Gotta Dance
Encyclopedia
Gotta Dance is a 2008 documentary film
and Tribeca Film Festival
Audience Award Finalist directed by Dori Berinstein. The film "chronicles the debut of the New Jersey Nets' first-ever senior hip-hop dance team, 12 women and 1 man - all dance team newbies, from auditions through to performance.”
basketball team's senior citizen
dance troupe, The NJ NETSationals. The Nets franchise already employed a professional dance team, a cheerleading squad, and a kids dance team, but in 2007 they added the NJ NETSationals to their entertainment family. "Essentially, the New Jersey Nets basketball team came up with a PR stunt that includes forming a hip-hop dance crew made up entirely of senior citizens (or folks over the age of 60)."
Filmmaker Dori Berinstein followed and filmed as they recruited, auditioned, and trained the NETSationals. The team members range in age from 63 to 80 years old and come from varied backgrounds. The film documents not only the NETSationals rehearsals, but also includes personal information about each of the team members, as well as lively team dinners. During the film the NETSationals, debut at a halftime show to an ecstatic and astonished Meadowlands crowd.
"Two of the oldest recruits have granddaughters on the Nets' professional dance team, and the interaction between the highly athletic younger women and their less flexible elders offers some particularly poignant moments, as does the final half-time show incorporating a cute faceoff with a kids' dancing troupe."
in 2008.
Gotta Dance lessons on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the Gotta Dance Slide, and a social networking site for seniors, GottaDanceWithUs.com, were all inspired by the film.
Audience Award Finalist
2009 Seattle International Film Festival
Official Selection
2009 Palm Beach Film Festival Audience Award Best Documentary Winner
2009 Sarasota Film Festival
Official Selection
2008 The Floating Film Festival Best Documentary Winner
2009 Cinequest Film Festival
Official Selection
2009 Phoenix Film Festival
Official Selection
2008 Williamstown Film Festival Official Selection
2009 International Film Festival of Aging Official Selection
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
and Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
Audience Award Finalist directed by Dori Berinstein. The film "chronicles the debut of the New Jersey Nets' first-ever senior hip-hop dance team, 12 women and 1 man - all dance team newbies, from auditions through to performance.”
Plot synopsis
Gotta Dance documents the creation of the New Jersey NetsNew Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
basketball team's senior citizen
Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...
dance troupe, The NJ NETSationals. The Nets franchise already employed a professional dance team, a cheerleading squad, and a kids dance team, but in 2007 they added the NJ NETSationals to their entertainment family. "Essentially, the New Jersey Nets basketball team came up with a PR stunt that includes forming a hip-hop dance crew made up entirely of senior citizens (or folks over the age of 60)."
Filmmaker Dori Berinstein followed and filmed as they recruited, auditioned, and trained the NETSationals. The team members range in age from 63 to 80 years old and come from varied backgrounds. The film documents not only the NETSationals rehearsals, but also includes personal information about each of the team members, as well as lively team dinners. During the film the NETSationals, debut at a halftime show to an ecstatic and astonished Meadowlands crowd.
"Two of the oldest recruits have granddaughters on the Nets' professional dance team, and the interaction between the highly athletic younger women and their less flexible elders offers some particularly poignant moments, as does the final half-time show incorporating a cute faceoff with a kids' dancing troupe."
Miscellaneous
The film premiered at Tribeca Film FestivalTribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
in 2008.
Gotta Dance lessons on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the Gotta Dance Slide, and a social networking site for seniors, GottaDanceWithUs.com, were all inspired by the film.
Awards
2008 Tribeca Film FestivalTribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
Audience Award Finalist
2009 Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
Official Selection
2009 Palm Beach Film Festival Audience Award Best Documentary Winner
2009 Sarasota Film Festival
Sarasota Film Festival
The Sarasota Film Festival has been held annually since 1999 in Sarasota, Florida. The festival is held in April and has become one of the top ten independent festivals in North America...
Official Selection
2008 The Floating Film Festival Best Documentary Winner
2009 Cinequest Film Festival
Cinequest Film Festival
The Cinequest Film Festival is an annual independent film festival held in San Jose, California. The festival highlights the work of new film makers....
Official Selection
2009 Phoenix Film Festival
Phoenix Film Festival
Phoenix Film Festival is a festival that celebrates feature films and their creators. The celebration takes place annually in the city of Phoenix, Arizona...
Official Selection
2008 Williamstown Film Festival Official Selection
2009 International Film Festival of Aging Official Selection