One Day On Earth Premiere
UN in NYC
April 22, 2012

KCRW & The Fowler Museum Present SOUNDSUITS AFTER DARK
Fowler Museum at UCLA
May 22, 2010

Cari Ann danced with the UCLA Fowler Museum Nick Cave Soundsuits group directed and choreographed by Rachael Lincoln. Here's some photos from the KCRW event Soundsuits After Dark.

Choreographing since 1992 for dance, theater, stage and film . . .

Choreography for Film

Choreography for Stage


Concert Stage

Musical Theater

Theater

Artistic Director of Dance Company, Bitch Co.
Artistic Director, Choreographer and Costume Design
1995-2001

Bitch Co.: A progressive dance-theater company intent on exploring femininity through an abstract multi-influenced body language whom collaboratively construct performances based on the female perspective for the world's public.

Performed in Los Angeles & Las Vegas at venues such as Bergamot Station, Highways, The Brewery, The Henry Huang Theater, Cirque Du Soliel events (Santa Monica & Las Vegas), Cannibal Flower, The White Rabbit, UCLA, Track 16, The Democratic Convention Los Angeles, & The Hatch.

Click to Watch Bitch Co. Reel

*Complete list of works and performances by Bitch Co. available upon request.

Courses

Social Media, WAC 78
Summer 2011
World Arts & Cultures Department

Dance for Camera, WAC 180
Spring 2011
World Arts & Cultures Department

Beginning Tap Dance, WAC 9
UCLA, Summer Session 2009
World Arts & Cultures Department

Introduction to Video Production-Dance for Camera, WAC 180
Spring 2009
World Arts & Cultures Department

Advanced Projects in Video: Dance for Camera
Installation & Experimental Documentary
Winter 2008, Spring 2009
World Arts & Cultures Department

Introduction to Video Production-Post Production as Choreography, WAC 180
Winter 2009
World Arts & Cultures Department

Classes in DANCE

Cari Ann is currently teaching the following dance classes weekly in Topanga Canyon...

Traditional West African & Caribbean Dance Practice
Thursday 8-9:30pm

Dancers learn traditional dances and drum rhythms from Guinea, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Haiti and St. Croix. All levels, teens and adults welcome. Featuring Master Drummer Henrik Jakobsson with additional drummers.

$20 Walk-in, Special: $100 for seven classes OR $65 for four classes (cash or check)

Yoga Desa
120 North Topanga Canyon Blvd
Pine tree Circle Center
www.yogadesa.com

Rhythm Tap (Teen/Adult)
Monday 5-6:30pm

This course introduces beginning tap technique and styles (including rhythm tap and Broadway tap), information about the cultural and historical origins of tap, and current trends and applications of tap in concert dance and musical theater. The students will examine a range of contemporary tap dance techniques found in films featuring tap dance and tap videos focusing specifically on rhythm, combinations and styling. Guest musicians will accompany the class and combinations taught will include the Shim Sham.

8 class session Feb 6-March 26

$20 Walk-in, Special: $100 for seven classes OR $65 for four classes (cash or check)

Ribbit Tree & Plant
301 Old Topanga Cnyn
Topanga, CA 90290
www.ribbittreeandplant.com

Lectures and Classes

2010   One Day on Earth, Educational Toolkits

Lecturer
Live Online Event with Classroom 2.0

2009   The Art of the Edit: Cutting for the Dancing Camera, Editorial Strategies and Post Production as Choreography

Lecturer for the Chew on this Series, World Arts & Cultures Dept
UCLA

2008   Moving Bodies, Moving Cameras, Moving Minds: A History of Dance Film

Guest Lecturer for Arts Enlightenment , Professor Judy Mitoma
UCLA May

2008   Post Production As Choreography

Guest Lecturer for Dance For Camera, Professor Anna B. Scott
UC Riverside

2007   Dance for Camera, Gorilla Style

Guest Lecturer for Chi Pei Gan
University of Malaysia & ASWARA University of Malaysia

One Day on Earth Press Kit

First offerings at the DocuWeeks documentary showcase
Los Angeles Times
August 2011

Over the next three weeks, 17 feature and seven documentary shorts will qualify for Academy Award consideration via the International Documentary Assn.'s 15th annual DocuWeeks Theatrical Documentary Showcase. . . .

Read more at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/08/first-week-documentary-films-movies-docuweeks-showcase-los-angeles.html

Update on short film SAND, which screened at AFF 2010
Austin Film Festival blog
August 2011

SAND is screening as part of Docuweeks in Los Angeles Aug 19-25, which qualifies it for Academy Award Nomination!

Read more at http://austinfilmfestival.blogspot.com/2011/08/update-on-short-film-sand-which.html

Short films showcased at DocuWeeks Film Festival Los Angeles
Examiner
August 2011

In show biz vernacular the term, "shorts" is a reference to a short film as opposed a feature length one. In the case of the 15th Annual DocuWeeks Los Angeles Film Festival, there are several short films being presented for your consideration and the underlying theme . . .

Read more at http://www.examiner.com/film-institute-in-los-angeles/short-films-showcased-at-docuweeks-film-festival-los-angeles-review

Cari Ann Shim Sham*'s Documentary About Tap-Dancing on Sand
LA Weekly Blogs
August 2011

That's L.A. tap dancer Kenji Igus, on the right, watching as his father, Darrow, releases a fistful of sand. Darrow is readying the stage for a "sand dance," . . .

Read more at http://blogs.laweekly.com/stylecouncil/2011/08/carrie_ann_shim_shams_sand_doc.php

84th Oscar Documentary Short Updates (2011-2012 Awards Season) (7/13/11)
Never Too Early Movie Predictions
July 2011

Here are today's rankings for the 84th Oscar Documentary Short race, with previous ranking shown in parenthesis after each entry.

Read more at http://nevertooearlymoviepredictions.blogspot.com/2011/07/84th-oscar-documentary-short-updates.html

Cannes 2011 - Short Film Corner Preview
IndieWIRE
July 2011

It would be fair to say that you could easily spend the whole duration of 2011 Cannes Film Festival in the Short Film Corner.

Read more at http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/archives/cannes_2011_-_short_film_corner_preview/

DocuWeeks will give 17 documentaries, 7 shorts a shot at Oscar
Los Angeles Times
July 2011

A batch of documentaries that have yet to secure theatrical distribution deals will be coming to a screen near you soon -- and will have the chance to score the ultimate filmmaking accolade: an Oscar.

Read more at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/07/docuweeks-theatrical-run-oscar-qualifying.html

FILM SAND TO HIT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL!
International Tap Association
May 2011

and will screen as a Finalist on Wednesday, May 18th at 10:30 - 12:30 in the American Pavilion Cannes Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Showcase. . . .

Read more at https://www.tapdance.org/index.php?pid=178

SAND HEADS TO CANNES
Dance Camera West
May 2011

Local Los Angeles artist and filmmaker Cari Ann Shim Sham's short film SAND is going to Cannes! SAND was screened at Dance Camera West?s Dance Media Film Festival last year . . .

Read more at http://www.dancecamerawest.org/blog/2011/05/sand-heads-to-cannes/

OUR OWN CARI ANN SHIM SHAM* GOES TO CANNES
Topanga Film Festival
May 2011

Dance is transformative, it has the ability to change lives through bonds that are not easily altered, dance has heart. The short documentary Sand, recently selected as a Finalist in the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at Cannes, tells the story . . .

Read more at http://www.topangafilmfestival.com/our-own-cari-ann-shim-sham-goes-to-cannes?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TopangaFilmFestival+%28Topanga+Film+Festival%29&utm_content=Twitter

DANCE ARTS BREAKING INTERNATIONAL NEWS: SAND to screen at Cannes
Afrologica
May 2011

Los Angeles screen dance and dance filmmakers should be absolutely beside themselves with joy at the announcement that Cari Ann Shim Sham* is headed to Cannes. Her moving short film, SAND, has been invited to screen in The American Pavillion on May 18th, 10:30 AM. What does it take to get into the final 16 at the Pavilion?

Read more at http://afrological.com/dance-arts-breaking-international-news-sand-t

Portrait of a Dinner Guest: Cari Ann Shim Sham*, One Day On Earth
Idea Project
February 2011

Cari Ann Shim Sham* serves as the coordinator and lead writer of the Educational Tool Kits for One Day On Earth. Over 400,000 students received this free kit which outlines methods for capturing images and editing film. The kits were created to . . .

Read more at http://la-ip.com/portrait-of-a-dinner-guest-cari-ann-shim-sham

deFineArtsLA Exclusive: So You Think You Can Dance With Elephants?
Fine Arts LA
May 2010

When I heard about choreographer Lionel Popkin's There's an Elephant in This Dance happening at the REDCAT this past weekend, complete with interpretive dance and elephant costumes, my imagination went wild. Dancing elephants! Sign me up!

Read more at http://www.fineartsla.com/tag/cari-ann-shim-sham

Dance Review: Lionel Popkin's 'There is An Elephant in This Dance' at REDCAT
Los Angeles Times
May 2010

Drunks allegedly see pink ones. The white ones of the species are hard to unload. Then there's the mascot of the Republican Party. We're talking elephants, those lovable beasts with steel-trap memories. . . .

Read more at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/05/dance-review-lionel-popkin-at-redcat.html

Bringing Sand to Light
February 2010

Cari Ann Shim Sham started an advanced youth tap group called the Tappa Tappa Tappas while chair of the Dance Dept. at the Culver City Academy of Visual & Performing Arts. In 2003, the academy and the group drew the attention of a young man by the name of Kenji Igus who's father "played the hambone and could sand dance" as she would later find out . . .

Read more at https://www.tapdance.org/index.php?pid=311

Artist's Bio

Cari Ann Shim Sham* is a Los Angeles based award winning filmmaker, multi faceted artist and avid mushroom hunter. She's trained as a musician, dancer, choreographer and clown. She came to UCLA in 1992 with a music scholarship for french horn. She quickly changed her major to dance and left the country for a year to study in Ghana, West Africa, '94-95. Upon her return she began her own small dance company Bitch Co., an all female performance art/dance company which performed at underground art gallery openings, raves and Cirque du Soleil parties. In the late 90's, Cari Ann began editing footage of her dance company and stumbled humbly into her film career. She made her first three films, Falling, Fly, and Riverflow in 2001, which were all screened by then fledgeling Dance Camera West. After seven years she retired her company and turned to arts education while continuing to make films on the side. Cari Ann chaired the Dance Department at Culver City Academy of Visual & Performing Arts from 2000-2008, while also returning to UCLA in '06 to pursue an MFA. During her three years of graduate school, Cari Ann produced nine films, and six installation projects. Her films began to screen internationally, winning awards, two of which became viral sensations, Are You for Real? and My 1st Big Break. After graduating in 2009, the International Journal of Screendance asked her to write a review of Karen Pearlman's Cutting Rhythms, for the 2010 journal. In the same year her film SAND began its festival run which included Official Selection at the Austin Film Festival, Best Director at the First Glance Film Festival, Best Mini Doc at St. Louis International Film Festival, Best Short Documentary at Oxford Film Festival, was a finalist in the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes, and featured in Docuweeks, which qualified the film for Academy Nomination. At this time Cari Ann also began work on One Day on Earth with her partner and founder of the project Kyle Ruddick. Over the past four years, Cari Ann has served as Associate Producer, Additional Editor and the Educational Toolkit Author for One Day on Earth, the first film made in every country of the world on 10.10.10. This film was recently released on April 22, 2012, Earth Day, setting a world record for the most screenings on the same day, screened in over 160 countries. www.onedayonearth.org

At the end of 2010 she traveled to Java, Indonesia, to shoot Two Seconds After Laughter, an experimental short dance film about Sri Susillowati directed by David Roussève. An original intersection of documentary, dance-for-camera, and dream-like fantasy, Two Seconds After Laughter creates a border-jumping dialogue on a universal irony: The heart longs most for the one place to which it can never fully return—home. The film has screened internationally at festivals winning the San Francisco Dance Film Audience Award and nominated for the Jury Award by DCF in NYC.

Cari Ann formerly served on the Dance Camera West screening committee for five years under Lynnette Kessler's Direction 2006-2011, and spoke at their 10th Anniversary conference in 2011. She is now in her fourth year of curating for the Topanga Film Festival Dance Film Showcase in Los Angeles.

Her film SAND, a short doc that tells the story of the history and evolution of sand dance as it is passed down from father to son screened at Cannes, Austin Film Festival among many others winning Best Director from First Glance Film Festival, Best Mini Documentary from St. Louis International Film Festival and Best Short Documentary from the Oxford Film Festival and screened by Docuweeks, a qualifier for the Academy Awards in 2011.

Cari Ann is a passionate teacher whose workshops on Dance Film have occurred in Malaysia, Java, UC Riverside and CalArts. She also teaches Dance for Camera and Social Media at UCLA in the World Arts & Cultures Department, her alma mater. EMPAC Dance Movies Commission short-listed Cari Ann for the 2007-2011 grant cycles and she was the recipient of the Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowship in 2007. Cari Ann has worked closely with and been mentored by John Bishop, Roberta Shaw, Lynn Dally, Victoria Marks, Margaret Williams and David Roussève. She's currently working on film projects with, Jia Wu, Lionel Popkin & Lynn Dally and in development for projections for live dance theater work by David Roussève and Lionel Popkin to premier in 2012/2013. Meanwhile she is working on her first feature script with Thom Jordan.

Her live work has shown at the Joyce Soho, & Danspace in NYC, Highways Space, the Belagio: Las Vegas, Redcat, The Brewery, The Henry Huang Theater and Bergamot Station in Los Angeles, and film work namely at the Laemmle Sunset 7, Mann Chinese Theater, and the United Nations General Assembly as well as 60+ festivals internationally.