I Charleston Genève

What’s «I Charleston»?

«I Charleston Genève» is the Geneva swing dance community’s part of the now-gone-viral «icharlestontheworld.com» project. The one instruction: «Film your Charleston routines in places emblematic of your city… and share your clip!». If a city swings you’ll find it on icharlestontheworld.com, with links to over 100 clips from every corner of the world. Over 1 million views so far. In Switzerland, the «I Charleston Bern» and «I Charleston Lucerne» have already seen the light of day. The world of swing* now awaits Geneva!

*The Charleston belongs to the swing family of dances.

Geneva to raise the bar

We want our work-in-progress «I Charleston Genève» to be more than just a dance clip: We’re going to tell a story!

Synopsis

«Gaston, an uptight businessman in Geneva, is in a hurry to get to work. On his way, he stumbles upon a time travelling watch. The next thing he knows it’s the 1920s and he’s at a ball where they’re furiously dancing the Charleston. He’s mesmerized. Thanks to his magic watch, he goes back to the present and brings the dancing craze back with him. Together with dancers from the past, they spread the fever of the Roaring Twenties throughout modern Geneva.»

Who are we?

We are passionate dancers from Geneva Swing (Association pour la Promotion des Danses Vintages à Genève). Since 2011, Jérôme Cadoret and Ana Barros have trained hundreds of swing dancers in Geneva. In 2015, the community was ready, big and motivated enough to jump with them and the two co-directors (Laurence Périgaud and Charlotte de Rufz) on the «I Charleston Genève» bandwagon!

What we’re making

Here is what we have accomplished in a thousand work hours : a fiction script, 25 original choreographies rehearsed for more than 30 hours, more than 100 dancers have set ablaze 30 set locations, and and one terabyte of memory is full ! Not to mention our quest for sponsors… and how can our joy be quantified?

Why we need you

Up to now, the project has been made possible by the support of Geneva Swing (Association pour la Promotion des danses Vintages à Genève), which has covered several necessary expenses (equipment, Parc des Eaux Vives restaurant rental, volunteer technicians’ expenses, etc).

Remaining expenses:

• the last two weekends of filming.
• postproduction: editing, sound mixing and editing, color grading, communications, release.

We need:

• Financial assistance, even small amounts help!
• Donations in kind (If you can give goods or services away please contact swinggeneva@gmail.com): Food or drinks for the dancers during the shoots, gifts for a possible tombola…

In exchange, you’ll get:

• We have come up with various rewards to thank you for your support! These rewards have been graciously offered by the people and institutions that believe in our project. See the column in green to the right!

Estimated release date:

December 2016

Cast and crew

• Producers, choreographers, co-writers: Jérome Cadoret, Ana Barros
• Directors, co-writers, editors: Charlotte de Rufz, Laurence Périgaud
• Cast: Daniel Steffen, Mélodie Le Blévennec
• Cameramen: Louis Sé, Oskar Rosseti
• Communications: Philipe Freydier
• Dancers: Professional and amateur dancers from Geneva and beyond. Guest stars: JB Mino, co-creator of «I Charleston the World», and Tatiana Udry

Thanks

• to all the dancers who have taken part in the filming!
• and to you, for your support!