December 24, 2007Introducing Kinetic Cinema (and reflecting on 2007)Before introducing my latest videodance venture starting in the new year, I feel the impulse to reflect on 2007 and share some of the experiences that have led me here to the brink of a new jumping off place.  Panorama Roma by Anna de ManincorLast January I was the festival coordinator of the 2007 Dance on Camera Festival. I spent several intense months from Sept-Dec 2006 soliciting and receiving entries, coordinating prescreenings, watching almost 200 submissions, and practically living at the Walter Reade Theatre during the first two weeks of 2007. It was a very rewarding experience, but I found that that very few dancers from my community, the New York modern dance community, came out to see the amazing work we were showing. There were many reasons for this, one being that the timing of the festival is right after the holidays, and it always bumps right up on APAP, the biggest gig-getting event of the year in New York. It's hard to compete with a dancer's chance to drum up some income, but I felt that more could be done to bring awareness to dancers of the power of dance for the camera. In an attempt to address this, I curated a special program of videodance shorts by American artists at Galapagos Art Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I did this because the work of local and US based artists is generally under-represented in the Dance On Camera Festival outside of the documentary category, and I wanted to attract local audiences by showing work by people they knew. The strategy worked. We had more people than we could squeeze in standing, and we even had to turn some away at the door! This showed me that the community was interested and hungry to see dance for the camera, we just needed to involve them more. In the spring, Zach Morris (of the Dance Film Lab) and I decided we wanted to build upon the momentum of the Galapagos showing and start a bimonthly dance film screening series. We had huge ideas for programming from showing the greatest videodances we knew of, to programs that showed the entire history of dance film. In May 2006 we produced "Wicked Cool Dance Films" featuring all our favorite films and had a rousing discussion with the audience and filmmakers after the screening. We seemed to be off to a good start. The only problem was that we had no money or time. Galapagos was cheap but it wasn't free, and Zach had too much on his plate to continue. I wanted to keep it going, but I knew that I couldn't do it on my own. Fast forward to this fall. I started blogging on Great Dance which seemed like the perfect way to spread the gospel of dance for the camera without needing much to get it going. So far Move the Frame blog has been an incredible experience and has opened up many new networks and distribution opportunities for me and my mission. I've made oodles of friends from all over and love the interactivity the blog platform allows. But despite the new connections, I still feel like I haven't been able to address one of the issues closest to home: how to get the New York dance community turned on to videodance. In October Zach forwarded me an email. It was from Caterina Bartha, the director of Collective:Unconscious a theatre and screening space in Tribeca. She was looking for a curator for a monthly dance film series they wanted to launch in 2008. She had been talking to Deirdre Towers at the Dance Films Association about doing a screening for the Dance On Camera Festival there, but she wanted to continue this as a regular event. Zach declined because his work had taken off in a big way, but he recommended me for the position. My gut reaction was "Yes! This is exactly what I've been wishing for." They were offering free space, a projectionist, admin support, and a regular time slot to do whatever I wanted. But at the same time I was worried I couldn't make the time commitment. I'd be in school part-time, working almost full-time, blogging, and trying to work on my own videodances. Still I felt like this was too good to pass up. Then I got an idea. What if I took the web 2.0 approach, and made this a user-generated series? If I wanted to attract dancers from my community, maybe I should give them the reigns and let them bring in the work? What media is turning them on? How has it shown up in their performance work? If I could get dancers to think about these questions and share their own ideas perhaps they would see the value of integrating videodance into their dance practice. The idea of Kinetic Cinema was born. Kinetic Cinema explores the intersection of dance and the moving image both on screen and stage. Each month I will invite a special guest from the dance community to share the films and videos that have inspired or moved them. These could be films that feature dance, are kinetic-based, or have been influential on their work in some way. The guest curators will come from a range of dance backgrounds as performers, choreographers, critics, and filmmakers. Upcoming guests include Brian McCormick, Jonah Bokaer, Levi Gonzalez, and Kriota Willberg, to name a few. To kick off the series I'm taking a slightly different tack because it is being held in conjunction with the Dance Films Association's 36th Annual Dance On Camera Festival. On January 7th, 2008 at 7:30pm, Kinetic Cinema will present a special program of seven international dance film shorts I have selected from among 200+ festival entries. These films and videos represent some of the freshest new visions by leading dance filmmakers today. The program includes "1, 2, 3, 4" a catchy music video by Feist with choreography by Noemi LaFrance (who will introduce her film), "PANORAMA ROMA" a rotating timelapse film shot over 24 hours in the center of Rome by Italian choreographer Anna de Manincor, and "NOT ABOUT IRAQ" a dance film that questions the relationship of words and experience, government rhetoric and reality by choreographer Victoria Marks with dancer Taisha Paggett. (click here for the full program) On February 4th dance critic and founding board member of nicholas leichter dance, Brian McCormick, will present a program of videos and films that have been integral to his life with dance. Brian is particularly interesting because he comes from a background in video art which led him to dance. His first introduction to movement-based arts were through the experimental videos of Bill Viola, Mary Lucier with Elizabeth Streb, Shirley Clarke, and Joan Jonas. I've haven't explored this type of work very much myself, and I'm looking forward to learning just as much from his program as the audience will. Although the series hasn't started yet, I already feel like it is fulfilling an important mission that began for me over a year ago with the Dance On Camera Festival. By galvanizing the local community and linking our efforts with the world community via the web and other forms of media, some large scale shifts can happen. The revolution will not be televised, but I will do my best to blog about it, and hopefully all the small actions by dancers and filmmakers happening around the world will link up and become a great wave of change sweeping the dance world into the 21st Century! If you are in the New York area on the first Monday of the month, please come see what's playing at Kinetic Cinema. Screenings will start at 7:30pm. $5 admission. Collective:Unconscious 279 Church Street (just south of White Street) New York, NY 10013 www.weird.org TICKETS: 212.352.3101 VENUE:212.254.5277 Kinetic Cinema is part of The Collective for Loving Cinema Series, a weekly themed-film series curated by Anna Brady Nuse, Stephen Kent Jussick, Matt Kohn and MM Serra and presented by Collective: Unconscious. Each week of the month has a specific theme: Week 1 - Kinetic Cinema (Dance on Film), Week 2 - Experimental Queer Film (MIX @ C:U), Week 3 - Speakeasy Cinema (a mystery film with post screening talk back with various film luminaries!) and Week 4 - Jewels and Gems (the best of the Filmmakers Co-Op) . The Collective for Loving Cinema Series is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Posted by Anna Brady Nuse at 1:05 AM - Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) December 19, 2007Dance on Camera Festival 2008 Pt. 1Get ready New York. The 36th Annual Dance On Camera Festival & Symposium is coming to town, and it will start immediately after the new year. You need to be prepared, with notes and itinerary in hand, in order to discover all the gems that are embedded in this festival. No worries, Move the Frame will provide guidance and a road map through these jam-packed two weeks. For this post I will concentrate on the basics and the 14 programs at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center. In a follow-up post I will give a run down of other special events happening around the city (one of which I am curating at Collective:Unconscious!). Horizon of Exile, photo: Nic Knowland The basics:What: Festival info can be found at www.dancefilms.org, the website of the Dance Films Association. When: January 2-19, 2008 Where: The main location of the festival is at the Walter Reade Theatre: Lincoln Center Plaza,165 West 65th Street. Tickets. View Larger Map Other locations: Alvin Ailey Studios Programs at the Walter Reade Theatre: This is the home base of the festival with 14 programs and over 44 films to see. Where to begin!? Since the programs are just numbers, and don't have titles, it can be really hard to figure out which ones will suit your tastes and interests. To help you navigate, I've categorized the Programs by type (as best as possible), and starred** the films and programs that I'm super excited about. The types are: narratives, experimental, shorts, ballet films, documentaries, and classics. Narratives: Program 4 (Thurs Jan 3: 9pm)**HERE AFTER, Wim Vandekeybus, Belgium, 2007; 65m Experimental: **Program 2 (Wed Jan 2: 8:30pm; repeats Thurs Jan 3, 4:15pm)Shorts:**HORIZON OF EXILE, Isabel Rocamora, United Kingdom/Spain, 2007; 22m **Program 2 (Wed Jan 2: 8:30pm; repeats Thurs Jan 3, 4:15pm)LIFEFORCE #3, Lene Boel, Denmark, 2007; 10.5m Ballet films: Program 1. (Wed Jan 2: 6:15pm; repeats Thurs Jan 3: 2pm)Documentaries:SPARTACUS, Vadim Derbenev and Yuri Grivorovich, Russia, 1975; 94m YouTube clip **Program 2 (Wed Jan 2: 8:30pm; repeats Thurs Jan 3, 4:15pm)*PINA BAUSCH, Anne Linsel, Germany, 2006; 44m Program 5 (Fri Jan 4: 1pm; repeats Sun Jan 6, 6pm)CHRISTOPHER HOUSE: AHEAD OF THE CURVE, Rosemary House, Canada, 2007; 48m. Trailer Classics: **Program 6 (Fri Jan 4: 3:30pm; repeats Sun Jan 6: 1pm)**JOUR DE FETE, Jacques Tati, France, 1949/1995, 70m. YouTube clip I will post about the other festival events soon. Posted by Anna Brady Nuse at 1:46 AM - Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (3) December 11, 2007Review of robbinschilds' "C.L.U.E." at PS 122Last week I was chained to my computer spewing out term papers for the end of my semester at the New School. Unfortunately I had to miss what sounded like the videodance event of the Fall: robbinschilds' "C.L.U.E." at PS 122. Luckily, my fabulous co-worker, Michelle Coe, went to see it, and she spontaneously wrote this review. I was very glad to get her impressions of the work, and even happier to be able to share them with you here.  Artist: robbinschilds Program: C.L.U.E.
Date:
12/6/06 Venue: PS
122 Description:
Sonya Robbins and Layla
Childs inhabit the intersection of human movement and architecture--be it natural
or manmade. C.L.U.E. combines a movement based full-spectrum video with acutely
visual live dance and an original live score. (From PS
122 brochure) Comments:
This piece had me totally
transfixed. admittedly, I'm a sucker for live music, and this was particularly
captivating "shoe-gazer" dark, experimental music by but then there was the
impressive but very simple set: rocks, complete with texture and climb-ability,
and then the black, lava-like sand that was rolled in, kicked up, danced around.
the most captivating element
that pulled everything together was the film. I had stories going in my head of
how fun it must have been to location scout for it: taking a desert canvas and
looking for desolate landscapes, maybe an odd industrial fixture within it,
seeking awe-inspiring frames within nature (massive upturned tree roots,
towering rocky hills, water surrounding two stick-like trees and then two
dancers who disappeared below surface) and playing with what cameras (point of
view, light refraction) and editing can bring to that experience. The costumes
were bright almost florescent colors, and tops and bottoms were slightly
off-color, so they clashed not only with themselves but with the pale browns
documented in the videoed landscape. It was surreal and almost magical. I wanted
to stay with the scenes longer than the editing allowed--and I think the film
accompanied by live music was great in and of itself.
and then there were the two
performers. they added a tangibility to it that was captivating. through
altering backgrounds, and shifting ambiance as songs ended and new ones began,
the movement had an eventual pattern to it--like it started with a series and
then eventually came back to it. as a classical dance snob, though, I'd say the
movement performed as it were was not interesting or impressive by itself, and
the performers, adapting deliberate blank expressions, didn't have much spark on
stage. but packaged all together it was quite mesmerizing.
this creation was a
fascinating example of how all of these elements--music, dance/performance, and
film can merge together and be distinct, yet be extensions of one another--like
one is dependent on another. in fact, I found myself wondering what the dancers'
process was, where they start. all in all, I was transported. very cool indeed. Review by Michelle Coe Video excerpt of C.L.U.E.: Here are some other reviews of C.L.U.E. to check out:
Anybody else see this show? Share your impressions here.
Posted by Anna Brady Nuse at 6:00 PM - Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) December 4, 2007Dance Film Lab next week! (and other happenings)Hi All.I apologize for the sparse postings the past couple of weeks. I've been slammed with school work at the end of the semester (I'm studying Media Management at the New School). I'll share some of the wealth of my newly acquired knowledge soon, but in the meantime, here are some dance film/video events coming up this month. Next Tuesday, December 11th Dance Film Lab @ South 4th Bar in Williamsburg 90 South 4th Street @ Berry Subways: L at Bedford, J,M,Z at Marcy Ave. Phone: 718.218.7478 8pm, free The bi-monthly Dance Film Lab is a friendly gathering of folks interested in dance for the camera. People share their works (in any stage of progress) and get constructive feedback from the group. We all get to share who we are, what we're doing, and what we need (which often gets miraculously granted!). And our gracious moderator Zach Morris (of Third Rail Projects blog) always makes everyone feel very warm and welcome. So come out, but shoot an email Zach first just so he knows you're coming. Last night I attended the DANCE MOViES Commission workshop run by my friend Hélène Lesterlin, dance curator at EMPAC (Experimental Media Performing Arts Center) in Troy, NY. It was a very inspiring presentation about the commission and the possibilities for creative experimentation in dance and media at EMPAC. The ratio of commission awards to applicants is very low, however I think it is still well worth applying to, for the process alone, and also to show the funding community that there are a lot of American artists out there that want to make dance for screen. Eventually other funders will sign on and join EMPAC's efforts to support this fantastic genre. So Viva EMPAC and DANCE MOViES! There is a wonderful festival in the Netherlands this month that I wish I could attend, called Dancing on the Edge: Confronting Dance from the Middle East. It's a dance festival with a dance film component curated by Cinedans. The dance films are all from the Middle East, or made by artists from there, and tackle many topics from "West Bank Story" - a remake of the famous musical with competing Falafel stands and a taboo Israeli Palestinian love affair - to "Horizon of Exile" a breath-taking installation about two Iraqi women torn between their country and their need to escape. Incidentally "Horizon of Exile" will be shown this January in New York during the Dance On Camera Festival. I can't wait to see it! So if you are in the Netherlands or thereabouts I highly recommend you check this festival out. Dancing on the Edge Confronting Dance from the Middle East Amsterdam: 12-16 december Rotterdam: 13-18 december Groningen: 11-12 & 18-19 december And to leave you with some moving images to muse over, my friend Hope Hall, a filmmaker, and occasional dance filmmaker, hipped me to this blog, La Blogotheque, where she shot one of their videos in the TakeAway Series. Essentially they shoot a band performing in some non-traditional space all in one take, and then post the take on their blog. Seems like a great idea for a videodance series too. This is one of those TakeAways, and while it's really a music video, it does have some adorable dancing, and it'll make you want to move. So take it away! Posted by Anna Brady Nuse at 12:56 AM - Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0) |
| ||||
|
© 2007-2008 Great Dance. All rights reserved. |