Texas Tech Dance on Camera Festival

Friday, April 18, 2008, 8:00pm

Firehouse Theatre
Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts
511 Avenue K
Lubbock, Texas

Program curated by Shawn T Bible, Assistant Professor of Dance

Amelia
Édouard Lock, Canada, 2003; 60m
Intense and taut, this film directed by Montréal's renowned choreographer Édouard Lock is an abstract work for pointe is a powerful interplay of extended intertwining solos, intricate partnering sequences, complexity, and speed. Anchored by intricate partnering, Amelia arrives at full tilt, gathering and dispersing energy with the ferocity of a midsummer storm, alternating its hard-edged encounters with unexpected moments of tender emotion and serenity. The women's pointe work has a classroom sharpness and precision while their arms fly free, as if in flight. Lock designed the film, adapted from his stage work, by precisely choreographing the camera to the performances of the dancers of La La La Human Steps, all within a minimalist environment made of wood and delicately lit by André Turpin. The original score for piano, cello, violin, and voice, is composed by David Lang and set in part to the lyrics of Lou Reed. This amazing dance film has won a slew of awards in Chicago, Lucerne, Los Angeles, Banff and Prague. Lock has created works for The Paris Opera Ballet, the Netherlands Dance Theater and the Dutch National Ballet.

Opium
Miles Lowry and David Ferguson, Canada, 2006; 24m
Suddenly Dance Theatre’s narrative is inspired by a three month episode in the life of the French artist Jean Cocteau (1889-1963). Originally written as a visual poem for the stage by Canadian author Miles Lowry, OPIUM imagines Cocteau’s harrowing stay at a clinic near Paris in 1929, where he hoped for a cure for his addiction to opium. Grania Litwin of the Times-Colonist wrote that OPIUM is “a tight, clever, troubling, moody and intense dance drama that starts out looking like a Masterpiece Theatre, but soon moves into new territory”. Produced in association with Bravo! Canada, a division of CHUM Limited; in collaboration with ARTV.

Caught in Paint
Rita Blitt, USA, 2003, 6m
A film that has been shown at over 60 film festivals nationally and has won seven awards, CAUGHT IN PAINT is a film that brings together the painter Rita Blitt, choreographer David Parsons and his Parsons Dance Company, and photographer Lois Greenfield, in a union of paint, dance and photography. www.ritablitt.com

Minotaur-Ex
Bruno Aveillan, France, 2001, 9m
Inspired by the Greek myth of the Minotaur, this cine-dream brings us into the struggle of a three-faced monster attempting a metamorphosis of his being. Choreographer Philippe Combes worked with a score by Herve Taminiaux. Introduced by dancer Natalia Aveillan cie-cavecanem.com/

Astragalus
Toni Vidaechea, Spain, 2004; 9m
In this winner of VideoDansa competition 2004, a lean, exhausted dancer/choreographer OlgaSasplugas struggles beneath a pool of light. Is she trapped or attempting to escape? Or caught in an endless loop between the two? www.nu2s.org

Fragmentation
Suzon Fuks, Australia, 2007; 5'08
Based on the idea that even though technology links people, it can also fragment their lives. Two guys, absorbed in their morning paper and their personal space “bubble”, somehow manage to find a disjointed connection with one another.

Phoenix Dance
Karina Epperlein, USA, 2006; 23 min
Shortlisted for a 2006 Oscar, this moving and beautiful documentary features Homer Avila, an extraordinary dancer who lost a leg to cancer, as he returns to the stage with the creation of a duet by San Francisco based choreographer Alonzo King. Avila, who died in 2004, danced with Twyla Tharp, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris and Momix.

For more information, contact Shawn T Bible, Assistant Professor of Dance
Theatre and Dance Texas Tech University
Office: Sports Studies Center Rm. 109
Phone: 806.762.8606email: shawn.t.bible@ttu.edu

This program was made possible through DFA's touring program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the members of DFA, NYSCA, and the Susan Braun Trust. To become a touring partner, see the Touring Partnership Page