Gallim Dance Gets Glam

Sneakers and modern dance may not seem like a natural pair—that is, until you see Gallim Dance company members sporting kicks and rocking modern choreo in K-Swiss’ new commercial! (Check it out at gallimdance.com). DS spoke with Andrea Miller, Gallim’s founder and artistic director, about dancing for the camera.

Dance Spirit: How did you land the commercial?
Andrea Miller: Last November I met a painter who’s also being featured in the series, and he pitched us to K-Swiss. We still had to audition, though, and it was kind of a strange experience. It was in a big garage in Williamsburg, NYC, and we danced like crazy on this hard cement floor. But I guess they liked us!

DS: Did you have to adjust your choreography for the camera?

AM: We were rehearsing for our NYC performance season at the same time, and that emphasized how different dancing for film is from dancing onstage. There wasn’t a stationary audience during filming. We had to constantly adjust our point of focus because the camera could be coming from the side, or below, or above.

DS: What was the atmosphere like on set?

AM: It was exciting! We filmed the whole thing in about five hours, so it was a high-energy shoot. They set up the same garage we auditioned in as a studio, and it was wild to see all the production elements—tons of lights and microphones and computers. We felt kind of famous.

DS: What did you take away from the experience?

AM: It was a great learning opportunity. We discovered what we could bring to the commercial as artists and how the commercial world could help us market what we’re passionate about. Marketing is important, but artists often overlook it.