Dance with the Gantt: "LIFT" Documentary Screening & Talkback

Visit the Gantt to view an inspirational documentary, LIFT, about homelessness in America through the lens of young, unhoused, and home-insecure ballet dancers in New York City. Dancer, teacher, and Gantt Golden Year Dancer-in-Residence, LaTanya Johnson will lead a talkback after the film viewing.

About the Documentary

Filmed over ten years, LIFT shines a spotlight on the invisible story of homelessness in America. After performing globally, ballet dancer Steven Melendez returns to the Bronx shelter where he grew up to give back to his community, offering a New York Theatre Ballet workshop. His traumatic reaction to the shelter from his childhood sends him on an unexpected journey with three kids to reckon with a past he had escaped from through ballet. As young dance students, Victor, Yolanssie, and Sharia face the same chasm of home insecurity that long separated Steven from his audience and made the arts inaccessible to many children who share his background. His young mentees offer him insight into turning a hidden trauma into dance, and together they make an aristocratic art form into an expression all their own.

With generous support from the David and Nicole Tepper Foundation

LaTanya Johnson’s rhythmic journey blends the art of movement and storytelling through voice, theater, and visual arts.

Johnson choreographed and provided movement coaching for many productions including, A Raisin in the Sun, Seven Guitars, Ain't Misbehavin’, The Bluest Eye, For the Love of Harlem, A Soldier's Play, and The Piano Lesson. She has worked with Theatre Charlotte, On Q Productions, Free Reign Theater Company, and Brand New Sheriff (BNS) Productions. In 2016, Johnson curated a dance series in celebration of the Gantt Center’s 40th Anniversary, entitled "Catch the Dance".

Johnson’s conservatory training includes Philadanco (Philadelphia Dance Company), Historical New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia, and Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute, to name a few. She is the founder and artistic director of the Sycamore Project, a Charlotte-based “artivist” initiative using the arts to advocate and promote social and environmental justice.