Your New Favorite Dance Company Only Exists on the Internet
What if you never needed to buy a ticket to watch your favorite dance company perform? What if every single one of their performances were at your fingertips, for you to enjoy anytime, anywhere?
For Online Dance Company powered by Millennium bcp, that’s the whole idea. Founded just a year and a half ago, the Portugal-based group only exists online—no live performances, ever. But that doesn’t mean their dancing is subpar: In fact, they once won our Video of the Month Contest.
With already 18 videos—they make approximately one per month—and millions of views, Online Dance Company’s rapid growth speaks to just how captivating their work is. Directed by the company’s founder and artistic director, Cifrão, each one features a rotating group of dancers and styles in an aim to expose the world to the best of Portuguese dance—from hip hop to ballet to ballroom.
Cifrão, a hip-hop dancer who has acted and choreographed for television, chooses the performers and then lets them choreograph the videos themselves. He provides the vision for the setting and concept: “I think about the future of dance and it’s not on a regular stage,” he says. “It could be everywhere: a rooftop, the subway, the streets.”
And even though Online Dance Company doesn’t perform live, promoting live dance is part of Cifrão’s mission. “We want to make people fall in love with dance and then go see it,” he says. “We can reach the world, and it’s all free.”
Cifrão filled us in on his three favorite videos so far:
“There’s No Age for Dancing”:
Cifrão loved showcasing both a young boy and an older man (who he says is the best tap dancer in Portugal) in this video.
“We are (a)live!”:
Shot with over 40 dancers in one single take, this video stands out to Cifrão because of how difficult it was to shoot and how different it ended up looking from his previous projects.
“Heart of Stone”:
Featuring stone-like dancers who gradually become more human, the setting for this video—a stage surrounded by water—and the sentiment make it a favorite for Cifrão.
