AADS Movie Screening of MAMA DANCERS

Mama Dancers
(Jingqiu Guan & Yang Tao, 2025, 51 min, United States, Chinese and English, Digital)

*Q&A to follow with co-director Jingqiu Guan (Professor of the Practice of Dance at Duke).

Trailor: https://vimeo.com/1052666671?share=copy

Six diverse professional dancers navigate the dance of life as they balance the rhythms of motherhood and their demanding careers, unveiling the joys, struggles, and triumphs of pursuing their dreams.

Directors' Statement: As dancers and mothers ourselves, we found co-directing this film extremely meaningful and enlightening. Both of us deeply relate to these mothers' experiences and aim to tell a story that paints an honest and intimate group portrait of their lives without either dramatizing or romanticizing motherhood. We hope this film can spark dialogue about necessary changes that would provide more support, inclusivity, and accommodation for artists who are or who desire to become mothers in the performing arts industry.

Winner of the Outstanding Documentary Film Award at the Beijing Dance Festival