Posts Tagged ‘videodance’

The International Video Dance Festival of Burgundy (France) announces a new call for works in preparation for its forth festival in May 2012. The festival is a platform for short video dance (screendance, dance for camera) projects that explore the dynamic possibilities of movement created specifically for the camera/screen. Works will be selected by an international jury composed of professional artists and scholars involved in video dance.

The festival seeks video dance works less than 15 minutes in length for its official selection, which will be the featured event of the festival. Documentaries and live performance recordings are not accepted.

Submission guidelines and instructions can be found here.

SEND TO: info@videodansebourgogne.com

The SUBMSSION DEADLINE is January 8, 2012.

How media sharing is changing the value proposition of street dance

Since its inception, street dance has benefited from it’s organic connection to hip hop music and urban culture. Arising in the 1970’s out of disco, funk, and the black and latino urban cultures in America’s inner cities, hip hop culture encompasses all the art forms including music, visual art, dance, and poetry, as well as fashion and design. As hip hop has spread from the underground to the mainstream culture, it has gained a foothold in large entertainment and media industries as well. The Sugar Hill Gang and Run DMC became some of the first Billboard topping hip hop music groups, sparking megastars like Michael Jackson and Blondie to embrace and emulate this new vibrant street culture in their music and videos. Along with hip hop’s rise in popularity, street dance forms such as break dancing (or bboying) became well known and dance crews arose on every street corner and club where hip hop music spread.

Still to this day, street dance styles develop in tandem with new strains of hip hop, electronic and club music. The two disciplines of dance and music virtually exist to support each other. Club music is made to get people dancing, and the dance styles form around the different rhythms and vibes of the music. Since the decline of hip hop music sales, simultaneous with the rise of video’s popularity online, the power dynamic of the two art forms are shifting. Previously the hip hop music industry was the giant, and hip hop dance played a supporting role in music videos and stage shows. Now however, hip hop dance seems to be moving ahead through its popularity with viral video hits. Today dance videos are becoming important ways for music tracks to get noticed, rather than the other way around.

Marquese Scott, aka Nonstop, is a streetdancer from Inglewood, CA. He started dancing in high school after jumping in a dance circle at a local skating rink and getting “maxed” (laughed at and humiliated in front of his friends), which spurred him on to practice and win other dance battles. Today he is part of the Atlanta-based dance crew RemoteControl and his specialty is “animation”, a robotic style of motion that comes out of poplocking and autobot dance styles.

After a special appearance on So You Think You Can Dance with Remote Control, Nonstop began posting solo videos on YouTube that garnered a great deal of attention. His biggest hit was a solo performed to Butch Clancy’s dubstep remix of “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People. Seen over 24 million times, Nonstop’s simple video was done in a single take from a camera he left on a tripod. What follows is a mindblowing display of movement that seems to defy gravity, time, and any other human constraints. The video was immediately picked up by bloggers and major media outlets who fueled its viral fire. While Foster the People’s single was already a break away hit, Nonstop’s video elevated the dubstep remix version to chart topping levels as well.

Since his YouTube success, Nonstop has become a sought after dancer for commercials, music videos, and live appearances. His story reveals an alternate path to a career in dance that is becoming more common in the era of online video. As streetdancers continue to post viral video hits online, videodance is poised to become a major pop culture phenomenon, akin to music video on MTV thirty years ago. Dance and music will still be inexorably intertwined, but this time, the dancers will get credit and esteem as well.

Genero.tv is an online music video project that provides ongoing opportunities for filmmakers to submit work.

Competitions on Genero.tv are based around individual artists and songs. Filmmakers can upload their own music videos for a given song to be shared and judged by the artist, the Genero.tv community, and a panel of Genero judges. Winning videos are often awarded cash prizes and are featured as official videos.

“By offering some fantastic music and a blank canvas we hope we can provide the platform for music video to enter a new realm…where it can surprise and delight again and the next wave of talented music video creators can be discovered and introduced to the world.”

Deadline: Ongoing

In ”enchantress,” Turkish filmmaker Volkan Ergen creates a mysterious, otherworldly landscape, submerging us as voyeurs in a secret ritual. Watch for magical duplicity, fractured movements, layered apparitions, and shifting focus. Enjoy!

Dance Films Association members may apply for DFA’s annual post-production grants ranging from $250 to $2,500. This program is open to filmmakers, choreographers or dancers.  Awards will be announced in July 2010.

Proposals should include DVD or VHS of work-in-progress, budget, distribution plans, biographies of key members of the creative team, and a one page description of the project including how funds will be used. There is no form to fill, simply supply the above information.

DFA membership information can be found at http://www.dancefilms.org