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Alumna produces film on relationships, social networking By Paige Lambert Trends Reporter There are countless moving parts to the production of a film — anything can go wrong in an instant. One alumna filmmaker, however, has gotten past all the trials to de-
Photo Courtesy of Ericka Marsalis-LaManna
velop her feature-length film “Generation Me.” Ericka Marsalis-LaManna is the writer, producer, director and editor of “Generation Me,” a film that focuses on dealing with relationships in a world that is consumed by social networking. The storyline involves an Austin pop singer who gets into relationship trouble because of social networking and subsequently receives bad advice from her two best friends. Marsalis-LaManna said the idea was born while looking for ways to promote her husband’s hip-hop career. The idea to write and direct a film came from an article about a movie overseas. “I was reading an article on CNN about a filmmaker in the UK who made a low-grade film and did well in film festivals,” Marsalis-LaManna said. “I thought, ‘Well, if he can make that bad of a movie and get awards then we definitely can do better.’” Marsalis-LaManna spent about three months writing the script, looking for locations and finding actors around Austin. Shooting the film took 45 days on a budget of $5,000. Her husband, Ray LaManna, did the sound production and wrote and performedsongs for the film. Cast members helped when they were needed, Marsalis-LaManna said, but that was the extent of her film crew. “These two did more with what they had and took care
of things better than a lot of larger film crews might,” said Melanie Rene, who played the role of the lead’s best friend. “They are really good at thinking outside the box and finding a way to do it.” Marsalis-LaManna developed her passion for art as a photography major at Texas State, benefiting especially from a professor, Burt Pritzker, who taught her to “just go for it.” “He always painted this picture of jumping off a cliff, and at the last second you sprout these little wings and work your way back up,” Marsalis-LaManna said. “He really changed my life.” While LaManna and Marsalis-LaManna brought in their unique talents, René used her acting skills to jump into a role. She had to learn the script within two weeks of shooting. LaManna said Rene didn’t miss a beat. “I produced the music and starred in a lot of scenes with Melanie, which was a big help since I’ve never acted before,” LaManna said. “At one point I wasn’t ready for this scene, and Melanie was calm and kept everything together.” “Generation Me” hit the film festival circuit. It was accepted at six festivals and won awards at two of them. A San Antonio film festival even led to a distribution deal. “Talents really collided to create this film. It was like this happened for a reason,” Ray said. “Everything led up to this moment, and here are with a feature film.”
Go 2 Danz hosts Irish dance lessons in San Marcos By Aisling Niestroy Trends Reporter A centuries-old dance form with roots tracing back to pre-Christian Ireland has found its way to San Marcos. The Inishfree School of Irish Dancing, based out of San Antonio, is a non-profit organization led by certified instructors Neill Reagan and Patrick McCarthy, who recently started offering dance classes at Go 2 Danz Studio. Go 2 Danz Studio hosts Reagan and McCarthy’s Irish dance classes every Tuesday night from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Reagan and McCarthy teach classes to people of all age groups, including those with or without prior knowledge of Irish dance. Reagan, a world champion Irish dancer, began dancing at the age of five because his parents wished for their children to carry on their Irish heritage. At age seven, Reagan began touring the
United States with his siblings as the “Reagan Family Dancers.” He received multiple awards and honors for his dancing before settling down in San Antonio to promote the tradition of Irish dancing in Texas. Fellow instructor McCarthy was born in Belfast, Ireland, and started dancing at the age of eight. Throughout his 15-year dance career, McCarthy also won multiple championships as well as the main role in “Lord of the Dance.” McCarthy decided to share his experiences by teaching others after gaining experience around the world. “Neill and I met during a summer camp. We started putting together material and it just clicked,” McCarthy said. “We had very different styles but it was kind of complementary.” Irish dancing is a unique style in which dancers keep their upper bodies stiff while performing fast and intricate footwork to upbeat music played on the bagpipes or the harp. The actual steps in Irish
dance are usually special to each school or dance instructor, although each dance is formed from the same basic elements. The steps are a sequence of foot and leg movements combined with leaps, always starting on the right foot. “People watching ‘Riverdance’ for the first time were very drawn to it and fascinated by the style of dance. But we’ve been doing it since we were six years of age,” McCarthy said. “It’s cultural.” Irish dancing is a very demanding and technical style of dance. Students generally begin taking lessons around age six and retire from performing around age 21. It is a very fast-paced style of dance that requires skill and dedication to compete at a high level. “Irish dancing is something that takes up an awful lot of your time as a child,” McCarthy said. “When other kids were playing video games, we were inside working hard to get where we wanted to be for competitions.”