'LIFT'-ing up a generation: Former NDI artistic director Steven Melendez the subject of documentary

David Petersen is a master with patience.

It’s a skill he’s learned over the course of his filmmaking journey.

His latest documentary, “LIFT,” took over 10 years to make.

“LIFT” shines a spotlight on the invisible story of homelessness in America through the eyes of a group of young homeless and home-insecure ballet dancers in New York City.

After performing all over the world, ballet dancer Steven Melendez returns to the Bronx shelter where he grew up to give back to his community, offering a New York Theatre Ballet workshop to children.

His traumatic reaction to the shelter from his childhood sends him on an unexpected journey with three kids to reckon with a past he had escaped from through ballet.

As young dance students, Victor, Yolanssie and Sharia face the same chasm of home insecurity that long separated Melendez from his audience and makes the arts inaccessible to so many kids who share his background.

The children he mentors offer him insight into turning a hidden trauma into dance, and together they make an aristocratic art form into an expression all their own.

The documentary will screen in Albuquerque and Santa Fe theaters on Friday, Sept. 15.

Melendez, who was the artistic director for National Dance Institute of New Mexico in Albuquerque for three years, started in the LIFT program 30 years ago when he was seven.

“I didn’t know what type of career I would have,” he says. “We filmed for close to a decade as David followed my career. It’s sort of this full circle for me. I’m back at the place where I started in New York, and I’m the teacher this time around.”

Melendez says the documentary takes a look at homelessness and how it affects children.

“Through the program, we’re able to inspire and give children confidence,” Melendez says.

Petersen agrees and says the subject matter hits close to home for himself.

“My dad grew up home insecure,” Petersen says. “He had an alcohol problem, and I never thought of it until I had to write my director’s statement. What that tells me is that all of us can have a level of home insecurity. With this film I wanted to touch on it but also show the way this program is helping others.”

After filming, Petersen had 350 hours of material – which had to be cut down to 90 minutes.

Though the process was grueling, he’s proud of the work.

Melendez says the program is a nonprofit and relies on grants.

“There aren’t enough government agencies to help with this,” Melendez says. “You have to be the change that you want to see in the world. Everyone has to do their part.”

Petersen is humbled to see the film out in the world and screen in 21 cities across the country with the help of Paramount Pictures.

Working with Melendez, the pair worked at getting the documentary to have screenings in New Mexico.

“The work I was trying to do at NDI is the same ethos,” Melendez says. “A lot of the NDI students are below the poverty line. It’s NDI’s mission and that’s why I was drawn there and adore my time there.”

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