Writer/director/producer Michael Damian, together with co-writer/producer Janeen Damian call on elements of their own lives in creating HIGH STRUNG for the big screen. Janeen, a formally trained dancer, and Michael, a musician and performer from small on and with eight Top 40 hits and Broadway sell-outs to his credit, have brought the best of both worlds together for an unforgettable story that unfolds through the visual and emotional poetry and beauty of the many genres of music and dance.
Ruby Adams (Keenan Kampa) is a dancer from the Midwest with a scholarship to one of New York’s toughest performing arts schools. Johnnie Blackwell (Nicholas Galitzine) is an aspiring British musician, playing for money on subway platforms. Ruby’s world is classical and disciplined; Johnnie’s is improvisational and street smart. When these two young artists are thrown together, they immediately clash, but neither can deny the sparks that fly between, or their shared ambition of trying to make it in the most competitive city in the world. When Ruby’s scholarship is threatened, and Johnnie suddenly faces deportation, they join forces and enter a contest where winning—or losing– could change their lives forever. With the help of a dynamic dance crew called The SwitchSteps, they prepare to perform in a competition that unites their disparate worlds, and climaxes in an action-packed extravaganza that thrillingly combines hard hitting hip-hop with contemporary and classical dance.
Directed by Michael Damian and co-written by Michael and Janeen Damian, HIGH STRUNG stars Keenan Kampa (the only American Ballerina to receive a contract with Russia’s Mariinsky Theatre), Nicholas Galitzine (musician) and the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning Jane Seymour, all showcased by the cinematography of Viorel Sergovici. Original score and compositions are by Nathan Lanier. Dance choreography by the award-winning Dave Scott.
HIGH STRUNG is in theatres April 8, 2016.
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