Films

Artistic Statement 

Finleigh Zack is a dancer/choreographer and the artistic director of Finleigh Zack Dance Inc, a not for profit contemporary dance company based in New York City. She has studied in many classical and contemporary styles of dance including Horton and Graham, Release, and Cunningham techniques. She has worked with various companies and artists who have influenced her work including Rena Butler, Jennifer Archibald, Heidi Latsky, Alonzo King, David Parsons, and many more. She is currently pursuing a BFA in Dance Performance at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Here she has been exposed to different forms of collaboration and creative projects that have sparked her interest in dance choreography and creative research. Her work as the artistic director of FZD circles around mental health advocacy in the arts industry and how we as artists can flip this narrative. Finleigh wants her work to influence others and how they view dance and performative art as a whole. With her creations, she strives to leave the audience inspired to change the world. 

Messy Mind 1. Description 

Messy Mind 1. Is a comment on the battle of eating disorders in today's society. With the standards we have in the world, more than 28.8 million Americans have been diagnosed with an eating disorder sometime in their life. This short dance film is a way to shed light and express that the stigma must be broken in order to make a change. Messy Mind 1, the first section of a two part dance film created by Finleigh Zack Dance is the struggle between the mind and body and how they can come together as one. 

Finleigh Zack Dance Website HERE

Artistic Statement

When I was younger, I had a vision of myself performing on a stage in

front of a big audience. Beautiful music was playing and while taking in

the sound of the chords, I was moving so simplistically and from my

soul. That image in my head has stuck with me throughout the years and

shown me that stage presence and vulnerability are two huge components

to my work. Artistically, I hope to show raw human emotion, show the

most simple but complex interactions between people, and express

vulnerability in my performance choices. I enjoy telling wild stories and

individual deeply rooted stories through my dancing and choreography, I

also enjoy the process of choosing music and how it influences the piece.

I like taking risks with sound, as long as it speaks to me, and I love to

compose my own scores as well. Dance, choreography, music and film

for dance are my greatest passions and loves, and I learn more about

them every day inspired from those around me.

The Performativity of Disgust Description

We were inspired by a variety of texts about shame/disgust and the ways in which society has created stigma surrounding “dirty bodies”. We were interested in finding an alternate way to imagine beauty. We took this concept and first decided on our music. We selected three different pieces and gave each one a theme/concept. The first was disgust and stickiness, the second explored shame and feeling this as a collective rather than an individual, and the third concept was about coming into your own skin and recognising that we have control/agency over our own bodies.