Posts Tagged ‘ADF’

I’m about to start a twelve day cross-country road trip, driving from West to East with one of my best friends who’s moving back to Vermont. We’ll be stopping at a bunch of national parks along the way including Crater Lake (OR), Glacier (MT), Yellowstone & the Grand Tetons (WY), and the Blackhills & the Badlands (SD). It’s gonna be great, but I won’t be able to post to Move the Frame for a while. There are lots of videodance activities happening around the world this summer, so I thought I’d leave you with a few things to keep you busy while I’m MIA.

As soon as I get back to New York, I will be leaving again, this time to go to the Screendance conference at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC from July 10-13th, where I will be delivering a paper on curating. Below is the abstract for my presentation, which is titled after a post I wrote here a few months ago.

Thoughts on Curating – How to Bring About a Shift in Perception

Screendance, while growing as a genre worldwide, is still basically unknown in American culture at large. Even within the field of dance, most choreographers and dancers in the United States believe they are unable to name a single work of screendance. The problem is that so much dance for screen is perceived to be part of another genre, be it music videos, advertisements, or experimental films. Screendance as a genre is a foreign concept to the typical viewer, but only a slight shift of perception is necessary to render it familiar and identifiable. To help bring about this shift in perception in my own dance community, I have started a monthly screening series in which I invite guest artists to curate evenings of films and videos that have inspired their work with dance. In compiling their programs, my guest curators discover the knowledge they already have about media and dance and are able to share their insights in ways that other dancers can easily relate to. This simple curated series has raised awareness for the genre in my community and is laying a seed bed for future creativity and experimentation in the form. Like the Judson Dance Theater, Jonas Mekas’ New American Cinema Group, and more recently Richard Linklater’s Austin Film Society, forming an artist-driven curating collective for screendance has the ability to galvanize a community, inspire new work, and further the boundaries of the art form.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while will recognize my thought processes on curating as I’ve written extensively about them in my posts about the Kinetic Cinema screening series for the past six months. I’m excited to listen and talk to the other presenters at the conference this year about this very important topic for videodance.

The other presentations at the conference will be:
“Screendance: Curating the Practice” (Opening Talk by Douglas Rosenberg)
 “Does Screendance Need to Look Like Dance?” by Claudia Kappenberg, Senior Lecturer at the University of Brighton, UK.
 “Tutus and Bonfires” by Gitta Wigro, a freelance programmer from the UK.
 “Beyond the Lens III” Sini Haapalinna, a freelance artist from Finland.

Also Meredith Monk will be honored for her work in film and give an intimate discussion with the Screendance participants. There will also be two curated programs during the conference in addition to the Dancing for the Camera Festival taking place at the same time, which is open to the public..

If you can’t get down to North Carolina this summer, then those of you in Europe should head to the Cinedans Festival taking place July 3-10th in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

From the Cinedans website:

This
sixth edition of the Cinedans has an exclusive collection of national
and international dance films in store for you. Films from a new
generation of dance film makers will be screened from over fifteen
countries. Six documentaries allow you a glance into the dance kitchen
of locally operating dancers or internationally renowned choreographers
and William Forsythe and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker compiled a varied
selection of their favorite dance films. In addition, Forsythe presents
filminstallations, exciting crossovers of performance, film, dance and
installation.

Janine Dijkmeijer, the director of Cinedans and Annelyke van den elshout, the program manager, were both at the first Kinetic Cinema screening in January as part of the Dance On Camera Festival. I was happy to see that they have started their own artist curating initiative this summer with their Carte Blanche program, in which they asked choreographers William Forsythe and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker to put together an evening of films and videos that have been influential on them personally and artistically. These kinds of artist-driven curating programs are so easy to do, and they give such wonderful results in terms of generating interest, dialog and connections for artists and viewers alike. I’m glad the idea is spreading, and I wish I could be there to see these programs! If anyone reading this is able to go, please send me your report and impressions!

Finally, I’m happy to report that I will be finishing production on a new videodance this summer called Fünf ‘n’ Twist. There will be many more postings about the creative process of making this work in the near future. In the meantime, you can watch a study of the ending of this piece that we made last spring here in HD on Vimeo!

This summer the American Dance Festival (ADF) will be hosting the second Screendance – State of the Art  conference. Once again dance filmmakers, curators, educators, and critics will come together on the Duke University campus to discuss the art form and exchange ideas. This year’s topic is curating and its relationship to screendance. I’m quite passionate about this topic, so I can’t resist taking a stab at  a paper proposal to submit to the conference. The deadline for paper proposals is April 11, 2008. For more info, click here.

I credit almost all of my understanding of what screendance is, to watching curated programs at various dance film festivals. The genre is very hard to describe, because dance for the camera could mean anything really. The very definition of film and video is moving pictures, and dancing is only a slightly more specific word for moving. Creating special programs of films that are organized around a specific idea helps to provide a lens for viewing work in a different way. By grouping films under a new name, you can embue them with meanings they didn’t necessary have before. For instance if I put clips of Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train, Sergei Parajanov’s The Color of Pomegranates, and Maya Deren’s Ritual In Transfigured Time all together in a program entitled “Films as Visual Poetry, Great Symbolist Poets of the Silver Screen,” what happens to the way you look at these films?

Films as Visual Poetry: Great Symbolist Poets of the Silver Screen

clip from “Mystery Train” by Jim Jarmusch

clip from “The Color of Pomegranates” by Sergei Parajanov

“Ritual in Transfigured Time” by Maya Deren

Perhaps you have seen all of these films before in different contexts, but now you are seeing many similarities and connections between them you have never thought of before. The through-line of a poetic approach to film making becomes very obvious, and yet, you may not have thought about this connection if you hadn’t read the program’s title.

This ability to create new meanings and connections between things is especially important for promoting a relatively obscure genre like screendance. In order to educate viewers and attract new audiences we need to give them a window for entry and help them connect with the form. We are a media savvy culture, in which the average viewer can identify the genre and conventional structures of any given media clip in a matter of seconds. Screendance is just different enough to feel strange and foreign to the typical viewer, but only a slight shift of perception is necessary to make it seem familiar and identifiable.

Bringing about this slight shift of perception should be the goal of all curated programs. For my monthly Kinetic Cinema series, the goal is to help make dancers and members of the New York dance community aware of the role media plays in their artistic work. We are all bombarded with media images and messages everyday. This constant deluge of information has to filter down into the work of dancers and choreographers too. I wondered why the dance community in New York seems to be lagging behind our European contemporaries in embracing media with dance, and I realized it may be because dancers here just haven’t thought about it consciously. With Kinetic Cinema I invite different members of the dance community to curate programs and draw upon their own media interests and influences. In this way the curators discover the knowledge they already have about media and dance, and can present their ideas in a way that other dancers can relate to.

By these standards, Kinetic Cinema has already been successful. Many of the curators I’ve invited have never curated a screening before, and yet their programs have blown me away. February’s curator, Brian McCormick, displayed a knowledge of video art and new media platforms like Second Life that far surpasses my own. This month, Malinda Allen presented one of the most entertaining and inspiring programs of dance films and videos I’ve ever seen, and she has never seen the work of Maya Deren before (a filmmaker widely regarded as the mother of modern dance film). Each of these artists presented programs that gave me and all the members of the audience new perspectives on dance and media we had never had before. Bringing about new perspectives and thought connections makes a seed bed for creativity. I believe that these programs will inspire more dancers to make work for the camera, and the artistry and sophistication of their work will be higher, because they are connecting consciously to their own knowledge about media and how it works.

A guest curator series is just one way to bring about a shift in perspective for a particular audience. I’d love to hear of other examples. Please share your ideas and experiences here, and help us brainstorm more ways to bring screendance to the fore of the media landscape!

In case you haven’t noticed, there is a page called Dance Film Submission Deadlines (under the Background section of this blog) that I’ve been up-dating regularly with new opportunities for dance filmmakers. Right now there’s lots of great stuff coming up to submit your work to. See the list below, and check this page regularly for new events.

FEBRUARY 2008

CALL FOR WORKS

O dança em foco -International
Video & Dance Festival is receiving applications for its International
Videodance Screenings. The 2008 edition will take place in September
in Rio de Janeiro followed by other cities, with free public showings.

The applications will only be accepted thought the site www.dancaemfoco.com.br

If interested please send dance documentaries and videodance works by 29
February 2008 to the following address:

dança em foco – Festival Internacional
de Vídeo & Dança
a/c Paulo Caldas
Rua General Glicério 144 / 202 – Laranjeiras
Rio de Janeiro – RJ – Brasil
CEP 22.245-120

CALL FOR ARTISTS

The 3rd International Vdance festival at the Cinemateque Tel Aviv (Cinematek), Israel
The
festival will run for 3 days showing international and Israeli work
that explores the connection between film and movement – showing video
dance and contemporary dance films plus experimental films from
beginning of 20th century.
 
Festival dates: 12 – 14 June 2008
Venue: Cinemateque Tel Aviv

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: February 29, 2008
artists should submit their work on DVD format (2 copies). 
including:
a
document with Name of artist, Postal address, E-mail address, Phone
number , Name of the piece (Title), Name of Director, Name of
Choreographer, Name of Producer, year in which the work has been made,
length of the piece, and a short description of the piece.
 
Send it to:
Vdance – The International Festival of Video-Dance
Cinemateque Tel Aviv
2 Sprinzak St.
Tel Aviv 64738
Israel
 
For inquries and information contact:
vdance2008@gmail.com

DANCEDOC SLAM


Thursday, March 6, 2008, 7:00 – 9:30
p.m.
Green Space, 37-24 24^th St.,
Long Island City


An interactive peer-review workshop that
provides choreographers and dancers the
opportunity to present video
documentation of their work for critique
by experts in the field.

The panel will lead a discussion on the
best ways to document dance pieces on
film for venues, festivals and funding
applications based on five pre-selected
video submissions.

SUBMISSION PROCESS


To submit your video sample for critique
please send a DVD clearly labeled with
the name of the artist and contact
information to:

Independence
Arts Builds Community Submissions
Queens Council on the Arts
One Forest Park at Oak Ridge

Woodhaven, NY 11421-1166

Submissions should be 3-5 minutes.
Please note that this workshop is
directed towards the documentation of
dance pieces not narrative or artistic
films involving dance. Only a limited
number of submissions will be discussed
at the workshop.

For more information email chenderson@queenscouncilarts.org or visit: http://www.queenscouncilarts.org/html/artsservices-dancedoc.html

MARCH 2008

EMPAC DANCE MOVIES COMMSSION 2008: OPEN CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The deadline for the proposals is March 1, 2008.

For
more information on EMPAC and the DANCE MOViES Commission, or to
download the guidelines and application form, please visit the EMPAC
website:
http://www.empac.rpi.edu

DANCE MOViES Commission application process:
The
EMPAC DANCE MOViES Commission is a competitive open proposal process,
in which eligible artists submit a project proposal.  The initial
proposals are reviewed and a small number of artists are invited to
submit a detailed proposal to an international panel. The panel
assesses the quality and feasibility of the proposed project and
submits its recommendations to EMPAC. The commissions are awarded by
EMPAC after review.

Upon awarding of the commission, the artist
or collaborative team has one year to complete the project, at which
point the work is premiered at EMPAC, shown at dance film festivals
around the world, and credited as an EMPAC DANCE MOViES Commission.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The American Dance Festival calls
for innovators to step forward with submissions for the 13th annual
Dancing for the Camera: International Festival of Film and Video Dance.
Showcasing the best of fusions between cinematographic skill and
choreographic vision, Dancing for the Camera has screened to
international audiences more than 250 dance films by filmmakers from
over 20 countries.  Directed by dance filmmaker and curator, Douglas
Rosenberg, the 2008 festival will take place July 11-13, in conjunction
with the ADF’s 75th Anniversary. 

Seeking high artistic
quality, all entries will be adjudicated in one of four categories by a
panel of jurors whose selections will screen at the festival.
Certificates of Distinction will be awarded to works of exceptional
merit.

Submissions should align with one of the following areas:
Choreography for the Camera–original work made specifically for video or film or re-staged for the camera.
Documentaries–productions that include interviews or other educational elements in addition to choreography.
Experiment
and Digital Technologies–work that extends the boundaries of dance and
can exist only in video, film, or new technologies.
Student Work–submissions produced while the filmmakers were students or by current students.
The early deadline for film/video submissions is March 11, 2008, by 6pm with an entry fee of $30. 
All submissions must meet the final deadline of April 11, 2008, by 6pm.  The entry fee for late submissions is $40.  Download the entry form.  

For more information on Dancing for the Camera, including registration, entry forms, and guidelines for submission please visit www.americandancefestival.org

Questions regarding the call for entries should be directed to adf@americandancefestival.org or 919.684.6402.

CALL FOR ENTRIES
The
2008 dance event for the Dowagiac Dogwood Fine Arts Festival is
“Dancing Outside the Box: A Video& Film Festival of Dance.”  On
Saturday, May 10, 2008 select films will be shown at the Theatre in the
Dale A. Lyons Building on the campus of Southwestern Michigan College
in Dowagiac, Michigan.
 
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
We seek
films or videos that blend dance and film of all kinds.  We will accept
dance made for the camera, documentary, short film, adaptation of a
stage work or site specific creation, or music video.  Content must be
family friendly.
 
ENTRY REGULATIONS

• Entries must be received in DVD or VHS format

• Entry form and media must be postmarked by March 15, 2008
• If
  you would like your media returned please send self addressed mailer
  with return postage.  We are not responsible for returning preview
  media without a specific request and postage.
• Dogwood Fine Arts
  Festival is given the right to use excerpts from your video, if chosen
  for the festival in all Dogwood promotional materials.
• DISCLAIMER/LIABILITY:
  every effort will be made to protect entries while in the Festival’s
  care; however, the Festival and its sponsor do not assume liability for
  damage or loss to DVD’s or videotapes.

Send entry form and VHS/DVD to:
Dogwood Fine Arts Festival
PO Box 526
Dowagiac, MI 49047
Attn:Amy
Direct questions to:
Amy Rose  269.580.1447
 craigamy@btc-bci.com  subject:Dogwood

APRIL 2008

Entry Call 2008                                               
Dance film entries are now being accepted for the 2008 SHOOT – Dance for Screen festival
 
SHOOT
- Dance for Screen, the Swedish dance for screen festival celebrates
the fifth anniversary with festival in four cities:
Stockholm-Luleå-Göteborg-Malmö.
Screenings, seminars, discussions, workshops, 3D installation, national and international guests.
 
We
are looking for dance films and videos in various styles, completed in
2006-2008, that combine choreography and cinematography.
We welcome shorts, features, animation and video clips.
 
Festival date: Oct/Nov 2008
Submission deadline: 2 April 2008
 
MORE INFORMATION AND HOW TO SUBMIT:
go to www.modernadansteatern.se
or email stina@modernadansteatern.se

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

EDIT2008

4. International Dance Film Festival, Budapest

Organised by Workshop Foundation in co-operation with Budapest Autumn Festival

Planned date: 10-13 October 2008

We are accepting original films and videos on dance and movement,
camera re-works and experimental projects on body and gestures with no
restriction on its length and subject.

A DVD format copy should be sent to Workshop Foundation no later than 15 April 2008 (postmark).

Workshop Foundation / Gabor Pinter
1094 Budapest, Liliom u. 41.
HUNGARY

It is also the deadline for submitting the on-line ENTRY FORM.

A professional jury will select the films into the screening programme.
Applicants will be informed about the decision by 30 July 2008.

Do not hesitate to contact us for further information: editfest@yahoo.com

Thank you,

Gabor Pinter
Program Curator

ON-GOING (No deadlines)

VIDEO ART REQUEST

Jorge Sepulveda T. (alias lulo)
Curador Independiente
www.curatoriaforense.net