Review in MINNPOST by Sheila Regan:

“Mark Wojahn offers a portrait of dancer, choreographer and storyteller Patrick Scully in “The Dance is Not Over,” and also takes a look at Scully’s work in a political context. The film follows Scully’s career from his early days discovering modern dance and then contact improv, through his trajectory as a performer, creator and later curator and presenter of experimental work.

Wojahn takes a dual narrative approach in the film, charting Scully’s life through interviews and archival footage and also following Scully during a tour of Scully’s performance of “Leaves Of Grass – Illuminated” to rural areas in the region before a culminating performance at the Guthrie Theater in 2019. Along the way, you get a sense of Scully’s fearlessness and his ability to grapple with the issues of the day from a place of freedom and vulnerability.

In the film, Scully talks about being part of a generation of young gay men who were able to come out and live openly as their true selves. He also shares his personal journey being HIV positive and the way he used his art practice to address the political issues surrounding the AIDS crisis. In the ‘90s, he found himself in the midst of a national controversy when exaggerated reports from a performance at Patrick’s Cabaret co-presented by the Walker Art Center fed into the culture wars. The incident bears resonance to our current moment, as the National Endowment for the Arts and other national cultural institutions get targeted for political reasons.

In more recent times, the film shows the managing director of a rural art center apologizing to patrons after Scully’s performance of “Leaves of Grass.” She tells them she misunderstood the nature of the performance. Afterwards, the film shows Scully speaking with the person. I found it quite a remarkable conversation to catch on tape, especially in the way that Scully keeps his cool and engages in conversation. Afterward in an interview, Scully shares more positive experiences, when a community in Grand Marais held its first Pride Parade in connection with his performance.

One of my favorite parts of the film is watching the videos of Scully dancing. Tuesday, April 8 at 7:05 p.m. and Thursday, April 10 at 1:15 p.m. at The Main 2 ($19).”