What to watch in August: Free dance online

A curated selection of free dance films and performances available to watch online to get you feeling inspired this August

1. Breaking at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Breaking made history in August, appearing in the Olympic games for the first time ever. Japan’s B-Girl Ami won the first-ever gold medal in breaking against Lithuania’s B-Girl Nicka. Ami won her battle 3-0 earning 16 votes from the judges as opposed to Nicka’s 11.

The following evening, Canadian B-Boy, Phil Wizard, etched his name in the history books after becoming the first man to win a gold medal in breaking. He beat French B-Boy Dany Dann by winning all three rounds.

2. Break'in Through

Short film (12 minutes)

The documentary follows Toulouse-based youth breakdance crew the Breakin Kids in battle to protect their world title – under founder, mentor and multiple breaking world champion Abdel Chouari – centering the school as a space for belonging, inspiring the young dancers through self-expression, hardship and passion.

3. Maze

Short film (6 minutes)

Scottish Ballet dancers Madeline Squire and Javier Andreu discover each other as they explore a labyrinthine derelict Glaswegian swimming pool. A high-energy piece choreographed by Sophie Laplane, with music by British-born, Boston-based electro musician John Xela. Directed by Eve McConnachie.

4. Physical Thoughts

Short film (3 minutes)

A dancer’s body is their whole life. It is the sum total of their history. It’s the medium through which they make a living and their method of expression. What happens when it’s injured?

Directed by Anne Hollowday; starring Georgia Usborne, Alyssa Forte, Tania Mendoza; choreography by Georgia Usborne.

5. Face In (excerpt) by Candoco Dance Company

Watch now

Excerpt from performance recording (14 minutes)

A sensual and disturbing ode to intimacy and imagination, expressed through striking images interwoven with daring and uninhibited dance.

Set to an urban indie score, this contemporary dance piece invites the audience to bask in this wild fictional world that feels uncomfortably familiar yet strangely distorted. A world that the dancers inhabit with ease: dancing with pleasure, revealing the extreme of themselves and flirting with both the banal and the ridiculous. Choreography by Yasmeen Godder.

Watch other dance works from Sadler’s Wells and BBC Arts’ acclaimed Dancing Nation series here.

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