Gotta Dance
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''Gotta Dance'' is a 2008
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
and
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
Audience Award Finalist directed by Dori Berinstein. The film "chronicles the debut of the New Jersey Nets' first-ever senior hip-hop dance team, 12 women and 1 man - all dance team newbies, from auditions through to performance.”


Plot synopsis

Gotta Dance documents the creation of the
New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
basketball team's
senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...
dance troupe, The NJ NETSationals. The Nets franchise already employed a professional dance team, a cheerleading squad, and a kids dance team, but in 2007 they added the NJ NETSationals to their entertainment family. "Essentially, the New Jersey Nets basketball team came up with a PR stunt that includes forming a hip-hop dance crew made up entirely of senior citizens (or folks over the age of 60)." Filmmaker Dori Berinstein followed and filmed as they recruited, auditioned, and trained the NETSationals. The team members range in age from 59 to 80 years old and come from varied backgrounds. The film documents not only the NETSationals rehearsals, but also includes personal information about each of the team members, as well as lively team dinners. During the film the NETSationals, debut at a halftime show to an ecstatic and astonished Meadowlands crowd. "Two of the oldest recruits have granddaughters on the Nets' professional dance team, and the interaction between the highly athletic younger women and their less flexible elders offers some particularly poignant moments, as does the final half-time show incorporating a cute faceoff with a kids' dancing troupe."


Miscellaneous

The film premiered at the 2008
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines sponsored a ''Gotta Dance'' program on some cruises which began with a screening of the film and the opportunity for guests to perform routines choreographed by a member of the New Jersey Nets Dance Coach. It also spawned the Gotta Dance Slide, and a social networking site for seniors, GottaDanceWithUs.com, were all inspired by the film.


Adaptation

A stage musical has been written, with the book by
Chad Beguelin Chad Beguelin (born September 24, 1969) is an American playwright and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for '' The Prom''. He also wrote the book for Disney's ''Aladdin'', as well as additional lyrics for the score. He was nomi ...
and Bob Martin, music by
Matthew Sklar Matthew Sklar (born October 7, 1973) is an American composer for musical theatre, television, and film. His works have appeared on Broadway theatre, Broadway, the West End theatre, West End, and theatres worldwide. Sklar has written primarily wi ...
and lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Additional music is by
Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. He is one of a handful of people to win Emmy Awards, Emmy, Grammy Awards, Grammy, Academy Awards, Oscar, and Tony Awards, Tony awards, a feat ...
. Directed and choreographed by
Jerry Mitchell Jerry Mitchell is an American theatre director and choreographer. Early life and education Born in Paw Paw, Michigan, Mitchell later moved to St. Louis where he pursued his acting, dancing and directing career in theatre. Although he did not ...
, the cast featured
Lillias White Lillias White (born July 21, 1951) is an American actress and singer. She is particularly known for her performances in Broadway musicals. In 1989 she won an Obie Award for her performance in the off-Broadway musical '' Romance in Hard Times''. ...
,
André De Shields André Robin De Shields (born January 12, 1946) is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award. De Shields has appeared in the original ...
, Georgia Engel, Haven Burton, Lori Tan Chinn and
Stefanie Powers Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards an ...
. The musical premiered at the Bank of America Theatre in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
on December 13, 2015, running through January 17, 2016. It had been expected to open on Broadway in the Fall of 2016. However, the producers announced on July 13, 2016 that the musical would open on Broadway in the Spring of 2017, and that the musical has a new title, ''Half Time''. They further announced that
Ester Dean Esther Renay Dean (born April 15, 1982), known professionally as Ester Dean, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. She rose to prominence as a pop songwriter in the late 2000s and wrote numerous hit songs for singers including R ...
has written a new finale with the composers. It was later announced the show, under the new title, will instead play a limited engagement at the
Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater containing approximately 1,200 seats located in Millburn, within Essex County, New Jersey, United States, on the banks of the Rahway River. Due to its relative proximity to Manhattan, the theater draw ...
in Millburn, New Jersey. Engel, De Shields and White return to the cast with new cast member Donna McKechnie, as well as director/choreographer Mitchell. The production opened on May 31, and is scheduled until July 1, 2018. The co-producer of the musical, Dori Berinstein, said that the musical "is not intended to be a precise documentation of the NETSational Seniors, nor a staging of the film...The charge for the bookwriters, Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin, and the composer, Matthew Sklar, ... was to write a story inspired by the real NETSational Seniors, whose exploits have been copied by numerous other NBA teams." Co-producer Bill Damaschke added "the central charge involved understanding that the NETSational Seniors could become a collective metaphor 'for the idea that age does not matter.' "


Awards

2008
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...
Audience Award Finalist
2009
Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...
Official Selection
2009 Palm Beach Film Festival Audience Award Best Documentary Winner
2009
Sarasota Film Festival The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-long ...
Official Selection
2008 The Floating Film Festival Best Documentary Winner
2009
Cinequest Film Festival The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It ...
Official Selection
2009
Phoenix Film Festival Phoenix Film Festival is a festival that celebrates feature films, documentaries, short films and their creators. Started in 2001, the annual celebration takes place in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. The Festival is run under the umbrella of the 5 ...
Official Selection
2008 Williamstown Film Festival Official Selection
2009 International Film Festival of Aging Official Selection


References


External links


Gotta Dance Official Website

Gotta Dance With Us Social Networking Website
* {{IMDb title, 1202566 American documentary films 2008 films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films