Dance on Camera Ezine
November-December, 2006

Dance in Advertising

Anthony Atanasio who made DUST with Miriam King has been bringing his choreographic sensibility to the advertising world. His latest venture can be seen on stashmedia.tv/

 

DFA's 35th annual Dance on Camera Festival 2007
January 3-14, 2007

Jury Announces The Finalists

Elizabeth Zimmer, dance critic; Kelly Hargraves, press director of film distributor First Run Features; choreographer/dancer Larry Keigwin; cinematographer/NYU film professor Ronald Gray, and EMPAC/Renselaaer Polytechnic Institute curator Helene Lesterlin met as this year’s official jury December 5-6 to view 24 titles that were in this year’s competition. Several titles shown in the Walter Reade Theatre were not in the competition, as decided by the filmmaker.

The nominated titles are as follows:

Dance for the camera
BAHUDHA, Ranan, India, 2006, 12m
BREAK, Shona McCullagh, New Zealand, 2006, 14m
MINOTAUR-EX, Bruno Aveillan, France, 2001, 9m
WILL TIME TELL? Sue Healey, Australia, 2006, 12:30m

Documentaries
BONE, Mila Aung-Thwin, Canada, 2005, 48m
CAUGHT IN PAINT, Rita Blitt, USA, 2003, 6m
JOSEPHINE BAKER, A BLACK DIVA IN A WHITE MAN'S WORLD Annette von Wangenheim, Germany, 2006, 45m
LUCINDA CHILDS, Patrick Bensard, France, 2006, 56m.
MOVEMENT R(e)VOLUTION AFRICA (A Story Of An Art Form In Four Acts), Joan Frosch & Alla Kovgan, USA, 2006, 65m.

A $1,500 prize from DFA will be awarded in January to the winner.

Posted online is a a schedule of the Dance on Camera Festival at a glance www.dancefilms.org with multiple pages extending from the page listing the title descriptions with photos, as well as the workshops, free programs, Jury bios, and quicktime movie.

Enjoy the festival at members price - $6. The members list will be at the Walter Reade Theatre box office, as well as Galapagos Art Space. We will have a reception following the screening of JOSEPHINE BAKER: A BLACK DIVA IN A WHITE MAN'S WORLD on January 3rd at 8pmin the Frieda & Roy Furman Gallery in the Walter Reade Theatre, Lincoln Center Plaza.

Please note that we have added a new feature to encourage dialogue.
See the page titled Read Reviews; Write Your Own.

DFA's 35th annual, touring Dance On Camera Festival 2007
Donnell Media Center, New York Public Library, 20 West 53rd Street
Tuesday January 9, 2007, 6-8pm
Free Panel: "How the kinetic body/mind of a dancer has infiltrated the mainstream through Editing of TV and film."

Speakers include Maryann Brandon-Brighty ("Mission Impossible III), Monica Gillette ("Progressive Coma" choreographed by Johannes Wieland"), Robbie Shaw ("Bittersweet" choreographed by David Rousseve, and Karen Pearlman, editor of "Thursday's Fictions," as moderated by Kelly Hargraves, press director for First Run Features

Monica Gillette writes on her background as a successful young editor, "After realizing the lifestyle of a ballerina wasn't meant for me (after 14 years of intensive training), I went to college and wound up in a Super 8 film class. We had to make a 3 minute short film with no syncsound. Of course, I went to what was familiar and I took my friend into a studio and shot multiple takes and angles of a new solo she had made. And of course, I wanted all my edits to be musical. So in my dark dorm room with my clunky Super 8 projector and mini guillotine splicer, through trial and error, I measured out on paper tape how many little super 8 frames matched up with 8 counts of the music I wanted to play back and then smaller markings for shorter counts and made sure my edits lined up with the marks on the tape. When I played it back in class, all my edits where rhythmic and my teacher knew I had no sync sound. When I explained to him how I did it, a process I thought was "normal," he told me was a bit obsessive. Exactly the kind of obsession and discipline an editor needs and that I should look into it as a career. And I did. I got addicted to it. It made total sense to me because it was like choreography with a different medium. By the time I graduated, I had done three different internships in post production to learn the ropes and make contacts and I quickly started assisting and then editing. And then I discovered modern dance, and returned to performing. But while dancing with Johannes Wieland, he discovered my film background and asked me to edit his film for the live performance of "Progressive Coma."

Donnell Media Center, New York Public Library will feature one entry a day during the month of January.
Appointments maybe made to view the 2007 entries not available for viewing at other venues.Tapes will be available for consultation from January 3-14. Viewing is by advance appointment only. One hour of screening time is permitted per day. Please phone Donnell Media Center's Study Center at 212-621-0611. The Library is open M-W-F from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m, T-TH 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Please note that "Tape of the Day" is not featured on Sundays, and the Study Center is closed.

AMAZING NEWS! EMPAC Dance Movies Commission

EMPAC - the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York – announces the launch of the EMPAC DANCE MOViES Commission, a new program to support the creation of new works in the field of experimental dance for the screen. EMPAC is specifically targeting artists based in North and South America to encourage the development of the genre of dance film and video. The DANCE MOViES Commission will fund several projects per year with awards in the range of $8,000 - $50,000.

The works shown in the DANCE MOViES series and supported by the DANCE MOViES Commission are experimental works for the screen which vary widely in content and form, yet are united by the fact that the image on the screen was crafted by, or in collaboration with, a choreographer or movement-based artist. EMPAC DANCE MOViES screenings and commissions do not include documentaries, feature-length films, works for stage performances, or commercial films that feature dance.

The EMPAC DANCE MOViES Commission will be conducted as a competitive open proposal process, where artists will be able to submit a project proposal. The initial proposals will be reviewed, and a small number of artists will be invited to submit a detailed proposal to an international panel. Upon awarding of the commission, the artist or collaborative team has one year to complete the project, at which point it will be premiered at EMPAC, and shown at dance film festivals around the world, credited as an EMPAC DANCE MOViES Commission.

Selection Panel:
Magne Antonsen, Director, Ultima Film Dance for Camera Festival, Oslo, Norway
Gaelen Hanson, Choreographer/filmmaker, DirectorNew Dance Cinema, Seattle
Bob Lockyer, Chair, Board, South East Dance, Brighton, UK
Silvina Szperling, Choreographer/filmmaker, Director, Videodanza, BA Festival, Argentina
Johannes Goebel (USA), EMPAC Director
Hélène Lesterlin (USA), EMPAC Dance Curator

Deadline to submit artist proposals is February 1, 2007, with applications available on the EMPAC website: www.empac.rpi.edu.

Come to the Walter Reade Theatre on January 12, 6pm to meet Hélène Lesterlin during Dance on Camera Festival 2007 in a program titled MEET THE PRODUCER.

DFA's Welcomes New Board Member Jerry Pantzer

Jerry Pantzer has to his credit over 250 films in a broad range of visual styles and subjects. From hand held documentaries to dramatic films, as well as dance and performance videos, his work has won repeated Academy Award and Emmy awards, as well as critical acclaim from the New York Times for his “exquisite” imagery in BOOK OF DAYS directed by Meredith Monk. Jerry was trained as an engineer but found his way into the world of cinema through mime. He trained with Etienne Decroux and subsequently performed with his troupe for four years. One day he offered to help out the French master mime by filmming a performance. From then on his life took another course but he says that Etienne Decroux gave him a sense of space that has never left him. That physical training continues to affect his work as a cinematographer today.

Following are some of his credits:
THE TEN YEAR LUNCH: THE WIT AND LEGEND OF THE ALGONQUIN ROUND TABLE - Academy Award Winner for Best Feature Length Documentary. MASTERS OF DISASTER - ACADEMY AWARD WINNER, Short Documentary. Eight kids from broken homes become national chess champions. ISAAC IN AMERICA - Academy Award Winner, Feature Length Documentary. Portrait of the great writer and Nobel Laureat, Isaac Bashevis Singer. Amram Nowak, Producer/Director. ALFRED STIEGLITZ: THE ELOQUENT EYE - The American photographer and his influence on Modern Art. AMERICAN MASTERS

And his dance film credits:
BREATH - A film poem based on the living installation performance by dance artists Eiko & Koma. Performed at the Whitney Museum of American Art. EDUCATION OF THE GIRL CHILD - A poignant documentary about the re-staging of composer / choreographer Meredith Monk’s epic and touching theatrical work. The original cast of women recreate a work they performed 20 years earlier. Amy Schatz, Producer. ELLIS ISLAND - A poetic, surreal evocation of the immigrant experience in the early 20th century. Regarded as a classic American independent film. PBS ALIVE FROM OFF CENTER, Meredith Monk, Director.

SEEKING A FILMMAKER TO MAKE A DOCUMENTARY ON
PHOTOGRAPHER FRANK CAPRI

Frank Capri, whose photo left was on the cover of Dance Magazine is the subject of an exhibit now at the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, New York. This New York based photographer who lived in Los Angeles for years has several years of behind-the-scenes footage with dancers from the world's leading companies, as well as 20 years worth of stunning stills.

For more information, please read the article on Capri's work in the November, 2006 issue of DANCE MAGAZINE, page 15, entitled, "Capri's World."

Partial corporate funding is in place for a trailer.

Examples of the photography: www.frankcapri.com

Sylvester L. Harris, The Chocolate Piper

A devoted member and donor, Sylvester Harris (seen on the inside back cover) writes below, reminding us of the excitement that lures us to the arts and the importance of mentorship within the artistic community

“At nine years old, I had the chance to see Thelonius Monk perform at the local bar, known as The Bucket of Blood. I was a member of the Cub Scouts. After the weekly sessions, at the Concrod Baptist Church down the street, my friends and I would peek through a window of the bar. We could see and hear Monk play. At age thirteen, my brothers and I started singing rock n’ roll and barbershop harmony. We also organized a dance team that specialized in the chachacha. At age fourteen, my grandfather sang “Our Father” while my brothers and I were visiting him in Burlington, New Jersey. This was the first spiritual song we sang as a group. It was the beginning of the Harris Lee Quartet.

In 1956, my two youngest brothers joined the group and we celebrated our first anniversary as the Harris Lee Sextet. We all sang in harmony and dressed alike in blue suits. We choreographed our gospel songs, too. We appeared with the Dixie Hummingbirds, Swanee Quintet, Soul Stirrers, Blind Boys of Alabama and Mississippi, Nightingales, Mighty Clouds of Joy, Brooklyn Allstars, and the Clara Ward Sisters.

Later, I met I met Miles Davis and Dizzie Gillespie before I was thrown out of Birdland for being underage. At 21, I joined the Local 802 Musician’s Union. I began playing with the Larry Keyes Trio and toured Vietnam with Beulah Bryant in 1969. I performed with Charlie Mingus at the Bitter End Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. I also tested my comedy skills there—the same place Bill Cosby took the stage when he was not washing dishes. I also met Sarah Vaughn in Thailand and Carmen Mc Cray and Si Oliver at CBS.

Soon after my retirement in 2000, the Local 94 Operation Engineers started a pipe and drum band. I had always wanted to play the bagpipe and had tried unsucessfuly to win one in a Howdy Doddy essay contest when I was ten. I had to wait 50 years to fulfill my dream off becoming a bagpiper. Since I was the only Irish bagpiper of color, I called myself the Chocolate Piper. In fact, I am even known as King Chocolate when I wear the Kente cloth while piping to acknowledge my African heritage.

Now at age 65 I am ready to celebrate the coincidence of my birthday and that of Dance Films Association. In my case, my birthday was September 12, 1941, and ?Dance Films was created September 12, 1956. I have a dancing granddaughter who is going to be very tall and I would like to use my gifts in dance, music, comedy and aacting to help her develop her budding talents. In this way, not only will my sponsorship of DFA help present generations, but its legacy will live on in my heirs after I am gone.”