The film takes viewers into the studio to witness the entire creative process—from choreography to music composition—concluding with a performance that pushes the boundaries of dance on film.

When Artistic Director Teddy Forance was faced with the challenge of choreographing this dance production within such a short timeframe, he opened up the creative process to be a fully collaborative effort. This film is a celebration of Forance’s ability to create diverse, visually compelling movement, and a testament to all of the dancers’ collaborative process.   

Movement One features well-known dancers such as Teddy Forance (All the Right Moves), Stephen “Twitch” Boss (Step Up), Jaimie Goodwin and Allison Holker (So You Think You Can Dance), Kathryn McCormick (Step Up Revolution) and Michael Keefe (Rasta Thomas’ Bad Boys of Dance). The dancers have performed with singers such as Taylor Swift and Chris Brown, and have toured internationally in Broadway shows and Cirque du Soleil productions. 

Composed by Jon Arpino, Movement One features 40 minutes of original music, all of which was created during the eight day project.

“Choreographing and composing in eight days pushed us as artists!” says Arpino.

Arpino worked closely with all of the dancers to create music that both developed the theme of the performance and was customized to the dancers movement. Additional music for the performance was provided by Jonny Forance.

“Jon and I were so inspired to create Movement One,” says Forance. “Having the opportunity to have all these incredible dancers in the same space was epic. Jon created the music on the spot which was unique and fun to shift the energy quickly in the rehearsal process.”

“Composing music for the film was really a dream come true for me,” adds Arpino.  “I took up composing and music production as a hobby when I was 16, but I never really had an outlet for my music. When Teddy and I decided to produce Movement One, we figured this would be a great opportunity to combine our strengths and create a unique collaboration of music and dance.”

“Producing the film posed a whole new set of challenges, which proved to be just as enjoyable as working on the music,” explains Arpino. “Raising money and pitching your concept to investors is an exciting process – and getting the green light on producing your film is a great feeling. From there, the process of working with producers, directors, editors and the film crew allowed Teddy and me to collaborate on every part of the creative process. Overall, producing the show spanned a total of about 12 months, in stark contrast with the eight days we had to choreograph and compose Movement One.”

Movement One was produced by CLI Films in association with Collaboration Factory. Founded to create innovative performances that capture dance, music and artistic collaboration on film, CLI’s mission is to showcase artistic talent in an honest way, paying homage to the dancers’ genius and telling real stories void of scripts and staging.  

“Teddy and I are extremely proud of Movement One,” says Arpino. “We set out to make a film that captures dance, music, and real artistic collaboration on film, and I think we achieved those goals. We didn’t have a script, we didn’t re-stage scenes for the cameras, and I think this honesty translated into a more relatable final product. Dancers, and artists in general, will appreciate what their seeing on film because it’s a very relatable creative process.” 

“Dancers should see this film because it will really open your mind to movement. It’s packed with so many powerful visual and emotional moments that I think many artists can connect with,” adds Forance.

Click here to watch the trailer, download the documentary or buy the DVD. The original soundtrack is also available for download.

Photo (top): Jon Arpino and Teddy Forrance

By Stephanie Wolf.

With big dreams and big hearts, Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini, Teddy Forance, and Kyle Robinson took on the greatest challenge of their careers last year when they decided to combine their artistic efforts and talents to create Shaping Sound—a new, Los Angeles-based contemporary dance company that melds together different aesthetics of movement and choreographic voices. The creation and debut performance of the company were chronicled in an Oxygen original series called “All the Right Moves” in 2012. Now, Shaping Sound is ramping things up with a thirteen-city national tour presented by Break the Floor Productions, LLC.

When the cameras stopped rolling

“Having our own company and a television show that followed our story was phenomenal,” says Forance about season one of All the Right Moves. He believes this platform exposed the company and their creative process to both the dance community and mainstream culture, opening them up to numerous opportunities they might not have had otherwise—such as this tour, which was buzzed about at the end of season one.

The four friends learned a lot from their experiences on the show, and Lazzarini commented they have all since grown as “competitors, teachers, students and friends.” After the television show’s finale, the four shifted their focus to this first tour, and initially, spent a lot of time developing its concept with their production company. “We had to think about what we wanted to do, where we wanted to go, when we would do it, and how we would pay for it,” says Wall about the obstacles they had to tackle before bringing dancers into the picture.

Nick Lazzarini, Kyle Robinson, Travis Wall and Teddy Forance of Shaping Sound. Photo by Rob Daly.

The show: what’s in a dream?

So, what can be expected this time from the creative minds of Shaping Sound?

Forance promises lots of fun and whimsy. The show’s concept is inspired by a quote from the original Peter Pan book—“You know that place between sleep and awake, the place where you can still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting. ”

Blurring the lines between dream and reality, it is an imaginative exploration of what happens in dreams—a seemingly fitting idea to evolve from four big dreamers. “This new creation is a wild roller coaster in a dream world of love and fantasy,” says Forance. “The music is powerful and I believe we will surprise our audiences with our range of music and movement styles.”

With a roster of fourteen dancers, fans of All the Right Moves will recognize some familiar names, including Jaimie Goodwin, Channing Cooke, Alexa Anderson, and Matthew Peacock, among others. But there are also several fresh faces joining the company on this tour, making for a diverse and dynamic cast.

“This is the most creative work environment I’ve ever been in,” says Lazzarini of the company dancers hitting the road with him later this month. Forance also notes that Shaping Sound is the first contemporary dance company to be comprised primarily of dancers from the competition circuit.

Move like the dancers of Shaping Sound

In each city, a workshop taught in the style of Shaping Sound will be held before every show. “The idea behind the workshops is that you get a chance to warm up and dance with the company members,” says Robinson. Wall, Lazzarini, Forance, and Robinson will be at each workshop, rotating who teaches the warm up and choreography section. Attendees learn actual choreography from the show, getting the rare opportunity to “experience our movement firsthand before viewing it that night,” says Robinson.

The workshops are available to advanced dancers ages thirteen and up. Robinson assures that the four of them won’t just dole out combinations robotically, but will be out in the crowd, dishing out tailored technical corrections and helping the attending dancers discover a deeper understanding of Shaping Sound’s movement concepts. These types of educational experiences are an integral part of the company’s mission. Robinson explains that the ultimate goal is about more than just putting on a great dance show and says, “to inspire young talent by doing what we love is the best job in the world.”

Shaping Sound. Photo by Rob Daly

The dreaming continues

Wall hopes this will be the first of many tours for Shaping Sound. He’d like to take the company on the road every year and hopes to eventually tour the company to Europe, exposing the world to its unique vision. And while they hope to some day provide full-season dancer contracts, for now, Shaping Sound remains a project-based company. This gives Wall, Forance, Lazzarini, Robinson, and the rest of the company members the flexibility to pursue their personal careers in conjunction with Shaping Sound’s progression—the beauty of the commercial dance world is a dancer’s freedom to chase a vast variety of professional avenues and Wall wants to maintain that for the present.

As more exciting ventures evolve for Shaping Sound, Wall continues to hone his choreographic skills by working in multiple mediums like movies and Broadway. “Sky’s the limit,” he says—and with this type of momentum the artistic possibilities are bountiful.

The details

The 13-city tour kicks off with two mid-May performances in Los Angeles and hits up cities across the continent, ending in New York City on June 17. Those interested in attending one of the workshops can register on the company’s website—spaces are limited.

For more information about the company, visit www.ShapingSoundCo.com or connect with them on Twitter, @ShapingSoundCo.

Photos by Rob Daly.

By Kristy Johnson.

As an Emmy nominated choreographer on America’s smash hit So You Think You Can Dance, Travis Wall has come a long way since competing on the show. Along with the exposure has come plenty of job opportunities. Not only will we see his choreographic talents in the next Step Up instalment – Step Up 4, but Travis has a reality show already in the works.

Dance Informa caught up with Travis to talk about So You Think You Can Dance, and life after the show.

How grateful are you to So You Think You Can Dance for all the opportunities you’ve had since competing on the show?

I thank them as much as I can (laughs). They are pretty much responsible for my big break as a choreographer. I was doing the odd job here and there, but because of the exposure I got with the show as a choreographer, it really opened up all the doors and all the jobs I’ve actually had since then. I always call the executive producers and tell them all the time, ‘thank you so much.’ This entire experience has changed my life, and I’m very grateful.

When you were learning Mia Michaels’ Emmy winning ‘The Bench’ piece, did you already know or have a feeling it would garner so much attention?

I actually did not. I was so excited to do the piece with Mia, but at the time my partner was having trouble with it. I wasn’t dancing with a contemporary dancer; I was dancing with a ballroom dancer. So for me I wasn’t thinking about how the audience or judges would respond to it. I was constantly worried about whether my partner would even get through the routine. I didn’t even know if we would finish the routine because she was crying so much. I was worried about that. I wasn’t even worried about what everyone was going to think. I was making sure that we were actually going to have a piece. Right before dress rehearsals, she felt okay about it, so the next time we did it, it was on stage in front of everybody. It really just came to life. So the response from that piece…we weren’t expecting it because we weren’t seeing that product in rehearsal. It kind of just came out of the blue. It got such a huge response.

Teddy Forance, Travis Wall, Kyle Robinson & Nick Lazzarini of All the Right Moves. Photos by Andrew Eccles/Oxygen Media

Congratulations on having your own show picked up – All The Right Moves. Can you tell us what the show will be about and your involvement in it?

The show follows my three closest friends and me. I started a dance company along with two of my best friends called Shaping Sound. The show is really about how to get a dance company up and running. I’m more of a choreographer and my friends are pretty much trying to break in as choreographers, so we’re just trying to get our name out there as much as possible. It’s following us, building this company off the ground, looking at how to get money, how to deal with dancers’ egos, how to deal with our own egos, and the whole process. And at the same time it follows our personal careers and our personal lives. Pretty much the show is what happens to us in our day (laughs). It’s very emotional and it’s definitely something to watch.

How did the concept for a show come about?

A producer approached me and asked what I would think about having my own reality show. I was like, ‘I don’t know about that’. We are all entertaining and together we have a great show. If it were just about me, I don’t know how entertaining that would be (laughs). I introduced my friends to everybody and we came up with this concept. It’s been a two-year process getting this TV show up and running.

How was the experience of choreographing for Step Up 4?

I had an amazing time on the movie. We had to do it pretty fast. We had to choreograph in two weeks! We shot the whole movie in I think two and a half months. We started at the end of August and finished right before Halloween. It was a great experience. It was my first movie choreographing and I can’t wait to do more because of it. I love choreographing in movies!

Did you have a say in casting?

I didn’t have a say in the hip hop casting and I had to actually work with the hip hop dancers. The dancers who I did cast were Miami locals, so I did have a say in some casting. I had a great group of dancers, so I was very happy with whom I found. Sometimes when you’re not working in Los Angeles or New York, you don’t necessarily get the best dancers. I definitely picked the best dancers from Miami, so I was very happy with that.