Deadline (postmarked by) June 5, 2013
Submission Form
Information PDF

dance: made in canada/fait au canada (d:mic/fac) is the only Toronto-based biennial summer festival of contemporary dance. The not-for-profit festival was founded in 2000 by Yvonne Ng under the umbrella of princess productions and since that time, eight festivals of dance: made in canada/fait au canada (d:mic/fac) have been produced. www.princessproductions.ca

This year, we are looking for short dance films (5 minutes maximum) of any dance genre to showcase in the Betty Oliphant Theatre lobby during the festival (August 14-17, 2013). As well as exposing your work to the dance: made in canada/fait au canada audiences, you will receive 1 complimentary ticket to see a program of your choice.

d:mic/fac fills a mid-market niche by presenting culturally-diverse, independent dance artists. These artists work in a general contemporary genre and are often known for self-presenting. Because of its multi-disciplinary nature, d:mic/fac is a excellent choice for both seasoned art aficionados as well as new dance audiences.

Individuals or groups are allowed to submit more than one film.

Please send the following for each film you are submitting by June 5^th, 2013:

Attn: Cara Spooner (Dance Film Submission)
dance: made in canada Festival
476 Parliament Street, Second Floor
Toronto ON M4Z 1P2

On the occasion of its 41st edition, focus on ten video dances selected by the festival DANCE ON CAMERAorganized every year by the very dynamic New York Dance Films Association and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Short films from around the world where dance is revisited by and for the picture.

In participation with Numeridanse.TV, Dance Films Association welcomes you to watch the following short films from the 2013 Dance on Camera Festival until March 6.

Dance Me To the End of Love

By Martha Goddard. Australia, 2012
Mary and John embark on a journey to the end of love. Fraught with indecision and fearful of what happened next, they both struggle to let go but when the moment comes it’s nothing like what they expected. ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’ is a heartfelt, experiential journey that navigates through the universally painful territory of breaking up.

North Horizon

By Thomas Freundlich & Valtteri Raekallio, Finland, 2010
Shot on location in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, NORTH HORIZON combines contemporary dance with the spectacular natural vistas of the high Arctic. In a a silent world of wind, waves and ice, abandoned villages stand at the edge of the northern ocean, home now only to forgotten dreams and the wordless tales of the unknown departed. The film explores these images through the enormous contrasts of scale between the moving human body and the seemingly still, boundless Arctic landscape- a unique artistic and environmental journey from the far edge of the world.

Circling

By Doug Rosenberg, United States, 2012
Circling is a meditation on place, the passing of time and the cyclical nature of life. Featuring renowned choreographer/dancer Sally Gross and shot at locations including architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin, Circling is a poetic rendering of what it means to be deeply at home in both the landscape and the dancing body.

En Avant

By Gabrielle Lamb, United States, 2012
In Fall of 2012, after an 8-year hiatus, the Dance Theatre of Harlem returned to the stage under the direction of founding member and former principal ballerina Virginia Johnson. On the eve of the company’s comeback, filmmaker Gabrielle Lamb, herself a dancer, followed young members of the DTH Ensemble (second company) who aspired to make the transition into the main troupe. In a collage of voice-overs by Ms. Johnson and the dancers with both present-day and archival footage, Ms. Lamb tells the story of the talented artists who have created a unique and resilient American institution.

Brother’s Keeper

By Marta Renzi, United States, 2011
A moody space of dark and light where three young men explore their social, physical and animal natures. In solos, duets and trios, they gradually disrobe, shaking off the gaze of the spectator and emerging as three angelic, solitary and impassioned individuals.

Menuett

By Jukka Rajala-Granstubb, Finland, 2012
A barefooted Finnish dancefilm with folk music. In the 18th century a Franch court dance, the minuett, arrived in Finland. The time-period was very conventional. Feelings couldn’t be expressed openly, men and women kept themselves apart in public. This type of behavior suited the Finns, the people from the forest. In the Minuett dance, the only physical contact between men and women was a humble holding of hands. All the rumbling feelings culminated in that touch.

Moon

By Johanna Witherby, United States, 2012
Two space dancers explore the moon, July 20, 1969.

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Dance Films Association • 48 West 21st St., #907 • New York, NY 10010.
info@dancefilms.org • http://www.dancefilms.org • ph 212.727.0764

With the installations kicking off last night, the first screenings of the 2013 Dance on Camera Film Festival are just a few short hours away! If you have not yet had the opportunity to secure your tickets for the best of dance films from around the world, there are still tickets available for these must-see films. Also, please remember that even films with no advance ticket availability still have standby tickets available, so no need to worry if the film you had your heart set on is no longer ticketing online!

To see the full list of films with advance and standby availability, visit the Film Society of Lincoln Center website.

LADS GO DANCING

Take a trip to Switzerland with this fascinating documentary by Steve Walker, which focusses on the nation’s cultural institutions of the Bern: Ballet and the Bern Metropolitan Theatre. The film features two dancers striving to become choreographers, and the Kummerbuben, a hard rock band that longs to perform with the dancers. In addition to featuring some of the most innovative moments of staging and performance that you may see all year, the film is a tribute to the relationship between music and dance which, however unusual the pairing or how difficult it is to forge, can heighten the power of both.

LOS TARANTOS

A perfect complement to the work of Shirley Clarke being shown throughout the festival, Los Tarantos is both very much of its 1960s era, and utterly timeless in its depiction of passion and star-crossed love. Taking as its inspiration Romeo and Juliet and, some suspect, its more modern urban update West Side Story, Francisco Rovira Beleta brings a fresh take on the tale through distinctive Catalan gitano dance. Although the film was nominated for a 1963 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, it is rarely screened, so this is a very special opportunity to see the groundbreaking work in theaters.

SUSPENSE

A rarely screened 40s film noir that lives up to its evocative title, Suspense follows the exploits of an out-of-work drifter butting heads with a glamorous ice dancer (played by real-life English skater Belita) when her husband hires him to manage her musical review. The real problems begin when the two start to get along; the husband becomes suspicious and decides to seek revenge. Like an early noir version of The Cutting Edge, director Frank Tuttle’s Suspense delights in the romantic friction between two very different characters, but supports the story with truly exceptional choreography. Along with Ice Theatre of New York, Suspense is part of this year’s sidebar on the art of ice dancing.

VIRTUOSI

This festival is not only an opportunity to see dance from eras and cultures that are less familiar to us, but also to delve into the lives of dancers driven by ambition, discipline, and passion. Sue Healey take the cult of personality approach, following eight dancers from her native New Zealand as they struggle to make it. All of her subjects moved from New Zealand at a young age to pursue dance in cities around the world. FIlled with beautiful performances in unexpected locations, Virtuosi celebrates the strength required to make it in a physically and emotionally demanding industry, in addition to the power of dance itself.

And the closing night film!

TRASH DANCE

In many ways, Andrew Garrison’s film about an Austin-based choreographer named Allison Orr who organizes a dance performance with her local garbage collectors (and their trucks and cranes!) is a perfect example of why the Dance on Camera Festival exists. This truly inspiring film shows that dance is not just an activity for professional perfromance, but a part of the every day rhythm and motion of life. Trash Dance also screens with the short film Sparkle, by documentary veterans Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar, which focusses on another strong woman in dance: Sheri “Sparkle” Williams, the heart of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company for nearly 40 years.

By Farihah Zaman

Purchase Tickets to these Films

LADS GO DANCING
Buy Tickets: Saturday February 2, 6:30pm

LOS TARANTOS
Buy Tickets: Sunday February 3, 3:30pm

VIRTUOSI
Buy Tickets: Monday February 4, 3:30pm

SUSPENSE
Buy Tickets: Tuesday February 5, 3;30pm

TRASH DANCE
Buy Tickets: Tuesday February 5, 8:00pm

THE DANCING CAMERA OF SHIRLEY CLARKE

Shirley Clarke is a dancer’s dancer and a filmmaker’s filmmaker, the rare bird that can not only successfully transition from one challenging art to another, but see the line between the two as indistinct, allowing one to freely inform the other. After studying modern dance in the method of Martha Graham and Hanya Holm, Clarke made the leap to filmmaking, and because she never sails at half mast, became a member of the Independent Filmmakers of America in New York City. Although she never gained quite as much fame as some of the other members, which included the likes of Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, and Jonas Mekas, there has been renewed interest in Clarke’s vital, brave, astonishing work.

Her first films dealt very directly with dance; her 1953 short Dance in the Sun adapted the choreography of Daniel Nagrin (and won an award from the The New York Dance Film Society!), and A Moment in Love was her attempt to depict “pure dance,” by filming abstracted shapes and colors. As her career continued, however, and many of her films moved away from taking dance as their express subject, its influence grew more subtle. The connection between Clarke’s filmmaking and her dance background might not be immediately apparent in films like, well, The Connection, especially given the importance of language in her best known films. The secret, however, is that the nonverbal is as telling as the verbal in these films; the motion of the camera, the rhythm of the edit, these choices continue to reveal Clarke’s background, and set her apart from other avant-garde and independent directors of her time.

An episode of the French television show Cinema of our Time entitled Rome Is Burning, screening as part of the Dance on Camera lineup this coming weekend, speaks with Clarke at a small get together honoring her film Portrait of Jason (1967). In one scene Clarke discusses the main element in her still evolving style of filming, the fluid movement of the camera. “I wanted a camera that went with the actors…if an actor moved I sort of moved with them, and we sort of played this ballet together.” While Portait of Jason was a documentary, many of Clarke’s other films toed the line between narrative and documentary, drawing on the tension between objective reality and artistic license. “Every shot was made with a preconceived style,” she says, and explained that the actors “improvise within a very set form.” What Clarke is describing is not unlike the style of modern dance she studied; the attempt to capture something organic, spontaneous, with the strictures of choreography and physical form. Even her discussion of the editing process belies a mind that processes the world through form and structure. “Editing became the most fantastic fun I’ve had in years,” she said, assigning parts of the film ‘A’ ‘B’ and ‘AA’ and ‘BB’ as if describing the structure of a song, and delighting in the shifting relationships between these parts.

Part of what makes Rome is Burning so special is not only its rarity, or the way in which it perfectly captured its time, but the fact that the setup of the interview, and the method of filming, emulates Clarke’s work. Clarke is not isolated in a chair in front of a white screen, but surrounded by friends (friends like Jacques Rivette and Yoko Ono!) lounging, fiddling with film cameras and occasionally chiming in. The camera moves fairly freely around the room, taking some unusual positions that Clarke might in her films – slightly behind her, for example – and at one point even uses her distinct technique of moving to a more abstract form and going out of focus. This is used to transition to a scene from Portrait of Jason that begins purposefully out of focus as well. Another truly remarkable moment is when Clarke wonders aloud if in the future, art will not only be practiced by artists, but by many, many more people, “not just as consumers but as participants.” How visionary to have a sense of this coming change, even before the invention of digital filmmaking technology! If only Clarke knew that, just a few decades later, we live in such a time.

By Farihah Zaman

Screening of SHIRLEY CLARKE: IN OUR TIME with shorts
Buy Tickets: Friday February 1, 5:30pm

Screening of ROME IS BURNING with shorts
Buy Tickets: Saturday February 2, 3:30pm

There is a cadre of filmmakers who have cut their teeth directing music videos (consider, for example, Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry, whose music video work was so compelling it inspired a series of DVDs in the early aughts), and whose subsequent work seems rooted in, or at least informed by, that attention to music, rhythm, and dance, both literal and in terms of cinematography. Dance and music are inextricably linked, often dependent on one another, which explains why some of the most enduringly popular videos feature elaborately choreographed numbers like those in Bjork’s Quiet Song or Feist’s 1234.

Brooklyn-based filmmaker Alma Har’el made what many consider to be a leap from directing music videos to directing feature length films, but her recent work with Sigur Rós, a beautiful video for Fjögur píanó (screening at the Dance on Camera festival this Saturday), shows she must continue to be inspired by the medium, and doesn’t plan on leaving it behind while pursuing feature work. Although this video is particularly driven by dance and choreography, many of her past music videos have employed dance as well, and have involved collaboration with choreographers like JoAnn Jansen and Ryan Heffington. Har’el even applied her talent for utilizing music and dance to her 2011 documentary Bombay Beach; bringing more staged elements to the doc genre requires courage, skill, and dedication to the idea that despite their creative subjectivity, music and movement sometimes can depict reality better than complete objectivity.

Here are five music videos directed by Har’el that show that same dedication:

BEIRUT: Elephant Gun

One of several collaborations between Har’el and Zach Condon of the popular indie band Beirut, the Elephant Gun video is a giddy modern dance carnival that feels far more expansive than the single room that the bulk of it was filmed in.  Har’el makes fantastic use of the constrictions of the frame, having dancers leap, seemingly effortlessly, in and out of frame while the camera pulls out such that we see more leaping than landing, creating a sense of zero gravity through the several layers of dynamic action. The constant rain of confetti helps add to the general feeling of celebration.

BAFONDO TANGO CLUB: Pa Bailar

In a slightly more manic nod to Fosse, the video begins with girls bedecked in a pop pink riot of color using simplified, stylized movements to convey working in a nail salon, showcasing Har’el’s ability to tell a story through dance rather than through lyric, as the updated tango tune is purely instrumental. The video then transitions into more traditional tango choreography, first with the girls of the salon, then by delving into the recent memory of one its clients. Har’el, in both the direction of the camera and the pace of editing (she often edits or co-edits her videos), cleverly adapts more technical cinematic decisions to suit the style of dance being performed.

WE ARE THE WORLD: Clay Stones

Har’el responded to the industrial electronic vibe of this song not with a more obvious futuristic interpretation, but with visions of a primal, tribal society who use dance as a part of daily ritual, and in doing so taps into a darker side than we might be used to seeing in some of her better known videos. The unconventional dance begins with abstracted, flesh-colored legging-clad knees in close up, drifting slowly up and down with the rhythm. Rather than perform with strict, set choreography, the dancers in the video exhibit looser, more organic movements that feel unexpected, and at times even unnerving.

FANFARLO: Harold T. Wilkins

On her website (www.almaharel.com), Har’el says that working on this video was the first time she was able to convince a band to learn an entire dance, and the result feels like a magical, mesmerizing night at summer camp. The piece consists of a series of small gestures, like a quivering hand or counting fingers, seen by flickering lantern light, and this romantic lighting is used as one of the key choreographic elements, shining from underneath a white T-shirt, casting strange moving shadows, dancing on a singer’s face in a rhythmic pattern, or glistening on the surface of the water.

NIKKA COSTA: Stuck to You

A with the Harold T. Wilkins video, Har’el employs the method of having dancers (here seen in profile in front of brightly colored screens, emphasizing shape over individual facial expressions) perform an entire combination, then cutting them up so that there is a new dancer taking over on each beat. The technique is uniquely suited to film in that it uses editing to create the impression that each dancer is being replaced by the next in a seamless flow. Costa herself gets to move freestyle while singing this funky song, and the movements of the musicians backing her up, whether drumming or bobbing to the music, become stylized, purposefully dance-like, when similarly isolated in profile.

By Farihah Zaman

MEET THE ARTIST: ALMA HAR’EL
Free Event: Saturday February 2, 7:00pm
25CPW Gallery 

Screening of SIGUR ROS: VIDEO MUSIC PROGRAM
Buy Tickets: Saturday February 2, 8:30pm
Francesca Beale Theater

SIGOR ROS: VIDEO MUSIC AFTER PARTY
Following the screening! Come get your dance on!

Dance Films Association • 48 West 21st St., #907 • New York, NY 10010.
info@dancefilms.org • http://www.dancefilms.org • ph 212.727.0764

Busby Berkeley is not just not just a pioneer and an icon, he is a highly evocative verb. The mere mention of a “Busby Berkeley number,” conjures images of row upon row of impeccable dancers, lavishly dressed and impressively arranged, creating something larger than themselves. Berkeley not only perfected but invented many of the dance hallmarks of big musical sequences, like the top shot, dancers making geometric shapes, and refracting an image to appear infinite. His whole approach to dance and choreography was specifically crafted for, and in fact only able to exist in, film. In 1971 the French television program Cineastes of our Time did an insightful episode about Berkeley in which he discusses his life and work. This rare documentary on one of the greatest artists of the 20th century will be screening as part of the Dance on Camera Festival’s lineup, and features some of Berkeley’s most astounding numbers.

Many films over the years, musicals and otherwise, have paid tribute to Berkeley’s distinctive style; here is a sampling for your viewing pleasure:

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Be Our Guest)

Arguably the biggest showstopper of Disney’s 1994 treatment of the classic fairy tale, the spectacular and memorable “Be Our Guest” number features practically all of the techniques employed by Berkeley in his musical comedies. As a teapot, candlestick, and clock welcome Belle to the house of the Beast with a lively song, other household items dance and swirl around them like so many chorus girls, forming geometric shapes filmed from above, rising onto multilayered platforms, and breaking into refracted copies of themselves. Of course, they had the benefit of being animated.

INDIAN JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (Anything Goes)

Often described as the weakest link in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones franchise, the opening of Temple of Doom is nonetheless a delicious feat of Berkeley homage, immediately setting the film’s grandiose yet campy tone. A showgirl in a Hong Kong nightclub sings “Anything Goes,” supported by the soaring harmony and sparkling sequins of numerous chorus girls. The scene even captures Berkeley’s fearless ability to transport the audience to an entirely different space within one number via a moment in which Kate Capshaw (Spielberg’s real-life wife) disappears into a red mist, emerging into a wide-shot tap dancing formation, glitter raining down as the camera pulls back through a series of high kicks.

THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER (Miss Piggy’s Fantasy)

No one understands the value of meticulously choreographed excess like Miss Piggy; so of course her ultimate show biz fantasy is starring in an elaborate synchronized swimming number in the style of “By a Waterfall,” in Footlight Parade (Berkeley created and directed the film’s musical numbers). Miss Piggy’s version begins with a fashion show, a classic Berkeley-era trope, before whisking her away to a giant pool full of her very own dancing, swimming chorus girls. Particularly appropriate for the homage are the camera’s dynamic pans across the pool and gliding zoom-outs, as well as cutaways from the whole dance to Miss Piggy, close-up, mugging for the underwater camera.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI (Gutterballs)

The Dude experiences some “Busby Berkeley Dreams,” (a la the Magnetic Fields song), complete with movie credits, in the form of a musical-within-the-film entitled “Gutterballs.” In this trippy, saucy take on the Berkeley number, Jeff Bridges’ character glides through a bowling-themed fantasy, descending a long stairway towards dancers in head gear consisting of fanned-out bowling pins that recall Ziegfield’s famous feathered headdresses. As he arrives the dancers create a formation around him, filmed in a top shot, rotating and pulling the headdresses in and out to create the pulsating motion so typical of a Berkeley arrangement.

ANNIE (Let’s Go To The Movies)

In the 1981 film version of the beloved family musical Annie, a trip to the movie theater becomes a lesson in Berkeley. Even Annie’s dog stands agog as the long column of theater ushers guide her into a dynamic movie that happens to feature the familiar synchronized leg tapping and kicking, pans and close-ups of dancers on a mirrored, multi-level stage, and even an oversized, neon camera with a tableau of dancers contained within, another trick of the visually playful Berkeley. This sequence is a particularly wonderful tribute because it not only mimics his style, but exalts in the magic of cinema, his chosen medium. Mr. Berkeley would undoubtedly approve.

By Farihah Zaman

Screening of CINEASTES OF OUR TIMES: BUSBY BERKELEY
Buy Tickets: Monday February 4, 1:30pm
Francesca Beale Theater