LOVE IS THE MESSAGE
dir. Nicky Siano, 2011
80 mins. United States.

SATURDAY, JUNE 1 - 7:30 PM w/introduction from series programmer Melissa Lyde
ONE NIGHT ONLY!

LOVE IS THE MESSAGE: A NIGHT AT THE GALLERY takes the viewer back to the heyday of dance music for one night at New York’s famed club, The Gallery. Opened in 1972 by Siano and his brother, The Gallery’s profound effect on the dance music scene reverberates today in clubs around the world. Before Studio 54, Paradise Garage, and The Warehouse, there was The Gallery, where Nicky Siano could be found in the DJ booth every Saturday night. Grace Jones and Loleatta Holloway both made their first appearances at The Gallery – even Chicago house pioneer Frankie Knuckles used to blow up balloons for the club, often in the company of future Paradise Garage resident Larry Levan.

This was a time before disco was capital-D Disco, and before the imposing velvet ropes of the high-society discotheques. In Siano’s own words: “the absolute honesty of the film, not hiding the bad stuff, but putting it in your face, is the only kind of film I could relate to. To see these legends on film is a priceless peek at the reality of being a dance music super star. Please take a look and remember, love will always be the message.”

"this is the only film I have ever scene that makes me feel like I WAS THERE�oh i was there�OK. Seriously, this film shot in the seventies at the gallery, contains such rare footage, that the footage alone is worth a peek. The absolute honesty of the film, not hiding the bad stuff, but putting it in your face, is the only kind of film i could relate to. to see these legends on film, especially FRANKIE KNUCKLES, who died just when this movie was released, if a priceless peak at the reality of being a dance music super star. I loved this film watching it over and over until I could say each line before it was spoken, it means so much to me. Please take a look and remember, LOVE WILL ALWAYS BE THE MESSAGE. I THANK YOU NICKY SIANO" - Nicky Siano, IMDB

Part of JACK YA' BODY, programmed in collaboration with Alfreda's Cinema. JACK YA' BODY is an odyssey into the gritty world of underground disco and house-music dance culture through a selection of features, shorts, and found footage spanning NY-Chicago-Detroit in the 80/90s. Opening with Nicky Siano's LOVE IS THE MESSAGE introduced by Melissa Lyde, this program features talks with DJs Joey Llanos (Paradise Garage), Douglas Sherman (The Loft/Joy), and Tabu (Soul Summit). Film critic and 4Columns film editor Melissa Anderson will introduce Derek Jarman’s recently rediscovered WILL YOU DANCE WITH ME?, and we will be joined by award-winning broadcast journalist Mark Reilly to close out the program following the final night of MAESTRO.