Dance on Camera in Poland

Screening Program: AFTERNOON OF THE CHIMERAS Daniel Conrad, Canada, 2006, 15 minutes Directed by Daniel Conrad and choreographed by Aszure Barton This film is built like a fugue in ten short movements. The images are lush, in the way that Brueghel and Bosch are lush. The theme, transformation, is expressed by dancers in the roles of chimeras (mythological creatures made of parts of different animals, e.g., centaurs, minotaurs). It was shot in the extreme isolation of Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), where the dancers and crew survival-camped for a month. Here, chimeras cavort in thick moss, volcanic rock, roots, tide pools, seaweed, and sheer cliffs. 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. REINES D’UN JOUR Pascal Magnin, Switzerland, 1996; 28m Six tumbling bodies on mountain slopes of the Alps, caught between Heaven and Earth, among the cows and the villagers. This strikingly visual and sensual film triggered a wave of understanding among dancers when it was shown in Dance on Camera Festival 1997. Marie-Louise Nespolo, Christine Kung choreographed the work and performed with Veronique Ferrero, Roberto Molo, Mikel Aristegui, Antonio Bull. 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?”