be.side.man

Director & Editor: Chang Liu (Leo)  

Dialogue Designer: Chang Liu (Leo) & Nicholas Sebastian Daulton   

Sound & Light Designer: Natalie Oliver & Chang Liu (Leo)  

Interview: Natalie Oliver, Chang Liu (Leo) & Ellen Bromberg  

Instructor: Ellen Bromberg   

Music: An accordionist by The Piano in a Fatory, Floating Macchiato by Yanmeng Wang, Misiaczek by Aline, Drum Kit Improvisation by Wayne Coons    

CAST LIST:  

Melanie Coons, Juvenile & Adult Wayne Coons - Wayne Coons  

Old Mr. Coons & Juvenile Randy Coons - Santa Claus #1 & #2  

The Real Dancer, Matt Coons, Natalie Coons - Chang Liu (Leo)   

Shooting Location: Salt Lake City, US 

Produced in 2018 

Premiered at Alice Sheets Marriott Center for Dance, Salt Lake City, US  

Concept: 

be.side.man is an intimate documentary that traces the story of Wayne Coons, a cherished percussionist who has accompanied generations of dancers at the University of Utah’s School of Dance. As one of the institution’s longest-serving collaborators and the head of musician, Wayne’s music has not only shaped countless classes, but also quietly held the rhythm of a shared artistic life—one spent just outside the spotlight, yet always in step with it.  

Shot on location in Salt Lake City where Wayne Coons grew up in and still lives in and blending documentary realism with conceptual dance sequences, be.side.man weaves together interviews, archival textures, improvised soundscapes, dance class, and choreographed movement to explore what it means to be beside—rather than in front of—the stage. Through Wayne’s reflections on music, teaching, aging, relationship, and family, the film meditates on the dignity and complexity of the "sideman": the artist who exists in relational support of others, whose labor often remains unnoticed, and whose presence is quietly essential.  

In its title alone—be.side.man—the film plays with layers of meaning: the supportive figure always beside the dancer, the sideman in jazz tradition, and the philosophical embrace of marginality as a place of power and pleasure. Rather than focusing solely on center-stage brilliance, this work celebrates the rhythm, resilience, and humanity of those who sustain the dance from its edges