VCU Dance is pleased to present the 2015 Dance on Camera film screening, Thursday, September 10, at 8:00 pm at the Grace Street Theater, 934 West Grace Street. Tickets are $8/$5 students, available at the door. Dance on Camera, curated by VCU Dance Professor Martha Curtis, is an annual screening of dance films selected from the Dance Films Association Dance on Camera tour, as well as from independent artists. This year’s selection of films from around the world encompasses intense themes such as mass incarceration, and lighthearted works celebrating the pure love of dance. Additionally, the screening will include the internationally acclaimed film Nora, based on the life of dance artist Nora Chipaumire, who will be visiting VCU Dance for a brief residency in October. Nora is based on true stories of the dancer Nora Chipaumire, who was born in Zimbabwe in 1965. In the film, Nora returns to the landscape of her childhood and takes a journey through some vivid memories of her youth. Using performance and dance, she brings her history of life in a swiftly-moving poem of sound and image. Shot entirely on location in Southern Africa, Nora includes a multitude of local performers and dancers of all ages, from young school children to ancient grandmothers, and much of the music is specially composed by a legend of Zimbabwean music – Thomas Mapfumo. Well Contested Sites (USA 2012), directed by Amie Dowling, explores the issue of mass incarceration and the complex experience faced by the incarcerated. In Daphna Mero’s Washed (Israel 2012), a female laundry worker desperately attempts to abort the fruit of a violent encounter. When the consequences of her action are revealed, her repressed memories reemerge. Also included in the screening are Det Skal Danses Vaek (Denmark 2014): a high-school boy’s infatuation with dance erupts into a full-scale “performance,” in which his classmates become a chorus of movers who catch the fever. Lily Baldwin’s A Juice Box Afternoon (USA 2014), in which, through her own writing, Anne Morrow Lindbergh comes of age, meets Charles Lindbergh, and experiences flight in more ways than one. The first in a new series entitled “The Paperback Movie Project.” Rounding out the screening is the powerful duet Escualo (USA 2014) by the Lombard Twins, a “Dance Scene” set to music by Astor Piazzolla. The annual Dance on Camera Festival is co-presented by Dance Films Association and the Film Society of Lincoln Center with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Dance Films Association continues to support the production, presentation, and preservation of dance films by connecting filmmakers, choreographers, presenters, and audiences worldwide through additional year round programming. Dance on Camera is the first event in VCU Dance’s 35th Anniversary Season. The presenting program of VCU Dance is committed to building and engaging dance audiences in the University and Richmond communities while providing opportunities for artists to present and create work. Recognized by professional dancers and choreographers as “a place where things are happening,” Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Dance and Choreography offers a vibrant and stimulating atmosphere where students prepare for careers in dance.

The Films