Dance Hall
We caught up with Dance Hall stars Stella Frye-Ginsburg and Anderson Zoll, who play “Saoirse” and “Cody” in the film, to ask about their experiences on set.
“I think my favorite memory on set was anytime I got to dance with Anderson!” said Stella. Anderson agreed, adding, “We have wanted to dance a duet for years, and we finally got the chance to in the Dance Hall.”
The film packs a surprising amount of dance numbers into its short run time, showcasing the incredible choreography from Dance Hall choreographer Sara Burke. The numbers in Dance Hall take inspiration from a wide range of influences beyond the country style two-stepping the name might evoke. For example, the duet “One Note” mentioned above draws influence from old Hollywood musicals of yesteryear.
Stella and Anderson have experience working on movie musicals as they participated in Summer Stock Austin’s previous films Scout and How to Musical Theatre, respectively.
Despite the performer's experience, shooting a movie can pose unique challenges compared to traditional stage work. “We didn’t have live feedback from an audience to help us gauge how our performances were reading. This made us have to trust the process more,” said Anderson.
The process, in true Summer Stock fashion, moved quickly with only a week of pre-production in preparation for the two weeks of shooting that followed. Lines were learned, songs recorded, choreography practiced, and then all of it captured on location in Hye, Texas in under one month.
However, this is not directing duo Allen Robertson and Damon Brown’s first rodeo. This is Summer Stock Austin’s third original movie musical that the pair have co-written and produced after Scout and How to Musical Theatre.
Despite the accelerated timeline in the Summer Stock process, Robertson will tell you the reason to keep returning to creating these original movie musicals is the incredible young talent that Summer Stock Austin provides to star in the films. Their performances and excitement for the activity are an invaluable resource to the filmmaking process.
There is no better way to learn than by doing, as the SSA company members who participated in the film will tell you. These students are getting a crash course in film and on-camera performance, learning relevant skills as they look to enter the industry. “A lot of the time, you’re filming out of order,” Stella said. “I remember on the last day of shooting; we were filming a bunch of super short scenes and jumping from scene at the beginning of the movie to the end and back to the beginning. I had to pause and take a second before we would start filming to get my head straight and remember, ‘Oh yeah, this is a huge plot point that hasn’t happened yet or ‘Ok, now we’re at the end, so my character has gone through this.’”
The original film consists of several musical numbers from high-energy dance numbers like “Line Dance” to quieter ballads like “Be Brave,” all of which are weaved together to create a heartfelt story of finding community and leaning on the people around you when hard times come. “It’s a story that highlights the importance of genuine connection. It reminds us that our efforts to help one another can have even larger impacts than we know because we never know what someone else is going through,” Anderson said. This message resonated even more as our cast and crew of SSA company members braved the heat and built our own little community of support on the set of Dance Hall. Stella closed her thoughts, “We all need to feel a little something sometimes, and I think this movie does that.”
Dance Hall premiered on August 10th at AFS Cinema. Now, it will go through film festivals before it is available for public viewing again.
But, we are thrilled to announce the release of our other two captivating movie musicals, "Scout" and "How To Musical Theatre." Are now available to rent!
