Friday Film Break Archive - Dance Magazine

Misty Copeland’s Flower

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:00:35 +0000

After a three-year performing hiatus, Misty Copeland returns to the spotlight with Flower, a 28-minute film that she produced as well as stars and dances in. Filmed in Oakland, California, this powerful art-activism short explores issues of gentrification, homelessness, and the need for intergenerational equity. “Flower is an homage to Black Silent ‘race’ films of the 1920s, to the intrinsic human ability to express ourselves through movement, and the universal language of dance,” Copeland wrote on Instagram. The ABT principal stars alongside LINES dancer Babatunji Johnson and former Dance Theatre of Harlem and Complexions principal Christina Johnson. The film features choreography by Alonzo King and creative duo Rich+Tone, as well as an original score by Grammy award-winning artist Raphael Saadiq. Directed by Lauren Finerman, Flower is the debut motion picture by Life in Motion Productions, founded by Copeland and Leyla Fayyaz. Flower premieres at the Tribeca Festival on June 8–17; a free screening will be held at Lincoln Center on July 1.

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Rise, Featuring Marion Barbeau and Hofesh Shechter

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 13:00:20 +0000

Rise, a French feature-length film starring Paris Opéra Ballet dancer Marion Barbeau and Israeli-born, UK-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter, follows 26-year-old ballet dancer Elise Gautier, who suffers a devastating fall onstage during La Bayadère after witnessing her boyfriend kissing another dancer in the wings. Gautier, played by Barbeau, takes time off to recover while working at an artist’s retreat in Brittany, where Shechter (who is portraying himself) and his company of contemporary dancers are in residence. Rise shows Gautier’s journey of discovering the freedom of contemporary dance, falling in love, and finding mental and physical healing. Released in France last year and available in select U.S. theaters June 2, Rise is directed by Cédric Klapisch, with featured choreography by Shechter.

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Edd Arnold’s “By The Sea”

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 26 May 2023 13:21:08 +0000

Director and choreographer Edd Arnold and dancer Tia May Hockey rise and fall with the waves in “By The Sea,” the result of Arnold’s nine-month exploration of the healing power of the ocean. “It felt important to try and capture all of these things,” he wrote on Instagram about the sanctuary he discovered in the water. Through deep breaths, windmilling arms, and tumbling across the sand, Arnold and Hockey interpret the constant, yet untamed movement of the sea. With costumes made by Allison Ozeray from recycled ocean plastics, the pair’s serene performance is accompanied by Anna Phoebe’s composition, featuring the harmonies of the Trans Voices choir. “By The Sea” was captured by Ben Williams on the south coast of England, with co-direction by Sean Flanagan.

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Léo Walk’s “Maison d’en Face”

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 05 May 2023 13:00:39 +0000

French dancer and choreographer Léo Walk blends elements of contemporary dance and breaking in “Maison d’en Face,” a film featuring La Marche Bleue, the company he formed in 2018. Filmed by Angelo Marques in a modernist 1960s house located in the mountains of the French Riviera, the six dancers rhythmically bob their heads and isolate their hips as they groove to Flavien Berger’s remix of “Les Contremplations” by Mansfield.TYA. Walk’s choreography in “Maison d’en Face” explores the contrasting experiences of chaos and intimacy and the highs and lows people face in close relationships with others.

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FLOCK’s “Unstable Connection”

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 19:11:20 +0000

“Made for the internet first, ‘Unstable Connection’ stands at the intersection of dance, cinema, and internet video,” says cinematographer Malcolm Wesley about his collaboration with choreographic duo FLOCK. The short film is choreographed and performed by Alice Klock (a 2018 Dance Magazine 25 to Watch) and Florian Lochner, both former artists with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago who formed their own company in 2017. Set to the song “Volatile” by TENDER, “Unstable Connection” follows the pair as they slice through the space separately and come together, intertwining their energetically charged movement, each step appearing instinctual.

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Fabricio Seraphin’s “The Name of a River”

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 13:00:39 +0000

“The Name of a River,” performed and choreographed by Haitian artist Fabricio Seraphin, explores the queer experience, nature, and movement and how the three mirror the transformational and ever-changing flow of life. Filmed in upstate New York, Seraphin moves through the trees and the water, releasing tension and dancing intentionally with breath, symbolizing an evolution of self. Directed by Mollie Moore and Eleonora Privitera, and with poetry by Robyn Ayers, the film was inspired by the contributing artists’ journeys of understanding their own queerness. “This project came about through conversations between [Eleonora] and I envisioning queer utopias and dreamscapes where we can move, transition and express our own selves with ease and autonomy,” Moore wrote on Instagram. “The Name of a River” is presented by NOWNESS, a global video channel sharing content on art, music, and more.

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Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 12:00:46 +0000

Can You Bring It, a feature-length documentary about choreographer Bill T. Jones’ most well-known piece D-Man in the Waters, explores the history of the AIDS crisis and the transcending impact Jones’ work continues to have decades later. Jones created D-Man in the Waters in 1989 after the passing of his partner Arnie Zane and company member Demian Acquavella. The film follows Rosalynde LeBlanc, a former member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and Jones as they teach the work to a group of Loyola Marymount University students, while also helping them understand the historical importance it represents. “We were hurting, but our work was a way that we kept going,” says Jones in the trailer. Awarded “Best Documentary” at the 2021 San Francisco Dance Film Festival, Can You Bring It streams April 3 on WORLDChannel’s website and YouTube, Black Public Media’s YouTube, and PBS platforms starting at midnight. On television, the documentary will air on the WORLDChannel on April 3, at 8 pm ET, and will begin airing on PBS stations on May 1. Check you local listings.

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CLI Conservatory’s “You’re Mine,” Choreographed by Monika Felice Smith

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 16:49:01 +0000

CLI Studios presents “You’re Mine,” a dance film choreographed by Monika Felice Smith and performed by CLI Conservatory’s class of 2022. As the dancers move through an open field to the alternating soulful and electronic sounds of James Blake’s “I’m So Blessed You’re Mine,” they execute contrasting dynamics, sometimes moving as two distinct groups and at other moments as a unified ensemble with soloists breaking out. Smith, known for her syncopated style, has been a collaborator on Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR Prom and is a guest instructor at CLI Conservatory. “You’re Mine” features cinematography by Daniel Phakos, and is directed by Teddy Forance, director of the conservatory’s 10-month program and CLI Studios co-founder.

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“Past and Present” by Eisenhower Dance Detroit

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 14:00:26 +0000

Presented by Eisenhower Dance Detroit in collaboration with Detroit Institute of the Arts and Zazu Creative Studio, “Past and Present” features excerpts of five duets by artistic director Stephanie Pizzo that capture our human need for intimate and kinesthetic connection with each other. With cinematography and a score by Jesse Barron, this short film is a director’s cut of Five Tangos, a longer dance film created in response to the pandemic. “This piece is the story of my past and present colliding together to create our future,” says Zach Hagy, the film’s director. “Past and Present” is performed by Alex Hlavaty, Brooke Mainland, Kelsey Lewinski, Emy Bezbatchenko, Tyler Kerbel, Tara Charvat and Michael Teasley III.

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“Call to the Stone,” Performed by Asher Bowen-Saunders and Che Pritchard

Julia Mary Register — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 14:00:47 +0000

Created and performed by Australian environmentalists Asher Bowen-Saunders and Che Pritchard, “Call to the Stone” highlights the beauty of Earth and how the expansion of civilization has disrupted our ability to connect to the planet. Using a flowing, circular movement vocabulary, Bowen-Saunders reverently explores natural landscapes before she transitions into increasingly sharp, angular choreography in more urban places, depicting the destruction human consumption has caused on the Earth. “I wish to see a culture of conservation and care for things greater than ourselves become the norm,” says Asher Bowen-Saunders, who founded The Waste Free Way to help guide others toward a sustainable lifestyle. “Call to the Stone” was filmed and directed by cinematographer Jesse Bowen-Saunders across Barunggam, Yuggera, Dainggatti, Biripi, Waka Waka, and Bundjalung countries in remembrance of these lands’ original custodians.

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