Danse Macabre

“Anxiety slowly dances one to one’s grave in a Danse Macabre, yet one can change a sinister dance partner with a friend.” – Yomna Mohamed The movie is a metaphorical expression of anxiety struggles. The director wanted to express anxiety through a medieval theme called the ‘Danse Macabre’ or the ‘Dance of Death’. Dark thoughts that haunt anxiety patients are like the skeletons from the ‘Danse Macabre’. Patients engage in a struggle with their symptoms and that struggle is like the dance between the dead and the living in the Danse Macabre. Anxiety leads patients to death like how the Danse Macabre skeletons waltz the living to their graves. Nonetheless, patients can escape their deaths by ‘changing their dance partner’. This movie raises awareness about anxiety and how anxiety patients should not suffer alone. Medication is not always the way out…sometimes all one has to do is find someone to talk to.

Yomna Mohmed (EG)
Yomna Mohmed Ismail is a 22-year-old Egyptian student majoring in 2D animation. After she secured high scores in her SATs she thought about studying something related to art. Everyone around her told her that art should not be ‘studied’ and should be treated as a ‘hobby’ instead. She disagreed with them. She studied graphic design, illustration, and media art in university. Throughout her college years, she maintained an accumulative GPA of 4.0. Eventually, she fell in love with 2D animation and decided that her goal would be to continue her post-graduate studies in 2D animation. She really believes that animation can illustrate concepts that no other form of art can. Her movie Danse Macabre is even an expression of her own struggle with anxiety.