Art & Event Archive: Pop-rock Songwriter Shoots Music Video at Est8
Video for James McCarthy's new single, "Dancing With A Shadow" to debut in early 2024
On Tuesday, the grand ballroom here at Estate of Mind was the set for Boston-based pop-rock musician James McCarthy’s newest music video. When asked about the song he wrote for the video, called “Dancing With A Shadow”, James said, “The song describes a fading relationship where one person is fully there while the other drifts away.”
James worked together with director Stephanie Houten to brainstorm the initial ideas for the video. As a longtime “one-woman band” vérité style shooter and producer, Stephanie Houten has a strong technical background and ability to manage high-level productions. Her leadership, creative direction, and collaboration skills have become hallmarks of her productions that bring her innovative visual concepts to life.
Stephanie works with clients to design videos that are authentic and engaging, and tailored to meet the needs of a given campaign, event, or project. Stephanie Houten is currently based in Greater Boston. She graduated with a BFA in Film & Video and Interrelated Media from Massachusetts College of Art & Design in 2018, and received an AA in Liberal Arts from Bunker Hill Community College in 2016. Stephanie is a 2021 Mass Cultural Council Fellow in Sculpture/Installation/New Genres.
“We thought of having a dance between two people and it really took off from there. Stephanie brought in the amazing choreographer, Dara Nicole Capley, who created and brought to life the movement and emotion between the two dancers in the story…The imagery of a regal ballroom with old artwork and long drapes, tungsten-lit chandeliers, dancers wearing old Hollywood-style gown and tux moving across the room. It all came together beautifully to represent the core message of the song.”
– James McCarthy, Songwriter
Stephanie chose Dara Nicole Capley for the project, who is a dancer, choreographer and teacher based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Dara is originally from Florida, where she received early training with Gloria Gaither before moving on to train under Peter Stark and Ivonne Lemus at Next Generation Ballet at the Patel Conservatory.
After her training Dara found freelance work for a year with Brandon Ballet and The Sarasota Opera, and then danced for Nashville Ballet’s second company for two years before joining Festival Ballet Providence, under the direction of Mihailo Djuric. In her time with Festival Ballet Providence Dara has performed works by Yury Yanowsky, Mary Ellen Beaudreau, Christopher Huggins, George Balanchine, José Limón, and many others. Dara has also originated soloist roles for both Viktor Plotnikov and Ty Parmenter. Dara choreographed her first piece ‘Vivisection’ for the Rhode Island Women’s Choreography Project in the spring of 2019 and received multiple choreographic commissions as a result. One of which, was a commission for Festival Ballet Providence’s 2020 spring season, this work has yet to premiere due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the summer of 2020, Dara was chosen as one of Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s emerging choreographers, a work she created virtually from Rhode Island while in quarantine. In the spring of 2021, Festival Ballet Providence’s School commissioned a piece from Dara to be used to compete in the ensemble category in the Boston regionals of Youth America Grand Prix. The piece, entitled ‘The Yawn’ placed in the top twelve ensembles, and was invited to compete at YAGP finals. Currently, Dara works as a freelance dancer and choreographer for projects in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida, and many more.
We love hosting artists of all kinds, and this shoot brought together musicians, choreographers, dancers, and videographers to create art in our beautiful space. James said, “The ballroom at Estate of Mind set the scene and transported us to this world. Making us believe the two people dancing together under the chandeliers and moonlight could be for the last time.”
The song “Dancing With A Shadow” can be found on YouTube and Spotify. The music video shot at Estate of Mind is scheduled to be released in early 2024.
Be sure to check out James McCarthy on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, and his website.
Director Stephanie Houten can be found on Instagram and her website.
Follow choreographer Dara Nicole Capley on Instagram and Facebook.
Estate of Mind is a pay-what-you-can events space in a Victorian manor turned arts collective. If you’d like to host an event here, don’t hesitate to read about our pay-what-you-can venue, check out photos of our space, and schedule a site visit or phone call to see if it will work for you. Let’s make art together!