Posts Tagged ‘dance film’

Kinetic Cinema: “Dance on Camera Extended”

Kinetic Cinema’s Dance on Camera Extended program last Saturday, February 4th, was an intimate yet rich event. After the screening viewers conversed on the diversity in the six films shown that evening, as well as the wide array of films at the Dance on Camera Festival the weekend before. Why do we yearn for an element of surprise in modern dance?  How does a dance film weave in narrative and does it have to be a complete narrative? Is it important to know where a choreographer is from?  Does it change our perspective?  These were just some of the many questions debated.

Thank you to those, including dance film choreographer and director Jody Oberfelder, who came out to join and share their perspective.  As she eloquently said it is conversations like these that make the events so worth it!

Presented in conjunction with CRS and the Dance Films Association.

Come join us for our next Kinetic Cinema, The MerryMakers Make Movies featuring the vaudeville shenanigans and silent films of The MerryMakers at Fort Useless in Brooklyn on Sunday, February 26th at 7pm (doors open at 6:30)!

"Coup de Grace" by Clara Van Gool

Whether your interest is in ballet stars of bygone eras or edgy dance films that push at the boundaries of cinema, there is something for you at the Dance On Camera Festival. The question is just how to find it. The good news is that this year, the festival programming on the Dance Films Association’s website is quite easy to navigate. Arranged by genre, title, and schedule, it is easy to zero in on the programs that you most want to see.

For fans of screendance, the genre of dance made for the camera, the bad news is that there are only two shorts programs being shown at the Dance On Camera Festival this year, but luckily they are good ones. The first is the Dance Film Narratives program, playing on Jan 27^th and 29^th. Featuring two highly anticipated films by veteran dance filmmakers, Clara Van Gool and Pontus Lidberg, this program will be seeped in dramatic storytelling and breathtaking choreography for the camera. Coup de Grace the latest dance film by Clara Van Gool (director of the acclaimed screen adaptation of DV8’s Enter Achilles) features Jordi Cortes Molina and Damian Munoz, two adversaries who meet in a remote location and engage in a physical and emotional duel. Pontus Lidberg’s Labyrinth Within hauntingly depicts the suspense and jealousy surrounding a love triangle and features NYC Ballet Principal Wendy Whelan and a commissioned score by David Lang.

The second opportunity to see dance for camera is the Shorts Program, a free event at Lincoln Center’s new Elinor Bunin Monroe Auditorium on Saturday Jan 28^th. A lighthearted and whimsical selection will be shown here, and features some work by local favs including Jody Oberfelder’s case of mistaken identity, Come Sit Stay and Pooh Kaye’s romp on the wild side in Spring Cleaning.

There are several other other notable screendances sprinkled throughout the festival, including Ora, the first film to use 3D thermal imaging (part of Pilobolus and shorts), and Falling, a gorgeously rendered film about dancers and gravity made by Adrian Churchill the special effects creator of the BBC television series, Merlin.

Several documentaries in this year’s festival seem to blur the boundaries of reality and experimental art film. Examples can be found in the Dance Legacies program on Jan 30^th & 31^st featuring artful shorts about dance being passed through the generations (Cari Ann Shim Sham’s Sand) and as commentary on social changes (David Rousseve’s portrait of Indonesia in Two Seconds After Laughter and Bruce Berryhill & Martha Curtis’s documentary on Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s work after Hurricane Katrina, Re-staging Shelter). The roots of Robert Wilson’s enigmatic theatre work are exposed in The Space In Back of You an homage to the radical Japanese performer and choreographer Suzushi Hanayagi, whom Wilson collaborated with for 20 years.

Last but not least, you don’t want to miss Sally Sommers, Charles Atlas, and Michael Schwartz’s long awaited documentary Check Your Body at the Door, a tribute to New York’s underground House culture, featuring dances filmed over twenty years and never seen before on screen. Check Your Body will be preceded by freedom2dance, a short that examines the devastating impact of Mayor Giuliani’s strict enforcement of the Cabaret Laws on New York’s once thriving underground dance club culture. This program will also screen the winner of DFA’s first High School Student Film Competition, giving us a sneak peak at the future of screendance!

The 40^th edition of the Dance On Camera Festival will take place from January 27-31 at the Walter Reade Theater as well as the new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center.  For more information go to DFA and the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s websites to see the full line-up, as well schedule and ticket information.

En Dedans, Gabrielle Lamb

New Yorkers and dance film-lovers from around the world look forward to the Dance On Camera Festival each year. For the past 40 years, this annual festival has been the central anchor and source for new dance on film. The 40^th edition of the Dance On Camera Festival will take place from January 27-31 at the Walter Reade Theater as well as the new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center.

While we at Move the Frame tend to focus primarily on dance made for the screen, the festival’s programmers have always made an effort to encompass the vast range of styles and genre’s that make up dance film. “We try to reach far and wide to find films that connect dance and camera in ways that will surprise and inspire viewers to deepen their interest in both mediums,” says Joanna Ney, co-curator of the festival. “This year’s selection offers a diversity of subject, style and genre aimed at the traditionalist as well as the iconoclast.”

Dance enthusiasts will find many documentaries about dance luminaries such as Natalia Makarova and Robert Wilson, historic dance presenters and companies such as Jacob’s Pillow, the Joffrey Ballet, and Pilobolus, and innovative choreographer Wayne McGregor. Film enthusiasts will enjoy innovative shorts by inspired directors such as Clara Van Gool, Pontus Lidberg, and New York’s own Jody Oberfelder.

In another post we’ll share with you our personal picks for the festival, but for now, go to DFA and the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s websites to see the full lineup, as well as schedule and ticket information.

Dance Camera West announces its 11th Annual Festival with Dance Media: An Active Spectrum.  The event will bring together artists, innovators, educators, and others in the entertainment industry to discuss the increasingly active spectrum of dance media on screen.

Dance Camera West is now accepting submissions for its festival to be held in Los Angeles at the end of June.  Entries must be on DVD. Festival screening formats will vary depending on venue and will be communicated via email upon acceptance to the festival.  To be considered for the festival, the following are required:

• DVD submissions and entry fees must be postmarked by January 30th, 2012.
• Entries must never have screened or broadcast in Los Angeles. University or showcase showings allowed; local cable broadcast allowed.
• Upon acceptance into the festival, your film cannot be withdrawn.

Entry Fee:
$50 fee; $40 Members before December 15, 2011
$60 fee; $50 Members after December 15, 2011
$25 fee, Students

Early Deadline: December 15, 2011
Final Deadline: January 31, 2012 (postmarked)

For more information,visit dancecamerawest.org
Contact festival@dancecamerawest.org with additional questions.