Take two budding dancers, 15 locations around New York and many late nights making instructional cards, and you have Casey Brooks’ improvisational short, Casi (almost). The photographer, director and former hip-hop dancer took to her favorite spots in Queens, as well as seminal landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, to explore how simple movements transform in different contexts. 

“This project will eventually include models and pedestrians, as well as dancers,” says Brooks, who cast Rutgers University graduates during some downtime from rehearsals. “It could focus on anything as small as the way someone moves when they walk across a street.” 

Brooks drew upon 60s feminist classic Daisies for inspiration, and soundtracked the frolics with XXYYXX's haunting track "About You." “There were women really drawn to this idea because it’s so familiar in a way. When one of them all of a sudden becomes this creature, it’s a very powerful image,” she says. “We actually had women stop and get on all fours to get their photo taken like that.”

As a longtime fan of Peter Lindbergh, Brooks incorporated a mannish suit into the wardrobe. “The girls brought all their own clothes, and I would just take out looks from suitcases in the back of my car,” she says. “It’s really about not thinking, putting things together and seeing the sort of underlying narrative that emerges – even when you didn't feel one.”