Sarasota Contemporary Dance Presents Film Screening and Dance Collaboration

October 6, 2021 – Sarasota

SCD is proud to present its first film screening as part of its In-Studio Performance Series, featuring film director Bonnie Silvestri and her film Funnel of Dreams. In Funnel of Dreams, film director Bonnie Silvestri, her husband and videographer Mike, and their daughter Daphne go on a quest to understand the impact of the United Kingdom’s policies for families, including paid parental leave, childcare services, and the children’s right to play. In the film, the Silvestris investigate how paid family leave impacts families in the United Kingdom while spending time together on a family adventure.

“In the midst of a global pandemic, which is causing a worldwide disruption in our everyday lives, there has never been a better time to think about how we want our work/home life paradigm to look in the future.” says Bonnie “In our film, we took a deep dive into the history of motherhood, the struggle for women’s rights, and the issues related to family leave in the lives of working parents.”

Bonnie continues “When we became parents, we were surprised to learn that the United States is the only industrialized nation not providing paid family leave. We wanted to learn more about a country with a robust framework for new parents, so we traveled to the United Kingdom. Our short documentary film Funnel of Dreams explores our personal experience with our young daughter living overseas along with interviews with parents, policymakers, and other experts.”

In addition to the film, Bonnie will be collaborating with the SCD Ensemble, SCD’s pre-professional training company, to bring in a whole new performative element to Funnel of Dreams. SCDE will be taking inspiration from the film and interpreting the feelings and concepts of the film through movement. With this collaboration, Bonnie has pledged that all proceeds from SCD’s screening of Funnel of Dreams will be donated to SCDE to help fund the future of SCDE.

“The push and pull that parents have, wanting to spend as much time as possible with their children, while at the same time focusing on their careers and providing financially for their family can be beautifully represented through the medium of contemporary dance” says Bonnie.“We are so excited to see how the film inspires the SCDE dancers. We are also delighted to have the opportunity to screen the film and draw attention to these important issues at a time when US federal lawmakers are notably focusing on the needs of parents, by addressing family leave, child care, and universal pre-kindergarten…”

“…and although parenting is challenging, it is also incredibly joyful and a lot of fun. We loved the fact that Wales is the first country to legislate for a children’s right to play, so it will be incredible to visualize that concept through dance.”

Bonnie adds “We hope this film will spark a dialogue among audiences about the fundamental needs that families have as both caregivers and breadwinners.”

Tickets are available now! Due to the nature of this event, there will be no Virtual Broadcast option for this performance

For tickets, click the link below
https://ci.ovationtix.com/35361/production/1081869

For more information on SCD’s In-Studio Series, click the link below
https://www.sarasotacontemporarydance.org/in-studio