Moving Stories

US, 2018, 85 min, in English, Hindi, Romanian, and Korean with English subtitles

Six diverse dancers from the acclaimed Battery Dance company travel the world to work with young people who have experienced war, poverty, prejudice, sexual exploitation, and severe trauma as refugees, teaching them the tools of choreography so that they can tell their stories through dance.

The film follows them to India, where they work with girls rescued from sex trafficking and gender violence; to Romania, with Roma (gypsy) kids from one of Europe's worst slums; to South Korea, with young North Koreans who risked their lives to escape; and to Iraq, where they work with a gifted young Muslim dancer, fighting to survive.

Incredibly, they have just one week to teach the tools of choreography and collaboration to kids who may be enemies, who may have been abused, who may be suspicious and fearful, so that they can create dances to perform for their communities.

As they struggle to break through, the dancer-teachers confront their own frustrations. Yet their students respond in extraordinary ways - and as they prepare to perform in public in what seems an impossibly short time, both students and teachers experience surprising transformations, unlocking feelings and stories in wellsprings of creativity.