Bryan Buckley’s resistance in motion

How did the concept for ResistDance come about?

Bryan Buckley: I remember as a kid being pulled out of school with my sister and traveling 16 hours to DC to join an anti-Vietnam War rally. We protested the Kent State shootings. The imprisonment of the Chicago Seven. My parents never sat idle. Hell, my 80-year-old stepfather, a Vietnam Marine Vet, took to the street with his walking cane during the most recent No Kings March.

Renee’s and Alex’s murders were one of those drop every fucking thing you’re doing moments and figure out how to make your protest heard.

Renee’s and Alex’s murders were one of those drop every fucking thing you’re doing moments and figure out how to make your protest heard. I was raised with that mentality. And stating the obvious here: Democracy in America is in big trouble. Dance to me is an under-utilised art form – that emotion can go way beyond anything we speak, if done right.

During the conceptualisation process, Alex Pretti was killed and we knew we had to tie the two events together. 

People had seen videos of the murders from every angle over and over in news clips and social media – to a degree with countless views we had become desensitised. By reenacting the event in dance, it allowed us to bring this moment down another channel into the brain, on a very emotional and spiritual level, while memorialising Renée and Alex and those who have fought against being repressed in America.

Matt Steffens: Bryan approached me about the concept of honouring Renée Good’s death and raising awareness about the atrocities happening throughout the country. Most of America had seen the video, so we felt like it was something people would recognise. During the conceptualisation process, Alex Pretti was killed and we knew we had to tie the two events together. 

This changed the dance and made it even more powerful. We knew we wanted to recreate the car with an homage to Pilobolus [the ‘human car’ created for a Ford commercial], but after that we didn’t really know where the dance would lead us, or how to recreate their interactions with the ICE officers.

The First Amendment Troop features dancers from celebrated Broadway shows (Hamilton, MJ: The musical and Wicked), can you tell us more about its dmission?

BB: The First Amendment Troop is a group of activists, dancers and performers that got together and said, ‘It’s time to raise hell. Peacefully. Forcefully. Lovingly – through art, motion and music’.

We recruit members anywhere. The stage. The street. The schools. Ultimately, we landed on some of the biggest performers on Broadway in our tryouts.

We are here to fight for the rights of all those unlawfully being suppressed, detained, and killed under the rule of an authoritarian leadership.

Our tactics are thoroughly rehearsed guerrilla. And we recruit members anywhere. The stage. The street. The schools. Ultimately, we landed on some of the biggest performers on Broadway in our tryouts. Since the teamwork aspect is critical in our protests, anyone who joins must be truly committed to our beliefs.

MS: The process HAD to be a safe place, so I talked to each dancer individually before bringing them on to the project so they knew what they were signing up for. All the dancers we offered the job to said yes. It was important to me to bring a diverse group together to represent all the voices of America, so everyone saw themselves in this dance. The other challenge in casting was the ICE officers.

The movement quality had to be just right so that the dance hopefully had an impact and was not cringeworthy.

After casting, I went into the rehearsal room with 15 pre-production dancers and tried A LOT of different choreography to try to find the right tone for the dance. I had a sketch of what I wanted it to be, but the movement quality had to be just right so that the dance hopefully had an impact and was not cringeworthy.

Above: Scenes from the rehearsals. Steffens tried many different styles for the choreography to get the right tone for the dance. 

There are many words flung about in these contentious times, do you feel that dance can express something about history/society/the political climate that rhetoric cannot?

BB: Yes!!! I’m currently working on a musical, so I’ve watched more Broadway musicals and ballets than films this year. It’s been a nice departure. It’s reshaped my thinking and got me excited about the untapped potential of the language of movement in a world taken over by talking heads and ranting trolls.

MS: Dance is something universal that can bring us all together. As audiences, we all go on a collective journey when we watch dance, yet it speaks to each of us individually in different ways. Dancers are also such amazing athletes and artists, that as an art form can bring to life things in reality that seem out of this world. I think both of these events pose the question, ‘how could this happen in our country?’. Yet they did.

If we don’t have our first amendment rights, then what do we have as a democracy?

Have you two previously collaborated?

BB: Matthew and I hadn’t worked together before. I had seen his incredible choreography in Into the Woods. [Steffens was Associate Choreographer on the Tony-nominated Broadway production].

We heard he might be interested in doing something like this. We got on a Zoom and took him through our plan. He said, ‘Count me in’. And we went to work. How well we fell into sync was amazing. What he choreographed was mind blowing.

MS: I had collaborated with many of the dancers before, but never with Bryan. Obviously, I knew of the tremendous work he has done, but building a dance activism piece is different. I LOVED creating the ResistDance with Bryan and look forward to doing more together. We threw out a lot of ideas and the open and constant communication had us on the same page so that on the shoot day it went very smoothly.

Above: The performance at the Kennedy Center was shut down within two minutes of filming by 24 police officers. 

Can you expand on your comments that the issues around the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti are “American concerns, not partisan ones”?

MS: Our first amendment rights of free speech are being taken away from us. If we don’t have our first amendment rights, then what do we have as a democracy? If these moments could happen to Renée Good and Alex Pretti, they could happen to any of us. 

We heard from Renée’s family almost immediately. They were very supportive.

Most Americans look at the events and know they were not domestic terrorists, they were Americans exercising their rights. I hope this dance opens up conversations about the humanity of all the people who are being affected by ICE’s actions.

How has the dance protest been received and how did the families of the two victims respond?

BB: We heard from Renée’s family almost immediately. They were very supportive. We haven’t heard from Alex’s family. I really can’t imagine how painful this time has been for all of them. It’s inconceivable. That goes for all the victims and their families who have been torn apart and imprisoned by the Trump administration and its actions.

The lawyers for both [Good and Pretti's] families were very supportive of the dance and the impact it is having.

MS: The positive response to the ResistDance has been overwhelming. When we were shooting at the Lincoln Memorial, many spectators came up and told us how moved they were by the performance. Since going live online, it’s been wonderful to see how it has moved people. I was not surprised by the White House’s response to the dance – another reminder of the threat to every Americans’ freedoms. The lawyers for both families were very supportive of the dance and the impact it is having.

Above: Steffens rehearsing with one of the performers. Finding a way to ‘dance’ the ICE officers was a challenge.

What were the practical considerations around the staging of the dance at both locations?

BB: We hired security for the dancers. Minimum staging; just 3D printed wheels and light cardboard platform designed by David Skinner, who’s done every political or anti-gun installation I’ve done. For this one we really had to be mobile. My producers Matt Lefebvre and Ben Ellenberg put together casting and rehearsals in NYC and DC. We decided to bus everyone down for the day and back… So it was gonna be a lonnnng day.

The staging for the ResistDance was a challenge.

We reached out to the Parks Department at Lincoln Memorial. They were amenable to us coming in there. Which was awesome. As far as the Kennedy Center, well…. Trump just added his name to the front of the building and deemed himself as their Chairman of Entertainment. It was going to be interesting.

MS: The staging for the ResistDance was a challenge. Four platforms and four tires had to come on and off the playing space. Executing that seamlessly, while continuing to tell the story required some creative choreography. 

Our dancers did a wonderful job of artfully executing the construction of the car as part of their staging.

The other big challenge was clearly telling the story in the staging and how to “dance” the ICE officers. We spent a good amount of time find what were their angles and motivation so that they could be breathing in the same world as the rest of the dancers.

Above: Buckley and Steffens brought a diverse troupe of dancers together as they wanted to represent all American voices.

The attempted performance at the Kennedy Centre, was shut down by police, can you share something about that?

BB: The Kennedy Center wasn’t open on Presidents Day. Toss in that it was a snowy February and we figured we could come in do our thing and meet very little resistance.

After all it was an empty plaza in front of a dance and performance center. And arguably we had some of the best dancers in the world performing.

The point of no return draws closer by the hour. And just so you know I am a glass half full kind of person saying this.

They had one security guard out front and we figured we could just explain to him we were gonna be there for less than two minutes and all would be cool. But there seemed to more officers inside. We counted 24. They came swarming out and flat out shut us down within a minute. But thankfully, we got a good chunk of the dance filmed.

MS: The Kennedy Center IS the pinnacle of art to me. I love doing shows there and am always excited to return. It broke my heart to see the name changed for a place I hold so dear. It was surreal to see the response by police. I always wanted the dancers to feel safe, which is why in the end we stopped filming. I knew they might try to shut us down, but never did I think that 24 officers would [apprehend] 22 dancers who were DANCING. 

We were not violently protesting. We were presenting art, which is what has happened at the Kennedy Center for the past 54 years. To be shut down for exercising our first amendment right shows you the world we live in nowadays. I’m proud of our production team and cast for their bravery in presenting the ResistDance.