I Will Dance (2015)

Random Acts of Theatre Company (RATCo) is more than a theatre company. To the girl who doesn't know where she'll sleep each night, it's a home. To the boy who prefers singing and dancing to football, it's a safe place. And to all the young people who are finding their voices there, it's a movement. In Selma, Alabama, against the backdrop of segregated institutions and the social ills that come along with extreme poverty (including under-performing schools, rampant teenage pregnancy, and a murder rate that is five times higher than the national average) RATCo's young people are breaking the familial and societal norms modeled around them. Among the cycle breakers highlighted in the film are Semaj, Tori, and Macio. Semaj is a bright student and gifted writer in a place where being smart is seen as a weakness. Tori captures hearts effortlessly through her humor, rawness, and spunk. And Macio "writes" through dance and is as interested in the famed New York cupcakes as he is in seeing a Broadway show. In a city where young peoples' fate seems predetermined by their circumstances, I WILL DANCE is a defiant proclamation not to be another statistic, teenage parent, or gang member. The film follows RATCo's journey to New York City. There, they share their stories through an original show written and choreographed by the participants themselves. Around every corner and with every skyscraper, monument, and museum, there is a discovery. But their greatest discovery is their own voice.