Dance Lexie Dance

Dance Lexie Dance
Directed by	Tim Loane
Produced by	Pearse Moore
Written by	Dave Duggan
Starring	B. J. Hogg Kimberley McConkey
Music by	Jules Maxwell
Cinematography	Eugene McVeigh
Editing by	Declan Byrne
Distributed by	Raw Nerve Productions
Release date(s)	1996
Running time	14 m
Country	Northern Ireland

Dance Lexie Dance is a short film made in Northern Ireland, and released in 1996.^[1] The two principal characters are a widower, Lexie, and his daughter, Laura, who live in Derry. Laura becomes keen on Irish stepdance and on joining Riverdance when she grows up. Traditional Irish dancing is practiced by Catholic families. Lexie and his daughter are Protestant, but Lexie relents and encourages his daughter. Self-taught, Laura enters a dance contest across the River Foyle in a Catholic district.^[2] The film ends as Laura teaches her father the first steps of the dance.

Ruth Barton writes of the film's structure, "Symbolically, the film illustrates its theme of bridging divides – between father and daughter, Protestant and Catholic traditions, life and death – by the device of the boat Lexie (B. J. Hogg) pilots across the Foyle to and from his job, itself a mixed workplace. Finally, Laura performs in a Féis (dancing competition) in honour of which the boat is decked out in red, white, and blue bunting."^[3]

Dance Lexie Dance was nominated in the Live Action Short Film category at the 70th Academy Awards.^[4]

References

1. ^ Film credits available at "Dance Lexie Dance (1996)". Northern Ireland Screen. http://www.northernirelandscreen.co.uk/catalogue/175/107/dance-lexie-dance-1996.aspx. 
2. ^ "Dave Duggan/ Dramatist and novelist". Londonderry City of Culture 2013. July 8, 2010. http://www.cityofculture2013.com/Our-2013-Bid/Voices/Dave-Duggan--Dramatist-and-novelist.aspx. 
3. ^ Barton, Ruth (2004). Irish National Cinema. Psychology Press. p. 176. ISBN 9780415278942. http://books.google.com/books?id=FG66wOw_FZMC&pg=PA176. 
4. ^ AMPAS

Further reading

• Dance Lexie Dance at the Internet Movie Database