Inspired by the real-life dancing rehabilitation program that became a worldwide viral sensation on YouTube, Prison Dancer tells of the poignant and hilarious stories of six prison dancers whose group dancing turned a maximum security prison into a world stage. Simulated surveillance footage, interviews with inmates, and good old-fashioned investigative journalism blend fact and fiction in this hilarious mockumentary. Behind the prison walls, we meet inmates Ruperto Poblador aka Lola (Jeigh Madjus), who choreographs the first prison dance routines, the prison hustler Hookaps (Norman Alconel), the prison’s resident poet Shakespeare (Nicco Lorenzo) and the prison’s newest inmate Christian (Mikey Bustos), to discover a tale of life, death, dreams, fears, and ultimately, redemption.

Prison Dancer has had many forms: as a web series, a stage musical and more. Here at Reel Asian it will be presented as “performative cinema”, a one-of-a-kind combination of video, live performance and audience participation you will not see anywhere else. Ultimately, Prison Dancer is a great time, carried out by immensely talented people both on-screen and behind the camera, and showcases the amazing talents of its stars, brought together from Broadway, film, recording studios, television and YouTube. Guiding this presentation of Prison Dancer is its creative team: writer/director Romeo Candido, writer Carmen De Jesus, and producer Ana Serrano, who together have created a unique experience that defies definition and changes the way we think about performance and media.