"Rave"
 

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Dance on Camera 2009
Dance on Camera 2008
Dance on Camera 2007
Dance on Camera 2006


AFTERNOON OF THE CHIMERAS

 


BREAK

 

 

RAPT

 


LA VIE EST BELLE

 




BONE

 

FLYING LESSON

 

 


SERGE LIFAR

 

 


FANTASTIC FLOWER SHOP


 

ONE FLAT THING, REPRODUCED

 

 


OPIUM

 


CARMEN & GEOFFREY

 

 


NEPO

 

Become a Touring partner


THE MYSTERIES OF NATURE

 

 


PHOENIX DANCE

 

 


THE COST OF LIVING

 

 


VALSE WALS

 


BABEL

 

 


LUCINDA CHILDS

 

 

WILL TIME TELL?
See clip

 


CAMBODIAN STORIES

 

 


SEASONS OF MIGRATION
See clip

 

 


CAUGHT IN PAINT

 

 


MINOTAUR-EX

 

 


TERPSICHORE"S CAPTIVES I

 

 

 


MOVEMENT (R)EVOLUTION AFRICA

 

Become a Touring partner

 


WATER FLOWING TOGETHER

 

 

DARK SEQUINS

 

 


WAKE UP CALL

 

 


GEORGIANS IN MARYINSKI

 

 

ALBERTO & CARMEN

 

 


FALLING

 

 


INVITATION TO THE DANCE:
BODY & TABOO

 

 


DIDO AND AENEAS

 

 


INVITATION TO THE DANCE

 

Shorts from recent Dance on Camera Festivals

Return to Dance on Camera Festival 2010 titles and schedule

AFTERNOON OF THE CHIMERAS
Daniel Conrad, Canada, 2006, 15m
Filmed in collaboration with choreographer Aszure Barton, this dance for camera merges humanity, movement, and the environment with admirable simplicity. www.rhodopsin.ca

APROP Nominated for the Jury Prize
Aitor Echeverria, Spain, 2007; 6m, 35mm
Sleep interrupted by the brush of a familiar touch. The sigh of that voice
inviting you to play. The most everyday gestures become, at close range,
an extraordinary dance. Read more

ASTRAGALUS
Toni Vidaechea, Spain, 2004; 9m
In this winner of VideoDansa competition 2004, a lean, exhausted dancer/choreographer OlgaSasplugas struggles beneath a pool of light. Is she trapped or attempting to escape? Or caught in an endless loop between the two? www.nu2s.org

BAHUDHA .....See Clip
Ranan, India, 2006, 12m
Bahudha is originally a part of a series of Kathak duets interacting with other art forms) that was first conceived, choreographed and performed by Debashree Bhattacharya and Vikram lyengar in January 2002. When performed on stage, the two dancers perform before projected images of themselves.


BABEL
Peter Sparling, USA, 2005, 7:22m
A former member of Martha Graham Dance Company returns in a solo that would only be possible on screen. Mirroring the voices in Arvo Part’s score, he reveals four physical personalities. He transcends boundaries of gender and character while charting a man’s struggle to embody his own metamorphosis.

BREAK **2007 JURY WINNER
Shona McCullagh, New Zealand, 2006, 14m
A moving tribute to a family’s dynamic from the perspective of a young boy that plays inventively with rhythm and narrative. From the director of wildly popular dance short FLY and the choreographer for KING KONG and the THE LION, WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE.

BITTERSWEET
David Rousseve, U.S., 2005; 15m
Dancer/choreographer/director David Rousseve explores the relationships of three women of color to their husbands, lovers, and to one another in this alternately lyrical and violent look at race and gender politics. From the maker of the award winning PULL YOUR HEAD TO THE MOON.

CARBON MINOXIDE
Kaori Ito (France) 2004, 6.48m
A girl travels through the city adopting the movements of the odd characters she encounters.  Set to the music of singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. 

CZARNOBILY (Black and White)
Michal Tywoniuk, ( Poland) 2002, 7m
Dancer Jacek Owczarek. First prize winner in 3rd Kino Tanca competition for Polish dance filmmakers. www.kinotanca.pl/

CAR MEN Nominated for the Jury Prize
Boris Paval Conem and Jiri Kylian, The Netherlands, 2006; 28m
Sabina Kupferberg, Gioconda Barburo, Donald Krugel, Karel Hrusko make a
playful takeoff of the famous opera into a metaphor for time, speed,
stillness, movement, youth and age, while making a salute to the slapstick
silent film era. Czech born choreographer Jirí Kylián and director Boris
Paval Conen made this black-and-white film in a coalmine in the Czech
Republic. Dutch composer Han Otten arranged Bizet’s music and added extra
music specially composed for the film. The key prop in the film is a
‘scrap car’ reminiscent of the futurist Czech Tatra of the 1930s.

FALLING
Ayelen Liberona & Naya Guzman, USA, 2006, 4:28m
From sky to sea, from cocoon to human, this short skillfully makes us wonder about transformation through the elements of nature.THE HUNT
Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer (Canada) 2005, 4.43m
The intensity of an internal struggle manifests itself externally, as revealed through an intimate, fragmented view of dancer, Peter Trosztmer, as choreographed by Sharon Moore. www.mouvementperpetuel.net

FANTASTIC FLOWER SHOP
Pawel Partyka, Denmark/Poland, 2001; 15m
Inspired by the story, puppets and design of Frances Osterflet, with
animation by Krzysztof Brzozowski and Adam Wyrwas, this award winningshort should inspire fashion designers as well as story tellers. Set in a
flower shop at closing time, wires spin out from their spools to become
small characters who pluck petals to adorn themselves and dance the night
away, primarily to a Latin beat.

FLYING LESSON - Winner of the 2008 Jury Prize
Phil Harder, Rosanne Chamecki, Andrea Lerner, USA, 2007; 4'37m
A sweet sail one foot above Brooklyn, accomplished by Rosanne Chamecki and Andrea Lerner who are old friends from their native Brazil.

FOLIES D'ESPAGNE Nominated for the Jury Prize
Philip Buiser, USA, 2007; 7m
A mysterious woman appears at court where manner and reputation are essential for survival. She breaks all the rules publicly and is ultimately put back in her place as a subject of the court. This work contrasts the formality of the Baroque aesthetic with contemporary issues of sexuality andclass. Created in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Austin McCormick, winner of DFA's Young Choreographers Initiative.

FRAGMENTATION
Suzon Fuks, Australia, 2007; 5.8m
Two guys, James Cunningham, Rob Tannion, absorbed in their morning paper
and their personal space, manage to find a disjointed connection with one
another.

MINOTAUR-EX
Bruno Aveillan, France, 2001, 9m
Inspired by the Greek myth of the Minotaur, this cine-dream brings us into the struggle of a three-faced monster attempting a metamorphosis of his being. Choreographer Philippe Combes worked with a score by Herve Taminiaux. Introduced by dancer Natalia Aveillan cie-cavecanem.com/

HORIZON OF EXILE
Isabel Rocamora, United Kingdom/Spain, 2007; 22m
A journey of two women across timeless desert landscapes is punctuated by
voice testimonies of Iraqi exiles. Set to a soundtrack by Jivan Gasparyan with the hypnotic voice of Surma Hamid, an Iraqi exile now living in London, the bodies betray a serene violence, travelling as though released from
consciousness or gravity, falling and recuperating, haunted by anirrepressible past.

INEARTHIA
Simon Halbedo, Nazario Branca, Maren Sandmann, Switzerland, 2006; 2:15m
A creative attempt to spin the Earth.

LA VIE EST BELLE
Tristan Duhamel, France, 2004; 3.13m
A character of street-art painted by Jérôme Mesnager is dancing and running on the walls of Paris, animated by Tristan Duhamel.

LIFEFORCE #3
Lene Boel, Denmark, 2007; 10.5m
A hooded man discovers an environment of tunnels and machinery. An
invisible force gradually takes control of his body pulling him through
industrial spaces deep into a cave. Funded in part by The Danish Arts Council.

MOTION CONTROL
Liz Aggiss/Billy Cowie, UK, 2002; 8m
A brilliant spoof by a heralded team from Brighton. "Motion Control is a stunner!"- Toronto Globe and Mail

NASCENT
Gina Czarnecki, UK/Australia, 2005; 10m
A graphic feat, an elegant, mysterious  puzzle that reveals itself  fully only in the last moments. Traces of movement, choreographed by Garry Stewart of the Australian Dance Theatre, appear as blips in transmission or digital “vibrations.” www.forma.org.uk/archprod/nascent.html

PAVILLON NOIR
Pierre Coulibeuf, France, 2006; 24m
Pierre Coulibeuf adapts contemporary artistic universes. His films invent
a marginal language, are critical of established forms and question the
ways of presentation. Pavillion Noir highlights the virtual relations
between the choreography of Angelin Prejlocaj, the architecture, the urban space and the landscape.

POD
Shelly Love (UK) 2005, 9m
Four people investigate an odd black substance that drips from a hole in the wall. Other shortsfrom her collection can be viewed at: www.drawpictures.co.uk

RAPT
Sara Joel and Jody Oberfelder, USA, 2006, 6m
Cinematography: Lesley Avery Gould. A very pregnant woman rolls into the water and into the world of her unborn child.

REINES D'UN JOUR
Pascal Magnin, Switzerland, 1996; 28m
Six tumbling bodies on mountain slopes of the Alps, caught between Heaven
and Earth, among the cows and the villagers. This strikingly visual and
sensual film triggered a wave of understanding among dancers when it was shown in Dance on Camera Festival 1997. Marie-Louise Nespolo, Christine Kung choreographed the work and performed with Veronique Ferrero, Roberto Molo, Mikel Aristegui, Antonio Bull.

SCRAP LIFE
Su-En, Sweden, 2006; 8.30m
An homage to the art of recycling set at a scrap yard.

SHAKE OFF
Hans Beenhakker, The Netherlands, 2007; 9m, 35mm
Prince Credell solos in this HD recorded dance film in one continous shot.
The camera follows an exceptional dancer as he moves magically through different times and spaces. The athleticism and bold surprises lure the viewer into a dynamic world which teeters between the impossible and the real. The dancer can’t or won’t stop dancing till he finds his goal. Best Artist Performance Award at Golden Lion International Film Festival, Swaziland South Africa. Now playing twice a day before 'Tussenstand' by Mijke de Jong in theatres in The Netherlands.

TEATIME
Lisa May Thomas,UK, 2006, 7m
TEATIME explores the ritual and its particpants in this dance short sponsored by the Arts Council England and Dance Bristol. Performed by Dan Canham, Tiago Bambogi, Laura Dannequin with sound design by Jonny Crew.

THE COST OF LIVING - 2005 Jury Winner
Lloyd Newson , England, 2004, 34m
Choreographer/Director Lloyd Newson of London's famed DV8 takes us to a faded seaside town where street performers David and Eddie struggle to find work and romance. A film that hurls provocations and scalding humor at notions of how the fit and unfit are supposed to act.

THE MYSTERIES OF NATURE - 2009 Jury Winner
Dahci Ma, 2008, South Korea;10m
"Torn into bits and gone with the wind."

VARO- Nominated for a Jury Prize
Gabor Kasza, Hungary, 2005; 8m
A waiting room in a train station is momentarily transformed into a frenetic free-for-all for a motley cast of characters before order is restored. This is freelance photographer Kasza’s first film.
www.offdance.net


WILL TIME TELL?
Sue Healey, Australia, 2006, 12:30m
Funded by Asia Link, OZCO, this short plays with rhythms and counterrhythms in this meditative, playful piece shot in Japan that gives one a sense of the outsider’s experience.

Recent Documentaries

ALBERTO & CARMEN
Ani Collier/Katia Karadjova, USA/Bulgaria, 2006, 30min.
Cuban born choreographer, Alberto Alonso, who has been living in the US since 1993, created CARMEN in 1967 for prima Ballerina Maya Plisetskaya of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. In this documentary on the 30th anniversary of the ballet, Alberto Alonso remininisces about the making of the ballet. Rodion Shchedrin, the composer and husband of Plisetskaya, talks about his take on Bizet's famous opera and we see performances of the same ballet as performed as Alessandra Ferri, Alicia Alonso, and others.

BONE
Mila Aung-Thwin, Canada, 2005, 48m
A collaboration of two extremely different cultures created by the Beijing Modern Dance Company and Snell Thouin Project of Canada. This unusual documentary reveals the raw excitement of discovery by young Chinese artists as they absorb the choreographic ways of the West in the first ever China-Canada co-production.

CARMEN AND GEOFFREY
Linda Atkinson and Nick Doob, 2004, 80m
Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder as artists and as a couple are virtually a New York institution. Their separate careers are staggeringly prolific and their talents extraordinary. This heartwarming documentary on these two larger-than-life personalities is full of wonderful archival footage and it traces their careers, hers as a Horton trained dancer coming to New York from "the wrong coast," his as a Trinidad- born choreographer who set New York on fire as set and costume designer, painter and man about town. Among the dancers who appear on camera are Judith Jamison, Gus Solomons, Jr., Dudley Williams, Ulysses Dove and the great Alvin Ailey.
Opening at the Quad Theatre, NYC, March 13, 2009

NEPO
Dany and Roland Coste, U.S., 2003; 29m
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Russian artist “Nepo’s” death, his son, Michael Smith and his co-directors, bring together a group of his friends, including ballerinas Yvette Chauvire, Violette Verdi, as well as choreographer and dancers Janine Charrat and Pierre Lacotte, for a celebratory dinner and some delightful recollections of the costume and set designer on whom Chauvire relied professionally for more than fifteen years.


FROM MAMBO TO HIP HOP
Henry Chalfant, U.S., 2005, 56m
There’s a postage stamp of an urban sidewalk known by people of a certain age for having burned to the ground. A more recent generation know it as the place where, out of the ashes hip hop and break dancing were born. An older generation remembers when this turf, The South Bronx, produced salsa. A testament to the neighborhood’s power to revitalize itself through music and dance and to take the world’s pop culture by storm.

MERCE CUNNINGHAM: A LIFETIME IN DANCE
Charles Atlas, US/France, 2000; 90m
This full-length portrait of one of the most beloved and significant figures in contemporary arts, was shown on PBS’s American Masters in a 60 minute version.  Here is an opportunity to enjoy the expanded profile of the choreographer who pioneered new concepts of movement, computer technology and dance, and created pieces that have inspired peers, fascinated critics and perplexed the public for over fifty years. www.merce.org

PHOENIX DANCE - shortlisted for a 2007 Oscar
Karina Epperlein, U.S., 2005; 23m
Homer Avila, an extraordinary dancer who lost a leg to cancer, is the subject of this moving documentary that features the creation of a duet by San Francisco based choreographer Alonzo King. Avila, who died last year, danced with Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris and Momix.

Jean-Pierre Perreault: Giant Steps - 2006 Jury Winner
Paule Baillargeon, Canada, 2005; 52m
A superb film made by an actress turned filmmaker, about a Quebecois choreographer who originally stated that he didn’t like to dance (“I’m a painter,” he insisted), yet left an artistic legacy that is uniquely his. Perreault’s vision of a group of faceless average “Joe’s,” boot-clad and black-hatted, moving as a block of humanity through inhospitable space, made a profound impression on audiences. The documentary explores the choreographer’s unhappy childhood, his literary and artistic influences, his love of travel, and his ultimate dream to make choreography for 200 dancers, rather like Werner Herzog’s film character Fitzcaraldo, who dragged his ship over a mountain. Distributor: www.nfb.ca


CAUGHT IN PAINT
Rita Blitt, USA, 2003, 6m
A film that has been shown at over 60 film festivals nationally and has won seven awards, CAUGHT IN PAINT is a film that brings together the painter Rita Blitt, choreographer David Parsons and his Parsons Dance Company, and photographer Lois Greenfield, in a union of paint, dance and photography.

GEORGIANS IN MARYINSKI
Zurab Inashvili, Georgia, 2003, 47m
Manana Kvachadze produced this documentary rich with information, interviews and archival footage. A treat for ballet lovers with background on George Balanchine, Vakhtang Chabukiani, and others. Produced with the help of the Historical Cultural Foundation.

INVITATION TO THE DANCE: BODY AND TABOO
Gerhard Schick, Germany, 2006, 89m
Despite her muscular dystrophy, German dancer Gerda Koenig has toured the world uniting abled and disabled dancers in performances. She delights in the process of confronting taboos while inviting dancers to explore the parts of their body that have given them the most grief. This documentary shot in Kenya is a heartwarming example of how dance can heal and how dancers can effect social change.

LUCINDA CHILDS *....See clip
Patrick Bensard, France, 2006, 56m
Lucinda Childs' work dates back to the sixties, the period in which New York’s “downtown” circle of artists pushed each other to explore and experiment beyond convention. Now, after decades based in Paris, Lucinda lives in Martha’s Vineyard where she takes time to reflect between choreographic assignments around the world. The documentary includes performances and interviews with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Philip Glass, Anna Kisselgoff, Yvonne Rainer, Susan Sontag, and Robert Wilson. To be broadcast by ARTE in Europe in March, 2007. Photo Images and film excerpts by Patrick Bensard, Renato Berta, Peter Hujar, Robert Lockyer, Hans Namuth, Sol LeWitt, Babette Mangolte, Michael O'Neill, & Thomas Victor. Coproducers: Helena Van Dantzig, LIEURAC PRODUCTIONS www.lieurac.com

THE MAKING OF CAMBODIAN STORIES
Eiko and Koma, USA, 2006, 23m
Focusing on the mentorship of Eiko and Koma with the young artists who study and work at the Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, CAMBODIAN STORIES evokes questions of tradition, innovation, and the role of the artist in fostering social change and discoveries of new ways to leap from the canvas to the stage. Eiko & Koma’s collaboration hones in on these young painters’ collective energy and explores the challenges they face pursuing artistic careers in a country with little opportunity. Also seen in the video are two other collaborating artists representing different generations of Cambodia: Cambodian-American composer Sam-Ang Sam, the first Asian recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, and the charismatic co-founder and director if the Reyum Art Institute Daravuth Ly.

MOVEMENT (R)EVOLUTION AFRICA (A story of an art form In four acts) **
Joan Frosch & Alla Kovgan, USA, 65m
In an astonishing exposition of choreographic formentation, eight African choreographers tell stories of an emergent art form and their diverse and deeply contemporary expressions of self. Stunning choreography and riveting critiques challenge stale stereotypes of “traditional Africa” to unveil soul-shaking responses to the beauty and tragedy of 21st century Africa. Introduced by the directors

Artists: Company Kongo Ba Téria (Burkina Faso), Company Rary
(Madagascar), Sello Pesa (South Africa), Company TchéTché (Côte d'Ivoire),
Company Raiz di Polon (Cape Verde), Company Jant Bi (Senegal) and Kota
Yamazaki (Japan), Nora Chipaumire (Zimbabwe), Jawole Willa Jo Zollar (USA),
Faustin Linyekula (Democratic Republic of Congo)

SEASONS OF MIGRATION
John Bishop, USA, 2006, 56.08m
An exploration of the transformation of identity among Cambodian immigrants in Long Beach, California and their exquisite, highly stylized classical dance that is rooted in and reflective upon their current life. Using dancers from the Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh, award-winning choreographer, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro incorporates original and traditional music, lyrics, and choreography that creates a true miracle.www.khmerartsacademy.org. Dvds available at www.media-generation.com/

TERPSICHORE’s CAPTIVES I & II
Efim Reznkov, Russia, (I) 1995, 52m, (II) 2006, 52m
Recalling the series 7up, TERPSICHORE’S CAPTIVES I and II presents a fascinating opportunity to examine the balance of ego and art. Created by Efim Reznikov, the director of photography for the Russian film LITTLE VERA, and written by Leonid Gurevich, the first documentary focuses on the tempestuous relationship between the artistic director of Perm Ballet School, Ludmila Pavolvna Sakharova and a teenage ballet student Natasha Balakhnecheva. The Russians have a saying “Hatred is only a step away from love.” It is this complicated love-hate relationship to ballet that is explored in this provocative documentary.

Ten years later, Natasha Balakhnecheva decided to try to break free of ballet and experience modern dance. With the aid of DFA and Alla Kovgan, Efim Reznikov created a folllow-up to TERPSICHORE’S CAPTIVES in which Natasha attempts to absorb the teachings of American modern dance rebel Bill T. Jones. In the first film, Ludmila Pavolvna Sakharova demands that Natasha loose her ego and in the second one, Bill T. Jones insists that she find it, claim it, and use it to express herself through dance.

SERGE LIFAR MUSAGETE
Dominique Delouche, France, 2005, 88m
Produced by Les Films du Prieuré, this documentary is a tribute to the lasting legacy of the French-Russian dancer/choreographer Serge Lifar (1905-1988) who carried on the Diaghilev tradition of the Ballets Russes, developed a strong presence for male dancers, and who employed renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, Leonnide Massine, and Frederick Ashton. In his autobiography, Lifar coyly stated that "dance is my mistress." Filmmaker Dominique Delouche known for singling out the essential gifts of ballet legends, offers footage of Serge Lifar, Yvette Chauviré, Nina Vyroubova, Jean Babilée, Isabelle Guerin, Monique Loudieres, Manuel Legris, Janine Charrat, Marcia Haydée, and the dancers of Paris National Opera.

WATER FLOWING TOGETHER - 2008 Jury Winner
Gwendolen Cates, USA, 2007; 77m
This splendid documentary is a compelling cinematic portrait of former NYCB Principal Dancer Jock Soto. Exploring both his Navajo Indian and Puerto Rican roots, as well as his extraordinary career as one of the ballet world's most gifted and celebrated dancers, this is a candid portrayal of an artist and a man.


Screen adaptations

BLUSH
Wim Vanderkeybus, Belgium, 2005; 52m
Choreographed and directed by the audacious Vanderkeybus, this is a dazzling voyage based on a performance of the eponymous Ultima Vez to a rock score by David Eugene Edwards, Blush explores the unconscious in its savage ritualized state and was performed last year as a stage performance in Montclair, New Jersey. See article at http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_11.03.05/film/onscreen.html
For more information, www.cccp.be


ONE FLAT THING, REPRODUCED
Thierry de Mey, France, 2006, 26m
William Forsythe carved a formidable career in Europe with infrequent returns to NYC. His collaboration with Thierry de Mey, acclaimed for his screen adaptations of works by Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker, brings us insights into his ingenious choreography. Thierry de Mey follows a formal strategy to capture “the play of triggers, moments of waiting, visual and sonic cues, and to follow the conducting voices of Forsythe’s choreographic melodic montage and contrasting mounting rhythms that penetrates inside the playing space."

OPIUM
Miles Lowry and David Ferguson, Canada, 2006, 24m
Suddenly Dance Theatre’s narrative is inspired by a three month episode in the life of the French artist Jean Cocteau (1889-1963). Originally written as a visual poem for the stage by Canadian author Miles Lowry, OPIUM imagines Cocteau’s harrowing stay at a clinic near Paris in 1929, where he hoped for a cure for his addiction to opium. Grania Litwin of the Times-Colonist wrote that OPIUM is “a tight, clever, troubling, moody and intense dance drama that starts out looking like a Masterpiece Theatre, but soon moves into new territory”. Produced in association with Bravo! Canada, a division of CHUM Limited; in collaboration with ARTV.

Retrospectives

COLOR OF POMEGRANATES
Sergei Paradjanov, Russia, 1969, 88m
Paradjanov's poetic masterpiece is a classic example of choreographic cinema. The wealth of imagination, the tableau presentation, and the complexity of thought and rhythm is awe-inspiring. The story depicts the life and spiritual odyssey of the medieval Armenian poet and troubadour Sayat Nova, and his rise from carpet weaver to archbishop and martyr. For more reviews, see www.amazon.com/

DANCING FIGURE (Táncalak) ....See Quicktime Clip
Ferenc Grunwalsky, Hungary, 2003, 70m
An extraordinary symbiosis of the modern dance of Andrea Ladányi, the music of György Kurtág, and the vision of director Ferenc Grunwalsky, who has been a long time collaborator with Miklós Jancsó, one of the most famous Hungarian directors. DANCING FIGURE is a phantasmagoric narrative with dark humor and sarcasm, surreal sets and design, combined with romantic sadness and the eternal quest for perfection and redemption of the soul.

American Cinedance Pioneers -
MOVING BODIES AFTER MAYA DEREN

In the 1960s a new form of dance film emerged in the US—one that made free use of editing, camera movement, and the manipulation of time. With a readiness to fracture images of bodies and their movement through space, these films violated all of the previous rules of filming dance. They expanded the earlier innovations of Maya Deren and outlined a whole new genre where cinema shaped dance--not the contrary. In these works the context could be changed, dancers moved off the stage, out into the larger world. Pooh Kaye dances on air and with a shadow; where Kenneth Anger projects his performer into a garden of fountains; where Bruce Conner’s dancer is seen in forward and reverse; where Ed Emshwiller’s three dancers “swim through” each other; where Amy Greenfield uses hundreds of edits and overlapping images to enter the mind of a dancer; where Hilary Harris transforms a single movement phrase into nine configurations—all as ways to enlarge the realm of movement and imagination.


Kenneth Anger: EAUX D'ARTIFICE (1953) 13m
Bruce Conner: BREAKAWAY (1966) 5m
Maya Deren: MEDITATION ON VIOLENCE (1948) 13m*
Ed Emshwiller: THANATOPSIS (1962) 5 min*, Film With Three Dancers (1970) 20m
Amy Greenfield: TRANSPORT(1971) 6 minutes*, DARK SEQUINS (2005) 12m
Walter Gutman: MAN WALKING DOWN THE SIDE OF A BUILDING (1981) 8m
Hilary Harris: NINE VARIATIONS ON A DANCE THEME (1967) 13m*
Pooh Kaye: WILD GIRL; WAKE UP CALL (1988) 7m
Norman McLaren: PAS DE DEUX (1968) 14m
James Davis: DEATH AND TRANSFIGURATION
* Archivally preserved by Anthology Film Archive