Experiencing Interruptions?

Surviving Covid-NINETEEN

ON MARCH 13TH, 2020 THE PERFORMING ARTS WORLD EXPERIENCED AN UNPRECEDENTED MOMENT IN HISTORY DUE TO THE EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS... THEATERS AND STUDIOS SYSTEMATICALLY SHUT DOWN LEAVING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OUT OF WORK WITH NO MEANS TO BE ABLE TO PAY THEIR RENT, BUY FOOD OR SURVIVE.

A PAIR OF SISTERS- WHO SPENT THEIR ENTIRE LIVES DANCING- WATCHED THEIR WORLD GET STRIPPED AWAY IN THE MATTER OF MINUTES- LEAVING THEM WITH NOTHING BUT A NEW FOUND SENSE OF ISOLATION AND DEPRESSION.

IT SEEMS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS COMPLETELY OVERLOOK THE SPIKES IN DEPRESSION, SUICIDES, AND SELF HARM CASES AMONG THE PERFORMING ARTS COMMUNITY.

AFTER BEING PUSHED TO THE POINT OF A MENTAL BREAK DOWN, THESE SISTERS FIND THEMSELVES CLINGING TO EACH OTHER AS A MEANS FOR SURVIVAL.

  • Kasey Viani
    Director
  • Kasey Viani
    Writer
  • VPAA Productions
    Producer
  • Mikayla Browne
    Key Cast
  • Miranda Banuet
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 16, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16.9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kasey Viani

Kasey Viani has been in the performing arts for over 42 years as a professional dancer, singer, actor, director, choreographer and teacher, including working for the Walt Disney Company as one of their feature characters in their shows and parades at Disneyland. She has experience also in performing in national commercials, music videos, and TV shows.
Her venture into filmmaking was purely accidental and a direct result of the global pandemic COVID-19. With stages and theater houses shut down, Kasey found a new way to provide a stage to her students by putting their stories on film. Kasey's actors in this film are actually her current dance students. With a love for photography, suddenly beautiful dance angles turned into an entire short film addressing an underground pandemic issue. This is her first film of many and excited to continue on her new venture of filmmaking.

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Director Statement

March 13th is a day in my life that goes down in infamy. I will not reflect on the trauma of this past year in giving COVID any more power that it has taken from us. I will however say “Thank you COVID!”

As I scrolled through my social media updates- it seemed that March 13th was a day that was filled with many performing arts events- either including myself or my daughter, Juliet. Pictures of shows and productions such as Cinderella, Suessical, Wizard of Oz, dance recitals and Disney trips seemed to be the common theme on this day, March 13th.

COVID-19 #2020 tried to take my beloved March 13th from me, and I didn’t appreciate that one bit.

So I decided to turn the bad into good. I opened a private performing arts academy-as you know- but also I found myself on a new venture I never would have expected to find myself on. With so many friends & family affected by COVID- loss of jobs, decades of work erased, identity & purpose destroyed, and depression taking hold- I found myself newly inspired to give a voice to the silent unspoken pandemic. But how? Our stages are shut down and our theaters are closed with no promise of new reopening dates. How could I bring awareness to this serious issue??

Well, I began a project with a current dance student of mine which simply started out as a simple dance film that I was going to upload to YouTube and sparkle up a bit, but then I realized, that wasn’t good enough for me. This project required a larger audience- people need to see this and feel heard and seen. While I continued to reflect and meditate on the dance film, I realized that the story was standing right in front of me- the story of my dance student and the pain she was and is going through with studio and theater shut downs.

Her reality consists of dancing within the confines of her 7 ft x 10 ft room- with furniture that limits her movement. Her reality is recognizing how her skills are diminishing with no real in person instruction or environment to continue to challenge her and mentor her. Her reality is acknowledging that a lifetime of work seemingly now has no place or purpose in this world because her skill requires gatherings and could further spread the infection of a deadly pandemic. Quite a large load to carry on the shoulders of one so young….so …
I made a film.

First and foremost, I do not pretend to even call myself a filmmaker. I am the farthest thing from it. I didn’t go to school to learn about it. Honestly, the technical portion of it is extremely overwhelming and frustrating. I didn’t know anything about ANYTHING involving filmmaking, but, I’ll tell you what- I can say I am a good student and a firm believer in believing you can do anything you set your mind to. I had a vision, a story to tell, and the film literally wrote itself.

I would however call myself a storyteller. My choreography has always been built that way and so that vision simply just transferred to how I wanted it perceived on film. This film is special- one you should give 8.22 seconds to watch. It is important to recognize the unspoken story of so many hurting artists. This short film is based on a culmination of true events during the pandemic shut down -ones of many of my personal students- and it deserves your support and attention.