We went to the Greensboro dance film festival … it was WAY better than Sundance

Hey y’all,

Bae and I had a fabulous weekend in exotic North Carolina, lol.

In all seriousness, it is hard to describe how much fun we had or how inspired we (still) are after attending this boutique film festival.
This one day festival brought films from 17 countries and screened them in a “progressive party” format.

Of course, when I heard progressive party my mind immediately translated that to circuit party, but my good friend Robin explained that the first set of films would be shown at the first location, then everybody would move to the second location for the second set of films and do the same thing for the third and final location.

Okay okay … not quite what I was expecting but it still ended up being a very good time.

This was all happening in the very funky downtown Greensboro area that has transformed itself into a little party town. The first venue was nestled betwixt a full-on brewery/restaurant and a bar that had (bad) live music and a line to get through the front door … in Greensboro … North Carolina.

This eclectic little hamlet was also serving Alice in Wonderland realness on the main thoroughfare. My husband and I braved the mean streets to find coffee … and found instead a cat cafe (where you can pet cats and get a cappuccino ) … no ma’am. On the same Main Street, we found a night club / speak easy / burlesque-y situation replete with crushed velvet curtains and a fudge shop.

Desperate for some caffeine, we walked into a store that looked like they might try to sell you OTC mushrooms … this turned out to be the actual coffee shop. Having left the place with a sincere appreciation for hipsters, we made our way back to the first venue to watch and some movies

And unlike our experience at Sundance, we actually saw a lot of movies … and they were beautiful. My favorite featured a solo dancer performing against the poverty stricken backdrop of his native Congo-Brazzaville.

But beyond the movies, it was the buzz in the room. Everyone there was truly excited to be a part of this community festival. People ate and drank and smiled and cried. And then something happened to me that didn’t happen at Sundance … I got inspired. The burgeoning artist / writer / novelist / go-go boy in me wanted to express himself and get back to creating art.

So … I’m going to find the time to finish my book of poetry and my short story book … by this summer.

Wish me luck, and remember to check out the Greensboro Dance Film Festival!

Peace and blessings,

the trendy one