"Rather than harp on the fact that there are still too few people fighting to end gun violence, however, the video shows the dance and passion from one handful of students as the thing that actually snaps everyone else out of their stoic daze."
“Before his debut, Mr. d’Amboise recalled, the company’s hair stylist attempted to curl his hair to make him look more like his idea of a Greek god. “Balanchine said no!” Mr. d’Amboise said in an interview at the National Dance Institute, a dance-education organization he founded in 1976.”
"Sia is the latest celebrity who joined the fight against gun violence. So she has teamed up with the whole bunch of people, specifically called Everytown for Gun Safety and also National Dance Institute. They are putting together the artful videos to send these powerful messages."
"Alexa, a 13-year-old with spinal muscular atrophy, travels close to four hours round-trip to participate in D.R.E.A.M. She does so with her two siblings, her mother, an adapted van, a power wheelchair, a suctioning apparatus, and a nurse."
"Sia teamed up with Everytown for Gun Safety and the National Dance Institute to create this powerful video. An average of 47 children and teenagers are shot every day in the U.S, and this video artfully calls for an end to gun violence."
"The video is backed by Sia’s “I’m Still Here” and features young dancers from National Dance Institute. It opens with an elementary-aged student walking into school, grabbing a balloon from a get-out-the-vote table organized by fellow students and playing with the balloon until it pops—triggering every student in the school..."
"In a world too often divided by words, the goal of this piece is to offer an inspiring bi-partisan message through dance that could uplift, inspire and motivate more effectively than any rhetoric," reads the press release, adding that it embodies National Dance Institute's belief in the power of the arts."
“There are dancers as young as seven in the piece. And these kids are amazing, and they really are leaning on dance and movement to empower them toward expression,” said Hurwitz. “And we thought it would be a really great outlet for them to contribute to this conversation.”
"Fear turns to joy as the students smash the balloons, raise their fists and find strength in numbers while the ominous end notes read: "an estimated 3 million American children experience gun violence every year... Gun violence is now the second leading cause of death for American children... "
"More than 130 children ages 7 to 17 participated in this piece, which the creators say has an uplifting message. “In a world too often divided by words, the goal of this piece is to offer an inspiring bipartisan message through dance that could uplift, inspire and motivate more effectively than any rhetoric,” the creators tell PEOPLE in a statement."
