BECOMING
Joseph Johnson Camí & Ayelen Liberona, Canada, 2009; 8M

An ancient woman moves like a praying mantis as she blends gracefully through changing landscapes. She leaps through a cornfield to lure Man into one final battle.  See trailer.

BEGUINE

Douwe Dijkstra, Netherlands, 2009, 4:44
(Nominated for Jury Prize for Best Short 2010)

One man’s response to losing his lover, a surreal short based on a poem by Giza Ritschl.

CHAMAME
Silvina Szperling, Argentina, 2008; 9M

A delirious, chameleon woman gets carried away by the Paraná River stream. She becomes one with the plants or the fish; is at times a heroin and at times a victim, until she is rescued by a fisherman.

CHLOES

Lea Fulton and Greg King, USA, 2009; 5M

Two women negotiate the confines of a sleek, modern bus stop shelter on a gritty urban street at night.

CINÉTICA
Ana Cembrero Coca, Spain, 2008; 25M

(Jury Winner Prize for Best Short 2010)

In this emotional journey, this film shows through the body the ambiguity of a real and imaginary world where a woman searches, dances, fights or plays, without separating what is lived and what is dreamed. Director of photography and music composer Jorge Piquer Rodriguez and the set designer Blanca Añón. Distributed by Playtime Audiovisuals.

DANSE MACABRE
Pedro Pires, Canada, 2009; 9M

The director, who worked with Robert Lepage on this stunning short writes, “For a period of time, while we believe it to be perfectly still, lifeless flesh responds, stirs and contorts in a final macabre ballet. Are these spasms merely erratic motions or do they echo the chaotic twists and turns of a past life?”

EN TUS BRAZOS
Edouard Jouret, Matthieu Landour, Fx Goby, France, 2006; 4M

Marvelously accurate tango animated with great style.

ENTANGLEMENT THEORY
Richard James Allen, Karen Pearlman & Gary Hayes, Australia, 2009: 10M

A busy dancing man takes a nap in two realities. His live self dreams and his avatar self dreams. Neither reality is quite so simple when they wake.

GABRIELLE
Stephanie Weber Biron, Canada, 2009: 4M

A little girl discovers a praxinoscope, where she observes animated images of a ballerina. The animated image transforms into a real dancer who transports us from Paris to Montreal in a surrealistic magical world.

JACKIE & JUDY
Phil Harder, USA, 2009; 4M

An ode to Canadian animator, Norman McLaren’s Pas De Deux, the New York based choreographers Rosanne Chamecki and Andrea Lerner choreographed, and performed their silhouettes which become multiplied by their momentum.

See interview on the making of Jackie and Judy.

Little Ease [outside the box]
ami ipapo and matt tarr, USA, 2008, 6:53M
 (Nominated for Jury Prize for Best Short 2010)
A new take on a classic piece of choreography conceived in 1985 by extreme action pioneer Elizabeth Streb. Through the use of the camera, we remove obstacles to the conversation between performer, environment and witness, taking this inspiring and athletic movement out of its typical context.  See trailer.

THE LAST MARTINI
Vickie Mendoza, USA, 2009; 6:16m
(Nominated for Jury Prize for Best Short)

Inspired by the noir films of the 1940s and 1950s and the posters that publicized them, “The Last Martini” plays out the rain-soaked reverie of a man whose psyche becomes tangled in a broken dance of passion and heartbreak.

PINK NAVIGATOR
Naomi Stikeman; Canada, 2009; 6M

Choreographer Crystal Pite explores themes of birth, death, renewal, and the freedom found through reconnecting with one’s body.

With the support of Bravo! FACT.

RAPTURE
Noemie Lafrance, USA, 2008; 6M

Celebrating the opening of Frank Gehry’s  Fisher Center at Bard College in 2008, dancers defy gravity and scale, rush up and down the hills of a metallic desert against the empty sky.

ROMEO & JULIET BEFORE PARTING
Jay Field, Canada, 2009, 5m

Set to the Prokoviev score, an innovative animation spins around 2 dancers.   Produced by Bravo!FACT

SHE
Kathy Rose, USA, 2009; 4m

An insectoid fantasy adapted from a live performance into a mesmerizing short using puppetry, collage, and dance.

SUNSCREEN SERENADE
Kriota Willberg, USA, 2009, 5:30m
(Nominated for Jury Prize for Best Short 2010)
This innovative homage to Busby Berkeley celebrates the merits of skin protection. An EMPAC DANCE MOViES Commission 2008, supported by The Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts – Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA.

THREE’S A CROWD
Andy Wood, UK, 2007; 4:48m

Shot in one continuous take, the rough and ready hand-held camera improvises within the dance, an active participant
in a carefree duet. See teaser.

TRASH DANCE
Oliver Fergusson-Taylor, 2008, UK, 1m

Hip hop deconstruction of trash heap.

Documentaries from DFA’s 2010 Dance on Camera Festival

BREATH MADE VISIBLE
Ruedi Gerber, USA, 2009; 80M

A stunning, inspiring account of one of the most important cultural icons in modern dance. Anna Halprin, the American dance pioneer who has helped redefine our notion of modern art with her belief in dance’s power to teach, heal, and transform at all ages of life. This cinematic portrait blends recent interviews with archival footage. See trailer

DANCING ACROSS BORDERS
Anne Bass, USA, 2008; 90M

Sokvannara Sar  (Sy) was a young, gifted dancer living with his family in Cambodia when he was discovered by Anne Bass, an American enthusiast and supporter of ballet. The two of them set out on a risky journey from Angor Wat to New York City, where Sy dedicated himself to learning an alien art under the tutelage of the master teacher, Olga Kostritzky at the School of American Ballet.  See trailer.
Buy now.

FEET ON THE GROUND/LE MOLLET DE LA DANSEUSE
Marie-Pascale Lescot, France, 2009; 52M

For 10 years in the 1980s, the director danced professionally. She quit dancing until her son took his first steps. Then, questions arose: Where does dance come from? What makes us dance? Spiderman, Fred Astaire, Swatch watches and stubborn calves provide some clues.
See trailer.

FORTY YEARS OF ONE  NIGHT STANDS
Jeff McKay, Canada, 2008; 72M

Born out of nothing in the middle of nowhere, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) set the ballet world on prairie fire. From Flin Flon to Moscow, it wowed audiences and critics alike with its youth, vitality and innocent excitement. Through the diverse voices of RWB company members—past and present—40 Years of One Night Stands recounts the saga of the obsessive commitment and vision of those who brought the lofty art of ballet to the people. See trailer.

KEEP DANCING
Douglas Turnbaugh and Gregory Vander Veer, USA; 18M

Friends since the Broadway run of The Follies in 2001, Marge Champion and Donald Saddler still dance together in a studio twice a week. See trailer.

MEREDITH MONK: INNER VOICE
Babeth M. VanLoo, USA; 82M

A Buddhist Foundation documentary on the much- admired composer, choreographer, filmmaker Meredith Monk with excerpts from her films. Buy now.

NEW YORK DANCE: States of Performance
Michael Blackwood, USA, 2009, 97M

New York Dance: States of Performance is the latest in Michael Blackwood’s trilogy on the state of contemporary dance. His first exploration the 1980Making Dances, curated by dance scholar Marcia B. Siegel, which focused on the first generation of postmodernists–Douglas Dunn, Lucinda Childs, Meredeith Monk, David Gordon and Sara Rudner, documenting their work and ideas. The second film, made in 1988, featured Stephen Petronio, Molissa Fenley, Bill T. Jones (with Arnie Zane), and Wendy Perron, among the first generation of postmodern choreographers, and was curated by dance writer Sally Banes. In 2010, Blackwood explores new currents for the new decade with New York Dance, curated by dance critic Gia Kourlas. The film features Christopher Wheeldon, Jennifer Monson, Sara Michelson, John Jasperse, Ralph Lemon, Beth Gill and Ann Liv Young, who express their ideas and dance aesthetic in rehearsal and performance. Michael Blackwood Productions.

NRITYAGRAM: FOR THE LOVE OF DANCE
Nan Melville, USA, 2009, 26M

This painterly portrait of an idyllic dance village near Bangalore offers a taste of the Indian dance style, Odissi. Protima Bedi institutionalized classical Indian dance through the founding of Nrityagram; a “gurukul” where students could dance and live in close proximity with their master guru. The internationally renowned Nrityagram Dance Ensemble continues to expand on Protima’s legacy; lead dancer and choreographer, Surupa Sen and Odissi Gurukul Director, Bijayini Satpathy have expanded the language of the traditional Odissi dance through the incorporation of choreographic techniques adapted from world dance. The Ensemble continues to push the boundaries of Indian dance and to perform to worldwide acclaim. See teaser. Distributed by Nan Melville

ONE STEP AT A TIME
Clifton Raphael, USA, 2008, 60M

The Jenks High School Film and TV Department created with the support of Jenks Public Schools a documentary portrait of their regional ballet company, Tulsa Ballet. By following a season of Tulsa Ballet, “One Step at a Time” explores the process of artistic creation–through personal profiles of and interviews with dancers and choreographers.

URBAN BALLET
Brigitte Kramer & Jorg Jeshel, 2008, Germany, 52M

A site-specific, witty tour of contemporary dance today including 10 dance companies, all shot in Berlin: Dresden Semper Oper Ballett, Dave St. Pierre, Membros Cia de Danca, Akram Khan Company, Tecktonick, Hiroaki Umeda, Boris Charmatz, Meg Stuart & Jeremy Wade, Nasser Martin-Gousset, Les Slovaks Dance Collective, Olivier Dubois, Jefta van Dinter & Mette Ingvartsen

WHERE THE DANCE IS
Marta Renzi, USA, 2009, 16m

In May of 2009, choreographer Doug Elkins worked with 8 students from Beacon High School in New York City. This documentary follows the process of their rehearsals, as the kids gain confidence, build a community – and are entertained by the humor and hyperactive wit of their teacher. See Trailer.