Jennifer Abod, PhD wins DFA’s 2009 Finishing Funds Grant DFA is pleased to announce that Jennifer Abod, PhD is the recipient of the Finishing Funds Grant, for her film THE PASSIONATE PURSUITS OF ANGELA BOWEN. Abod is a scholar of Intercultural Media Education and Women’s Studies, and has taught at the University of Massachusetts at Worcester State College and Hoffstra University. She worked in broadcasting and documentaries for 19 years, and hosted a daily talk show in Connecticut. Her previous films, The Edge of Each Other’s Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde and Look Us In The Eye: The Women’s Project have won numerous awards. THE PASSIONATE PURSUITS OF ANGELA BOWEN profiles the life of a black dancer from her training in the 1950’s, her dancing in New York and Europe, and her return to her community to teach new generations. Bowen’s teacher, MacArthur Genius Award Winner Emma Lewis, exposed her to the transformative power of dance, changing Bowen from an awkward ugly duckling into the school’s star dancer. From the strong foundation of discipline earned at Lewis’s studio, Bowen faced the trials of becoming a professional dancer as a black woman before the Civil Rights Movement. The completed film will also focus on Bowen’s role as an educator and her contributions to her community. CUTTING RHYTHMS: SHAPING THE FILMEDIT Karen Pearlman. Burlington,MA: Focal Press/Elsevier Book Review by Deborah S Greenhut, PhD Readers of Dance on Camera Journal will no doubt be delighted to see the appearance of Karen Pearlman’s groundbreaking tome, Cutting Rhythms, derived from her doctoral thesis completed at University of Technology, Sydney, three chapters of which originally appeared in these pages. Pearlman’s own multifaceted experiences in dance, film, editing, and teaching have enhanced her ability to take a novel and comprehensive look at the editing process-from the inside out. A professional dancer for over 20 years, Pearlman (photo left) studied in New York before beginning an international performance career. Since 2006, Dr. Pearlman has been head of Screen Studies at the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School. Cutting Rhythms, the product of a keen thinker, was born of a need to explain rhythm to students of film-editing. Dr. Pearlman has previously staked out the challenge of pinning down the hybrid form, the dance film; in this book, she pioneers in the larger territory of “theories about rhythm in film editing—what it is, how it is shaped, and what it is for” (Preface, p.xvii) by applying her extensive knowledge of dance and other disciplines to create a vocabulary for the art of editing. Good editing is not an accident, and Pearlman’s book diminishes the unknowns by seeking precision—in the form of explainable results—in the practice. Not satisfied with the commonly expressed, but ambiguous, notion that rhythm is “intuitive,” and, therefore, not explainable, Cutting Rhythms studies film editors’ intelligence about rhythm from the points of view of numerous disciplines to explain their gut feelings about the craft. In fact, what makes this book so satisfactory is Pearlman’s quest for usefulness. She draws material from psychology, philosophy, dance, neurology, film theory, kinesiology, and other fields. Combined with her own clear understanding of the craft, her synthesis offers many insights to the reader. Pearlman offers not rules, but, instead, practical questions that editors can ask when an edit “feels” wrong. (Preface, p. xxi.) Neurological and somatic responses are often critical to Pearlman’s thinking about rhythm in film. By placing an appreciation of rhythm at the core of her task, Dr. Pearlman takes a cognitive look at how an interdisciplinary approach— particularly through a knowledge of dance and dance-making activities— can help a film editor to decide and explain cutting decisions. By design, Cutting Rhythms includes questions rather than rules, in addition to case studies, definitions and examples, plus a history of ideas to substantiate the notions of rhythm that Pearlman develops. Chapter 1 comprises an inquiry into intuition that centers on the author’s particularly keen appreciation of the role of kinaesthesia in her appreciation of rhythm. Chapter 2 makes explicit the author’s connection between editing and choreography, a useful wellspring for the language she uses to help editors understand and shape rhythm in Chapters 3-6. Pearlman adds an exploration of emotional rhythm in Chapter 7, drawing from actors’ notions of movement as exemplified by Meyerhold’s cycle of preparation, action, and resting activities. Pearlman turns her focus to the rhythm of events in Chapter 8; in Chapter 9, she reviews styles; in 10, devices. Chapter 11 presents a pragmatic assessment of two types of scenes: “two-handers” and chases. Pearlman presents her conclusions succinctly in Chapter 12. The book also includes an excellent bibliography and useful index of topics, people, processes, and devices. Some readers might also find it useful to see an appendix listing the author’s many helpful questions, but, because these evolve organically from the material discussed in each chapter, it seems more satisfying to discover the questions in context. A particularly noteworthy contribution appears in Pearlman’s discussion of “kinaesthetic empathy” (pp. 138-139), which helps her to describe the editor’s sense of rhythm as a neurological and experiential connection with the film in progress. Consciously or not, the editor’s own breathing and body rhythms are harnessed in decisions about where to cut and where to flow. Body memory, an important concept for dancers, applies to editing rhythm no less than to dancing in Pearlman’s schema. Moreover, in addition to analyzing the decision-making process, Pearlman offers practical questions to guide editors when invention lags. Case studies complement the picture of how her theories can be used to explain satisfying cutting decisions made by means of great editorial intuitions in the past—including, in Chapter 11, Pearlman’s new take on the editing of a key scene in GONE WITH THE WIND, and a critical review of such diverse films as THE FRENCH CONNECTION, TERMINATOR 2, and POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE. Chapter 12 offers succinct conclusions. Cutting Rhythms is a beautifully written and highly practical book. Pearlman’s activities are disarmingly simple to undertake, making it an engaging textbook. The range includes simple demonstrations, such as noticing and charting the rhythms of one’s own everyday activities to the more challenging film-specific tasks of composing action sequences by structuring cuts on paper prior to filming. For students well-acquainted with film theory, there’s an excellent synthesis and estimation of international theorists. For novices to that field, her readable and focused discussions make a great introduction to that subject, particularly her application of the work of Sergei Eisenstein on film form, and V. I. Pudovkin on technique as applied to the rhythm of cutting. Purpose driven research sets up an ambitious question—what is rhythm? One aspect of the answer appears on page 80: “Rhythm in film editing is time, energy, and movement shaped by timing, pacing, and trajectory phrasing for the purpose of creating cycles of tension and release.” But reading that rich sentence satisfies only a part of the reader’s curiosity. Pearlman’s book cuts a satisfying path through the larger wilderness of rhythm by offering us useful questions and satisfying demonstrations in a readable, balanced presentation by a fascinating mind. After you read it, you will feel very much at home in a new country: the Rhythm of Film. Dr. Deborah S. Greenhut teaches writing at New Jersey City University. She serves on the board of Jennifer Muller/The Works, for whom she is developing a film on technique. WHAT MOVES YOU? 48 Hour Challenge Creating a Community by Celia Rowlson-Hall DFA’s 48 Hour Challenge: What Moves You? internet contest was created to spark creativity, response and collaboration in a short period of time. It also provided those in the dance community who might not have explored dance film an opportunity to do so on a specific subject. The surprising thing we discovered was the instant international community that was created by dancers all over the world. As they responded to what was affecting them- from the passing of Walter Cronkite to the ban of underwear advertising in Ho Chi Minh City – the different styles choreographers use in dance and film were illuminated to us. Also we were educated about news happening all over the world. Dance arose out of necessity; before we had words to communicate we moved our bodies to express ourselves. The articles dancers responded to came to us in different languages, yet the dance they spoke was universal. Now in a world connected by the Internet, our audience is instantly wider and more accessible for sharing expression and information through dance. Why isn’t there more communication and collaboration with dancers across the world? It’s our way to speak out, be heard, get political, and incite change. The news never stops, so why should we? Speeches, marches and bills change the world, why can’t dances? What needs to happen first is the cultivation of community. Dance Films Association provides the opportunity for dancers, choreographers and collaborators to meet and share their work, bringing to light issues that should be addressed by all. Winners of DFA’s 48 Hour Challenge Gold Award: AND THAT’S THE WAY IT IS by David Fishel From NYPOST: Cronkite Dead at 92. The most trusted man in America dies and it ends an era of “trust” in the United States. This video explores the ramifications of this news legend’s passing and the symbolic gesture which ends a news media era. Fishel (b. 1980 in Rochester, Minnesota) is probably best known for his video blog, DaveyDanceBlog. A 2003 graduate from the University of Iowa, Fishel has worked with Hans Breder, Rural Route Films, Jill Sigman/Thinkdance, and The Hatch-Billops Collection In New York. Currently, he is director of post production for CollegeHumor. Silver Award: DAYLIGHTING by Alex Springer, Xan and Ian Burley Source: Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times: “Peeling Back Pavement to Expose Watery Havens” and “In Seoul, An Ancient Stream Restored.” Bronze Award: release by Brea Cali Source: USA Today, Friday, July 17, 2009 “Entrepreneurial nation” by Amy Wilkinson Bronze Award: GAFFE by Marisa C. Hayes & Franck Boulègue Source: “NASA Lost Moon Footage, But Hollywood Restores It” Finalist: MOONWALKER MOONWALKER by Yara Travieso In the past, we used to look up at the stars, now we only look at one star. Even as we approach the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first moonwalk, the media focuses on the death of an entertainer. Finalist: TAO JONES by Christopher Perricelli An educated, single man tries his best to earn a living, yet yearns to stay centered in the awareness of his highest self. Article: “Former NASCAR Mechanic Talks About Battle With Depression,” from WSOCTV.com, posted on July 15, 2009. Initiated by dancer and filmmaker Celia Rowlson-Hall, and sponsored by DFA, the 48 Hour Challenge provided cash prizes to the four winners, and complimentary DFA memberships for the two finalists. For photos, more quotes from the filmmakers, links to the winning entries and the articles that inspired them, visit http://dancefilms.org/WHATMOVESYOU. html. Can I Be Canadian? by Marta Renzi For 10 jam-packed days in Toronto, Ontario during the June Dance for the Camera workshop with director David Hinton, I was. Hinton is probably best known as the director of prize-winning dance films with DV8 (STRANGE FISH and DEAD DREAMS OF MONOCHROME MEN), Wendy Houston (TOUCHED) and most recently co-director of NORA with Alla Kovgan (www.movementrevolutionafrica.com). He recently received a Screen Fellowship from SouthEast Dance in Brighton. Hinton is also a brilliant teacher, whose daily lectures offered a thorough analysis of how the two languages of film and dance intersect. Beginning with the underlying assumption that “content is more important than form,” Hinton screened his own work – as well as the work of others, such as works by Billie Cowie/Liz Agiss (MOTION CONTROL), Spike Jonze, Rosemary Lee (BOY), Dziga Vertov (THE MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA) to illustrate 3 approaches to dance/film: Begin with a previously choreographed dance (example: STRANGE FISH) Create the “structure of action” simultaneously in dance and in film (example: TOUCHED) “Harvest” movement, creating the structure of action in the editing room. (example: BIRDS) But rather than summarizing the lectures, here are a few memorable paraphrases from the master: You can regard the screen as a canvas (filled with movement) or a window (what’s not seen?) The world exists already. In what order will the camera reveal it? Film is nimble in time, confined by linearity. Unlike the human eye, the camera can’t do wide and close at the same time. But film can contain action that you don’t see, that’s implied. His analysis of editing is also useful. As soon as you make any edit, you are working with 4 rhythms: Rhythm inherent in the movement Order of the shots Length of the edit Pattern of edits throughout the film. In addition to well-organized equipment and facilities at our home base at Ryerson Colllege – Mac laptops with Final Cut Pro, dance studios, a black box theater – several young “facilitators” aided our every step. Each afternoon, we had specific exercises (for example: a 6-shot portrait, shot in 3 spaces, with 3 shot sizes, edited immediately after). Extraordinarily capable film students from Humber College were with us ready to provide expertise as needed, whether on issues related to camera, sound, uploading footage and/or editing, and sensitive to the varying needs of each participant. These students were paid (remember, this is Canada!) as were the 15 dancers available for the participants’ final projects. Hinton himself was generously hands-on, guiding these projects at every stage, working long hours, encouraging disciplined self-criticism without imposing his own aesthetic. Congratulations to CanAsian International Dance Festival (whose Artistic Director, Denise Fujiwara took the workshop), to Karen and Alan Kaeja of Kaeja Dance (also participants) and to the Canada Council on the Arts, who helped make it all possible. Marta Renzi, a dance/filmmaker, is President of DFA’s Board of Directors. The Pilgrims Progress: Michael Jackson’s Art Through Dance on Film by Mark Allan Davis “The desire to be a pilgrim is deeply rooted in human nature (Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. 1, p. 3), we see ourselves as strangers who wander through foreign lands, seeking to unite with something precious we have lost.” Suddenly, the music halts. The silence is as piercing as the music was percussive and tense. A white-suited stranger stands center, lit brightly from above. Behind him smoky silhouettes float near the walls. This speakeasy set in a warehouse has windows high above that cast a dim, bluish light. Ghoulish figures creep towards the man as if he were a magnet. Somnambulant, they glide with extremities supple and gyrating. The man nods his head repeatedly summoning the throng closer. Their prayers and chanting, at first soft, escalate to shouting. Suddenly, without a bobble nor flinch, their heads all snap. The light changes abruptly, the scene is charged with a communal spirit. Was this a moment from the late-Pina Bausch’s Café Mueller? Perhaps Alvin Ailey’s Blues Suite? Or maybe George Balanchine’s Act II Slaughter on Tenth Avenue ballet?” None of the above. This moment, in question, is the centerpiece of the 9.30 minute film SMOOTH CRIMINAL in Michael Jackson’s full-length musical film MOONWALKER (1988). Lorraine Fields, a veteran of Jackson’s videos as well as Assistant Choreographer to Lester Wilson on SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, witnessed first hand Michael Jackson’s abilities as a dance artist, choreographer, conceptualist and above all else, a musician. For Fields, Michael had a “multi-dimensional vision for dance. His work ethic was beyond refuting. To work with him was to truly understand what the love of dance means. From the inception of an idea to the execution of it, he was a perfectionist. He would always dance full out!” She recalls that Jackson created an environment and work ethic “that made us all work so hard that it brought my dancing to whole new level.” For Fields, Michael had a “multi-dimensional vision for dance. His work ethic was beyond refuting. To work with him was to truly understand what the love of dance means. From the inception of an idea to the execution of it, he was a perfectionist. He would always dance full out!” She recalls that Jackson created an environment and work ethic “that made us all work so hard that it brought my dancing to whole new level.” Michael Jackson’s body of work on film is extraordinary. He had no predecessors or “act to follow” in his rhythm and blues, African-American-marginalized-paradigm. And as the “cute little black boy who could sing his “wha’s name off,” he found himself stuck in a niche from which all he could envision was escape. Motown resident choreographer and vaudeville veteran Cholly Atkins– who had single handedly codified the elegant, contemporary, Motown moves of The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes and Gladys Knight and The Pips—had given the Jackson Five their smooth, synchronized steps. Under his tutelage they found discipline, mastered their unison and found the direct path to showmanship of the first order. Eleven-year-old Michael Jackson appeared on Diana Ross’ first television special, “Diana,” crooning a Frank Sinatra standard, holding a trench coat draped over his young shoulders, wearing a disheveled suit and a fedora propped up on his mighty Afro. He also performed a cool “player” in a witty sketch with Diana Ross as woman scorned. Jackson demonstrated his wonderfully natural comic timing. Jackson was learning, while working with the best of the best in show business. The everyman, lilting posture of Sinatra, the swaggering jive of Sammy Davis, the boozy, casual-elegance of Dean Martin, the sliding syncopation of James Brown, Chubby Checker, Jackie Wilson and Honi Coles, and the glib, irreverence of Jack Benny; these influences were ingrained in his performance-consciousness before he hit puberty! Being cast in the role of The Scarecrow in the feature film version of the Broadway hit THE WIZ, directed by Sidney Lumet and co-starring Diana Ross, also had a powerful affect on Jackson. The legendary Quincy Jones directed, arranged, conducted and produced Charlie Smalls’ score. This first introductory collaboration is well known to be profoundly relevant to Jackson’s musical trajectory. It was, however, an exasperating directorial choice that fired the flames of his passion for dance on film. In the Broadway production, the Scarecrow, like Ray Bolger in the 1939 film, slips and slides wobbly-kneed into splits, frolicking and cavorting. Bolger was a well-known dancing star of the 1930s stage and screen, and Hinton Battle, who originated the Broadway role, was also a stellar, classically trained dancer. For the feature film of THE WIZ, the biggest-budgeted, disco-soul musical, they had Michael Jackson! Quincy Jones wrote a new song especially for Jackson’s take on the Scarecrow role, a rollicking soul-stirrer called “You Can’t Win.” The director, Sidney Lumet, famous for directing gritty dramas like 12 ANGRY MEN, SERPICO, and DOG DAY AFTERNOON, had never directed a musical. He chose to stage Jackson’s Scarecrow musical number as a soliloquy choreographed by Louis Johnson. Jackson is placed immobile on a pole while the hungry, jiving crows tease and mock him. They sing and boogie around him, and he laments his station on “This Here Pole.” Jackson looks anguished as he stares down at them. I say Jackson, not The Scarecrow, because art is most certainly imitating life in that musical number. Dramatically, perhaps this was ingenious, but for millions, it appeared a waste of talent. The few scenes where he does cut loose are breathtaking, especially the sequence when he and Diana Ross play, run and frolic across a bridge paved with yellow bricks to the funky bass in “Ease on Down the Road.” When shooting was completed on THE WIZ, Jackson and Quincy Jones set out to record Jackson’s first solo album, Off the Wall, on Epic. The effortless musicality of Off the Wall far surpasses THRILLER. Upon listening to the first bass thumps of the stellar “Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough,” and to the panting fury of “Working Day and Night,” hordes took to the dance floor, record stores. His fans welcomed a mature artist coming into his own. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences were not as impressed. For all his talent, for all his abilities as a songwriter and musician, Jackson and Jones’ historical first record only garnered a single award: Best R & B Vocal Performance for the song “Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough.” For Jackson, this was catastrophic. He was furious. It’s been said he kicked in his tv when he found out he’d “won just a single Grammy Award.” Jackson vowed that he would become the greatest entertainer the world had ever known. He began work on THRILLER, staking his life on its success. As fate would have it, MTV was emerging while he was in the studio a second time with friend and collaborator Quincy Jones. Jackson moved into this next chapter of his life and career with a white heat intensity. Jackson was a lover of movies, in particular the films of MGM and Disney determined to make them the way he wanted. Growing up in Hollywood provided him not only proximity to movie magic, but he also had at his fingertips Los Angeles’ wealth of talent, ingenuity and creativity. During the shooting of THRILLER, Lorraine Fields was in awe of Jackson’s focus. She remembers, “At first, I thought it was because he was a Virgo-but there was more to him than just that sole distinction, he made you feel you had to dance with him, never behind him. Always with him.” Fields flanked him; along with fellow dancer Michelle Simmons as one the ‘zombies’ in the THRILLER dance break sequence. Choreographer Michael Peters wanted his two strongest dancers to flank Jackson on each side. Jackson brought his ideas from inspiration, to recording, to producing, choreographing and starring in the film THRILLER. MICHAEL JACKSON’S “THRILLER” was an event on MTV. Having one’s name before the title is large business. THRILLER, like AN AMERICAN IN PARIS or SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, set a standard for cinematic artistry. Jackson set the bar for the era of Music Video as film. Working with director Martin Scorcese, Jackson approached the filming of BAD with similar zeal. Scorcese shot the non-singing portions in black and white, giving it a gritty pixilated look similar to that in his MEAN STREETS and switched to color for the musical portion. Jackson portrays a Harlem youth, Daryl, who attends an upstate, private school, challenged by his homeboys to prove he is still “bad.” This peer pressure and coarse New York street scene pave the way for what Bad choreographer Jeffrey Daniels confirmed to be an homage to WEST SIDE STORY. The dancing in the subway station is emblematic of the WEST SIDE STORY number “Cool.” The gang marching towards the camera as it pulls back in a long dolly shot; the pique a la seconde grand battement; the crouching, fingersnapping, knee-tucked leaps; the shouts staking claim to the streets; and lastly the bourees with arms outstretched– all honor Jerome Robbins’ genius and propel the music video genre forward. Jackson was playing by his rules but with great respect to what had come before. Jackson stands strong at the door of the SMOOTH CRIMINAL speakeasy, a pronouncement that he is in control in a club where violence and danger lurks. But like Astaire’s character in the “Girl Hunt Ballet” and Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) in GUYS AND DOLLS, luck, flash and a keen eye for the ladies brings him to a dame in distress. Jackson moves through the set and choreography with pinpoint precision. The influence of Astaire and Kelly is clear, but the ingenuity and strength with which Jackson revives a long-gone style is a marvel. Jackson injected his art with passion and courage, coercing the industry nay-sayers (and they were many), as well as his collaborators. He was aware of Fred Astaire’s relentless “get it right at any cost” rehearsal ethic. Astaire was a perfectionist– gracious, but a perfectionist. Jackson was the same. He wanted everyone to commune within the same dynamism, the same muse. He could hear rhythms and polyrhythms, and could make others hear them as well. Of the music-less sequence in SMOOTH CRIMINAL, Lorraine Fields exhorts, “Michael asked us all to close our eyes and move towards him. Whatever our character needed to say or do was relevant. It should simply come from our character’s soul. It was very organic, that sequence. He wanted it to be very honest.” Fields felt it was Jackson who made her a stronger dancer. She refers to him as ‘the conductor.” While some may disregard the viability of his work, his relevance and impact in dance on film is unparalled. Fred Astaire said that Jackson was one of the greatest dancers. “Ever.” A version of the song SMOOTH CRIMINAL was used as the score for an edited version of the “Girl Hunt Ballet,” starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charrise. Luckily, Michael Jackson’s work on film can be enjoyed, analyzed and compared for generations. Like other greats who have inspired us with astonishing displays of dance and cinematic magic, Jackson, too, has a body of work and a legacy that will continue to enamor and cajole our spirits. We have grown to view the world of dance differently because of his efforts– a pilgrimʼs great victory over incredible odds. Mark Allan Davis danced with the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company, on Broadway as an original cast member of “The Lion King”, and he is a US Figure Skating Association Gold Medalist in Ice Dancing. He is an avid film buff, dance and theater critic and historian. He has taught, choreographed and directed internationally. He holds a MFA in Dramatic Literature from Smith College and wrote a drama based on the friendship of writers Lorraine Hansberry and James Baldwin and their involvement with the Kennedy Administration called “Pantheonʼs Edge.“ Certamen de Coreografia Bugos-New York shows concern for its community Evidence that the Spanish government is intent on keeping spirits high despite the shakey economy was ubiquitous this summer. Sidewalks were being torn up outside the grand old theatre-turned hotel that served as the center for the visiting jury and guests for the 8th Certamen de Coreografia Burgos-New York (July 27-31, 2009). The Mayor of Burgos, Juan Carlos Aparicio, proudly welcomed everyone to the Choreography Competition and to his delightful city which he hopes will be the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2016. Unfortunately one turbulent sight in Burgos was caused by a bomb placed by Basque terrorists during this year’s festival. The organizers of the competition, Alberto Estebanez Rodriquez, Carlota de Luis Mazagatos and Sara Saiz Oyarvide created a still of the destruction to show in the theatre before the performances to show their solidarity with the victims of that tragedy. The Certamen team also made special efforts to recognize the passing of Michael Jackson and Pina Bausch by commissioning DFA to create a video homage to show before the outdoor showing of Brigitte Kramer and Jorg Jeshel’s 2008 documentary URBAN BALLET. When Merce Cunningham passed away, they once again took the time to create their own video homage to Merce to show before the first performances. Supported by Ministerio de Cultura de Espana, Caja Circulo, Caja Burgos, Fundacion Autor/SGAE, Premio R.C.H., the Certamen de Coreografia offers generous prizes: 25,500 Euros, divided into 5 prizes for the modern dance category, 6,000 euros for the Hip Hop, 1,500 Euros for the Grafitti competition which also served as a backdrop for the outdoor hop hop performances, 9,000 Euros for the wild and beautiful Danza Vertical performances dangling from a 10 story building. Dueling same sex duets might have been an unspoken theme of the festival, making the one heterosexual duet seem brazenly conventional. The hip hop, which drew an enormous crowd, had a lazy lyrical quality with few stabs at virtuosity. In place of explosive energy, the hip hop offered sunny family fare. The Danza Vertical category, though, is thrilling in both its conception, the range of interpretation, and its beauty. Last year’s winner TODO CONCUERDA by David Gutierrez Photo by Jesus Vallinas was performed again to everyone’s amazement. A photo exhibit by Gerardo Sanz, also arranged by the Certamen, lingers in the mind. Its indelible images are each a reminder of how poignant dance -theatre can be. See his images on his site.The winners of these year’s competition which ran from may be viewed by visiting ciudaddeladanza.com/certamen/certamen.html