Back in July, FKA twigs sent out a series of tweets calling out for dancers to attend a dance workshop with her in Baltimore, Maryland. More than 400 people turned up, with some asked back to perform with twigs in her live show. “Baltimore Dance Project” is the short documentary chronicling that electrifying day.

The free dance workshop took place in Baltimore’s Lithuanian Hall, and was led by twigs and her choreographers and dancers, Ramon Baynes, Dominic Lawrence and Kash Powell. The R&B performer created what she called a ‘safe space’ for dancers to share ideas, express themselves and collaborate before her ‘Radiant Me²’ live show.

The film, produced in partnership with WeTransfer Studios and directed by Nick Walker, documents the five-hour-long series of routines and combos performed at the workshop.

“Over the past couple of years, Baltimore has always seemed to be in the news for really sad and tragic things,” twigs explained. The weekend before the workshop saw 65 people arrested at a Black Lives Matter protest in the city. 

She added: “When I was thinking about doing a dance project, the obvious places would be LA or New York but I thought why not go to a place that obviously has so much soul and so much amazing energy? You’ll be able to connect with them rather than being another artist that is passing through.”

“When you are there and everyone’s laughing, or you walk down the street and someone helps you with something. How you feel a beat pulsing under your feet that makes you want to explore. When you call 400 people into a room and by themselves they start whiling out and going crazy, doing backflips, dancing together. That’s soul. That’s vitality.”

Watch the FKA twigs x WeTransfer Studios documentary Baltimore Dance Project here