Sadler’s Wells has released three short film commissions from Emma Farnell-Watson, Folu Odimayo and Mythili Prakash, responding to the works of Pina Bausch and Rabindranath Tagore, and announced a new call-out for three £6,000 micro-commissions for dance artists to create films taking inspiration from Sadler’s Wells East’s public performance space The Dance Floor.
The three new films, created after a public call out in 2024, are available to watch for free on Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage platform. The three artists were selected from 189 entrants to create a short dance film responding to the theme The Classics ReFramed.
Emma Farnell-Watson’s Aṁṁonia draws inspiration from Pina Bausch’s work, following two cleaners who, through the possessions they find in a messy hotel suite, begin to imagine and embody the lives of the guests. Choreographed by Farnell-Watson and Kieran Lai and directed by Joe Connor, it delves into class boundaries and the unseen structures that confine people, using dance to express what’s often hidden from view.
Set in a decaying nightclub, Folu Odimayo’s The Lions are Coming follows three individuals trapped in the aftermath of an invasion by a group of land-hungry dogs, reducing their home to a wasteland. Inspired by the ideas of rebirth in The Rite of Spring, Odimayo uses the setting of a queer club to look at wider themes of gentrification and colonialism.
Mythili Prakash’s Mollika reflects on the ephemeral nature of time through the dancing body and the power of intergenerational relationships. Inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s song “Amar Mollikaa Bone” about the fragrant jasmine flower that blooms at night and wilts by morning, directed by Pratyusha Gupta and Mythili Prakash, the film features dancer and choreographer Mythili Prakash alongside her mother and dance teacher, Viji Prakash, and daughter, Rumi Prakash-Gollapudi, with music arranged and performed by Sushma Soma.
The theme for the next public call-out, takes inspiration from The Dance Floor, the public performance space at the new venue Sadler’s Wells East in Stratford, is The Floor is Yours. The team is looking for artists to explore how movement can appear in everyday life or unexpected places—whether that's taking inspiration from memories of first dancing in parents’ living room, to finding freedom dancing at clubs.
The public call out is open to dance artists of all styles, aged 18+ until Thursday 3 April 2025 and the selected films will première on Digital Stage in early 2026. Selected artists will receive £6,000 to produce the film with support from the Sadler’s Wells in-house videography team.