FLOW AFFAIR Flag-Dancing Documentary Film

FLOW AFFAIR Flag-Dancing Documentary Film

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

7:00 PM-9:00 PM (doors open 6:30 PM)
St. John’s Lutheran Church, 81 Christopher Street (between 7th Avenue South and Bleecker Street), NYC

FREE admission, open to the public

Followed by Question-and-Answer session with the

film’s director Wolfgang Busch

FLOW AFFAIR probes gay art form’s community history, heralds new, mainstream dance, fitness & therapy revolution, encourages HIV education & includes Melba Moore, Ms. Morgan & other stars on soundtrack; movie being shown at “church” screenings nationwide.

NEW YORK– Over 20 years after the “vogue”-dancing and drag-ball culture, documentary film Paris Is Burning was released, Art from the Heart Films announces the Manhattan premiere screening of its motion picture FLOW AFFAIR: FAN, FLAG, POI, FLOGUING, DANCE  www.flowaffair.org

View the Film Trailer for FLOW AFFAIR below.

The movie probes community history and personalities as well as the hand-held, flag- and fan-swirling and -twirling flow art that has dance-floor roots among Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer (LGBTQ) club-goers and individuals.

As flagging and fanning are also catching fire with non-LGBTQ enthusiasts, FLOW AFFAIR in addition heralds a novel, mainstream dance, fitness and therapy revolution: Floguing is the new vogue-dancing with flags; and the art form’s spinning and twisting motions have been called a great shoulder and cardio workout (www.goldsgym.com/gyms/class/12702 ) and praised for their visually meditative benefits. What’s more, Art from the Heart intends for the film to inspire viewers to seek optimal HIV education (AIDS almost wiped out the flagging community during the 1980s).

Singers Melba Moore and Ms. Morgan and “electronic-music godfather” Man Parrish, among others, add their star power to the soundtrack for FLOW AFFAIR. Concerning the film itself, Art for the Heart initially premiered the movie in San Francisco and plans to screen it in churches from Chicago to Dallas, Boston and Miami.

In addition, 1980s and -90s, chart-topping, rhythm-and-blues singer and Queens native Meli’sa Morgan will address the audience at this event, which is part of St. John’s Church’s activities calendar. http://stjohnslutheranonline.org/home/  for “Coming Out Week”
(“Coming Out Day” is observed internationally every October 11th or 12th)

Get Your Flag On
“What voguing was for Madonna, floguing can be for perhaps Lady Gaga–or really any one,” says director/producer Wolfgang Busch, a grass-roots organizer who brought the flagging and voguing communities together in 2006 and in FLOW AFFAIR is now introducing the new dance, floguing. Flagging + Voguing = Floguing.

Floguing has been featured in Mariah Carey’s music-video ‘Loverboy’

Floguing is creative fun for kids

Floguing is a therapy aid for special-needs folks

Evolution of Dance
FLOW AFFAIR explores the evolution of dance by showcasing the emergence of flagging–which has only begun to show up at underground circuit parties and dance clubs, and in innovative dance choreography. Performing in FLOW AFFAIR are:

• Xavier Caylor from San Francisco is one of the most influential tie-dye Flag-Maker and teacher in the United States and beyond. Caylor is planting seeds wherever he goes with the hopes to create new tribes, to keep this legacy alive.
• Mykel a New York City-based recording artist and theatrical performer is incorporating flags and fans into his musical performances.
• Jeannette Torres, mother of 13 year old Ryche, reveals why they call his mom the angry lesbian.
• Nelia is a regular circuit club flagger and her mission is to teach more women how to flag.
• Bert Seva, a fanner from the 80’s, he started out as a flagger but he always got tangled with the flags so he switched to fans.
• Other featured dancers are: Mark Stewart, Felipe Grandinetti from Brazil, Aaton Enigma, Art By Davey, Mike Rahn, George Jagatic, Brad Carpenter, Flaggerboy, Victor Mauro, David Gosbin, Dean Vitale, Ryan Wilcox, Kevin Omni, Poi dancer GlitterGirl, The Colors of the Wind, and the voguing dance legend Javier Ninja.

Who Is Your “Flag Daddy?”
In the underground flagging and fanning dance communities, the person who shows you how to flag or fan for the first time in a dance club, or who gives you the first set of flags or fans, is called your Flag- or Fan Daddy.

About Your Flag Daddy
Wolfgang Busch, a community-organizer and activist, is an openly gay documentarian. His first feature documentary release, How Do I Look (2006), was about the success of the Harlem House Ball/Drag Ball community in creating cutting-edge trends in fashion, dance, and runway. He uses the arts to empower communities all over the United States.

Musical Recording Stars and the Soundtrack
The documentary features musical recordings by:

• Melba Moore is the ground-breaking Tony Award-winning actress and singer. She has collaborated musically with Michael Jackson and has starred on Broadway opposite Eartha Kitt. Moore was a member of the original cast of the musical Hair, along with Diane Keaton. When Moore replaced Keaton in the role of Sheila, Moore became the first black actor to replace a white actor in a leading role on Broadway. Moore contributed the dance single Been There, Done That and the power-ballad The Other Side Of The Rainbow to the FLOW AFFAIR soundtrack.
• Meli’sa Morgan was accepted and attended Julliard School of the Performing Arts and also attended the famed Lee Strasberg acting school. In 1994, she topped Billboard magazine’s Hot Dance Club Play chart. Morgan contributed the R&B single All In The Name Of Love to the soundtrack.
• Jerico of the Angles is a well-known vocal recording artist, a Grammy- nominated songwriter, stage and screen actor and performance art rocker. He contributed the title song for the soundtrack. With the FLOW AFFAIR track, Jerico adds to his impressive body of recorded work that spans three decades.
• The legendary New York DJ and night club historian Man Parrish composed the hot bitch track, Floguing … Is Like Voguing.

Are You Flowing?
To see where FLOW AFFAIR will go next, for screening with lecture bookings, distribution inquiries, and where you can purchase the DVD and CD soundtrack, we invite you to visit:
http://www.flowaffair.org/ and http://www.ArtFromTheHeartnyc.org

By Dawn Paap