Call Me Dancer
Manish is a young and talented street dancer from the City of Dreams, Mumbai. He struggles against his parents’ insistence that he follow a traditional path because they depend on their only son's support. When he accidentally walks into an inner-city dance school and encounters acurmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet master, a hunger develops within him. Ambitious and passionate, Manish is now determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked against him. A magical journey from the streets of Mumbai to the stages of New York.
A story of perseverance, rebellion, passion, family, culture, and an unlikely friendship – filmed in India, Israel, the U.K., and the U.S. and featuring music from legendary artist Jay Sean (@jaysean) and Anik Khan (@anikkhan_), and a score by Nainita Desai (@nainita_desai).
Call Me Dancer will make you want to jump up from your seat and, Yes, dance!
Interview with Director/Producer Leslie Shampaine
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
This is a story that found me. I have been working in documentary film as a producer since I retired from my professional career as a dancer - but I had never directed a film. When ballet master Yehuda Ma’or contacted me, I couldn’t resist the chance to do this. My path had crossed Yehuda’s over the years. He was a respected and dynamic ballet instructor who taught some of the greatest dancers of our time, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and many others. At the age of 70, his career was in decline and he had become a solitary man whose gruff manner and demands for athletic and artistic excellence intimidated younger students. His life suddenly changed when he was offered a job in Mumbai. The dancers were eager for his knowledge and he was excited to share his passion.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Call Me Dancer is the story of struggle and tenacity, family, culture, rebellion, passion, and all those friendships you gather along the way... and about all those extraordinary teachers who guide you... Just one person believing in you can help to change everything.
It's been a labor of love as all these films are.. a phenomenal, international team; the music is sublime and kick-ass! - Jay Sean! Nainita Desai! Anik Khan!
Call Me Dancer will make you want to jump up from your seat and, yes, dance!
Finally in today's world, along with all the great social issues and human rights documentaries and films, we sometimes just need a story to uplift us. Call Me Dancer is just that.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Dance films are typically created by people looking into our world from the outside. They convey the difficulty of the profession, but what is often lost is the passion and inner joy that pushes dancers past the pain. Yehuda knew that as a dancer and filmmaker, I could offer an insider’s sensitivity and perspective. Dancers are intensely focused, insular athletes who feel most comfortable among themselves and in a dance studio. Yehuda gave me complete access to his students and their worlds and allowed me to shine a light, and my camera, into their inner life. Ballet has historically been dominated by those with means. Access to the top levels is not just limited to those with talent but those who can afford to sacrifice aspects of normal life to pursue their dreams of becoming professional dancers. Today this has only marginally changed. These obstacles are even more pronounced for many of Yehuda’s students who come from backgrounds where dance has never existed beyond the scope of cultural expression and celebration. Let alone as a profession.
Our protagonist, Manish Chauhan, stood out because of his talent, his extraordinary discipline and commitment regardless of challenges. Because of the short lifespan of a dancer, time and injury are our greatest enemies. During our filming, Manish was badly injured and it was unclear if he would recover and dance again. Then COVID hit and it, too, devastated the careers of upcoming dancers. As an athlete one cannot stop training for one or two years. It was Manish’s passion and doggedness that kept him going, refusing to give up.
The issue of ageism also is addressed. In the West, Yehuda at 70 was not taken seriously and as respected as he once was. But in India, his age and experience is his best asset. As Ashley Lobo, the director of Danceworx, the dance institute where Yehudi teaches in Mumbai, says, "Yehuda is the guru!" Yehuda has found his place and a new home in Mumbai.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
With any documentary as you are following a story that is often happening in real-time, there are many twists and turns, and often the film becomes something quite different than what you, the filmmaker, first envisioned. This is especially true with Call Me Dancer, filmed over 5 years.
In 2016, the international press went viral when one of Yehuda’s students became the first Indian dancer, Amir Shah to be accepted into the world's most competitive and prestigious ballet schools in New York and London. We were following both Manish and Amir, but once he was situated with a full scholarship with the Royal Ballet School in London, the school requested we not film any longer with him. They felt he needed to focus to make it through this extensive program, and I fully understood that it was necessary for his future. And happy to report here that Amir made it through the full three-year program which few students actually do. He is now dancing professionally with the Miami Ballet.
So we changed course and focused on Manish's story which we now understand was a blessing in disguise. Manish's is the classic archetypal story of the underdog making good. Manish started dancing late to become a professional. He was determined not to stop despite his parents' wishes to pursue a more solid career choice, a serious shoulder injury, and the pandemic which destroyed many dreams of young artists and athletes. Manish also changed course from solely focussing on ballet to moving into contemporary and modern dance, which has served him well. He now is a dancer with Peridance Contemporary Dance Company in New York City.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been phenomenal! So much more than we even expected. We always felt Call Me Dancer needed an audience and it would find its way. And it is.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
This film was a labor of love, and many of the team worked over 5 years to make this film come into being. There were times that we were uncertain what would happen especially when Manish was injured - injuries can signal the end of any dancer or athlete's career path. And then the pandemic.
Pursuing financing for any documentary is more than full-time work. But we had a great team that uplifted each other when times were tough.
So now at the beginning of our film festival run, we are beyond thrilled at the embrace of our audiences thus far.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We are looking for distribution, especially in North America and South Asia.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Distributors, buyers and film festivals. We would love to do a theatrical release - the film is great on the big screen and small screen alike!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We want to get the film out far and wide. This is a South Asian story, but it is equally a universal story, a deeply human story that can reverberate everywhere.
I want to create short pieces for educational purposes that can be used anywhere but especially in India (and South Asia.)
This is the story of how boundless determination and unremitting effort can lead to success in any endeavor - a story that I hope inspires young people across the globe to push beyond their limits to follow their dreams.
And finally, we want to encourage people to support the arts and artists, like the extraordinary Mariam Ram in our film.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
A couple of things.
Mariam Ram, who helps young artists, mentions that it's easy for youth who come from wealthy or comfortable socio-economic backgrounds to go into the arts because they have an automatic fallback. But for youth from working-class or underprivileged backgrounds, it is just not the case. How can we do more for the arts? Because the arts do matter in our lives and in our society.
Yehuda and Manish both face different kinds of pushback due to age. They both buck the stereotype in the end by sheer force of will and tenacity. Older athletes face the same issue. In our society today there is so much ageism in every sector. How does a society, especially in the United States turn this around?
Would you like to add anything else?
Thank you for this opportunity and for your interest in Call Me Dancer.
Finally, it takes a lot of very talented people to make a documentary and here our team was truly international, from India, the US, the UK, many in the UK and US of Indian heritage.
I gathered a talented international team made up of brilliant Indian professionals with insights into the culture and socio-economic reality of Mumbai that I myself could not have. This is the story of how boundless determination and unremitting effort can lead to success in any endeavor - a story that I hope inspires young people across the globe to push beyond their limits to follow their dreams.
The music of course has been all important - especially for a film about dance!
We are grateful that Jay Sean not only came on board as an Executive Producer but wrote original songs for the film; international award-winning composer Nainita Desai created our score with Nina Humphreys; and Anik Khan and Rukus Avenue Music Group.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Everyone is working on so many things - it's almost impossible to work on one project at a time and make a living, in film, documentary and the arts, especially in the US.
Support the arts. Art matters. Artists matter.
Interview: February 2023
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Call Me Dancer
Manish is a young and talented street dancer from the City of Dreams, Mumbai. He struggles against his parents’ insistence that he follow a traditional path because they depend on their only son's support. When he accidentally walks into an inner-city dance school and encounters a
curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet master, a hunger develops within him. Ambitious and passionate, Manish is now determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked against him. A magical journey from the streets of Mumbai to the stages of New York.
A story of perseverance, rebellion, passion, family, culture, and an unlikely friendship – filmed in India, Israel, the U.K., and the U.S. and featuring music from legendary artist Jay Sean (@jaysean) and Anik Khan (@anikkhan_), and a score by Nainita Desai (@nainita_desai).
Call Me Dancer will make you want to jump up from your seat and, Yes, dance!
Length: 1:24:00
Director: Leslie Shampaine and Pip Gilmour
Producer: Priya Ramasubban and Cynthia Kane
About the writer, director and producer:
LESLIE SHAMPAINE has been telling stories throughout her professional life. From the ballet stage where she performed throughout the world during a 13-year career, to the television screen where she has produced award-winning programs for PBS, Discovery Channel, A&E, CBS, and Al Jazeera. Her work ranges from documentaries to cultural and educational programming and includes 8 years as part of the production team for the Emmy award-winning Kennedy Center Honors where she worked on over 30 biographical films of the Honorees. Call Me Dancer is her directorial debut.
PIP GILMOUR is a seasoned director, producer, and writer with the experience to generate powerful documentaries that entertain, engage, and stimulate discussion, producing long and short-form documentaries for broadcast and non-broadcast for over 25 years. Gilmour has travelled the world working with scientists, engineers, anthropologists, indigenous tribes, community activists, farmers, and multiple historians on stories ranging from spies that gave away the nuclear bomb to medicinal plants of the Indonesian rainforest. Pip is a member of the Producers Guild of America.
PRIYA RAMASUBBAN returned after living for many years in the US to her home country, India. Priya has over 15 years of experience directing, producing, writing and developing programs for media outlets including National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, History Channel and PBS. She is a storyteller at heart and has the ability to work with complex subjects in a nuanced way that allows for a textured interpretation.
CYNTHIA KANE was a core member of the team that created DOCday on Sundance Channel and was instrumental in bringing Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Denis Poncet’s The Staircase (2006 Peabody, Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Awards) to US television. At ITVS, she shepherded over 150 international and U.S. co-productions for public media. In Al Jazeera America, she commissioned Barbara Kopple’s Shelter, and Albert Maysles’ final work, In Transit. Kane has worked on the broadcast commissioning/acquisitions and the non-profit funding sides of film and media at Showtime Networks, Sundance Channel, ITVS and Al Jazeera America.
Key cast: dancer Manish Chauhan and ballet master Yehuda Ma'or
Looking for: distributors and buyers
Facebook: Call Me Dancer Movie
Instagram: @callmedancermovie
Hashtags used: #callmedancer @eastvillageentertainment @First Hand Films @leslieshampaine @manishchauhan @pipgilmour @dianaholtzberg @esthervanmessel @jaysean @nainitadesai @jitinhingorani @cynthiakane @misscpern @priyaramasubban #danceworx @ashleylobo @johnpatrickking @yehudamaor #southasiandocumentaries #womenmakemovies #santabarbarafilmfestival #danceoncamera
Website: callmedancer.com
Made in association with: First Hand Films, ZDF, ARTE, yes docu, East Village Entertainment, Jingo Media, Women Make Movies
Funders: ZDF ARTE, donors and self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Film Festivals tbd