Reimagining Dance on Screen: A Practical Guide to Dance-Filmmaking, a new book by Mitchell Rose, offers an accessible and comprehensive resource for artists, students, educators and anyone interested in creating dance for the screen. Drawing on decades of experience as an award-winning filmmaker and educator, Rose developed the book following ten years of teaching dance-film in Sullivant Hall at The Ohio State University Department of Dance.

Designed to make screendance accessible to a wider audience, Reimagining Dance on Screen provides readers with practical tools for creating dance films from concept to completion. The book includes video editing tutorials, downloadable dance footage for hands-on practice and a curated collection of film examples and creative resources. According to Rose, the publication grew out of a desire to “democratize dance-filmmaking” and empower anyone with curiosity and a smartphone to begin making work for the screen. 

Rather than focusing solely on recording choreography, the book approaches screendance as a cinematic art form in its own right. Rose explores visual storytelling, camera movement, shot design and editing techniques that help translate the vitality of dance into film.

The book has already garnered praise from leading figures in dance and film. Meredith Monk, composer and interdisciplinary artist, describes Rose as having “redefined the landscape of dance-film with his distinctive approach,” while filmmaker Matthew Diamond, director of So You Think You Can Dance and the Oscar-nominated Dancemaker, calls the book “an indispensable road map, a how-to and a do-not-miss-it pep talk.” David Dorfman, choreographer, performer and educator, encourages readers to “devour this book,” noting its ability to inspire new creative pathways.

A former choreographer whose company toured internationally for 15 years, Mitchell Rose is a graduate of the American Film Institute. His more than 40 dance films have earned over 100 festival awards, and The New York Times has described him as “a rare and wonderful talent.” Rose taught dance-film at Ohio State and now serves as emeritus faculty in the Department of Dance. 

Reimagining Dance on Screen: A Practical Guide to Dance-Filmmaking is available through Routledge and Amazon. Use code 26EFLY4 for 20% off at Routledge.