Dance on Camera Film Festival

The 49th edition of the Dance on Camera Festival presented by Dance Films Association and Film at Lincoln Center runs July 16-18, 2021. The festival makes a long-awaited return to in-person events at the Walter Reade Theater at Film at Lincoln Center along with virtual program.

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Meredith Monk’s Girlchild Diary

The lineup is unveiled for the 43rd edition of the dance-centric film festival, Dance on Camera, taking place January 30 – February 3 in New York City.  The festival opens with the U.S. Premiere of Girlchild Diary, which offers an intimate look at Meredith Monk, a daring composer, singer, filmmaker, choreographer, and director who this year is celebrating her 50th season of creating and performing work in New York. The festival closes with Richard Raymond’s searing Desert Dancer, a dramatic musical feature set against the 2009 riots against the Iranian regime, based on the true story of Afshin Ghaffarian, who dreamed of being a ballet dancer despite a government ban and formed an underground dance group. The film stars Freida Pinto, Reece Ritchie, and Tom Cullen and is choreographed by Akram Khan, who created the opening ceremonies of the recent London Olympic Games.

A number of selections in this year’s festival spotlight the lives of children and teens and how movement and dance factor into their lives’s.  American Cheerleader is an in-depth look at how cheerleading has evolved into an athletic sport that combines physical prowess and musical routines. The engrossing documentary follows two high-school teams as they compete from regional competitions to the Nationals. Norwegian director Kenneth Elvebakk’s heartwarming documentary Ballet Boys follows teenage boys at the Norwegian Ballet School as they navigate the competitive world of dance. Irene Chagall’s Let’s Get the Rhythm: The Life and Times of Mary Mack pays homage to the hand-clapping games of inner-city playgrounds and beyond and follows its background and empowering impact by showcasing three charming 8-year-old girls engaged in the hand-clapping experience. Young Dancemakers (screening for free) spotlights New York–based teens in the Young Dancemakers Company who channel their personal struggles into choreographed works performed around the city.

Some of the films in the lineup spotlight the impact of contemporary dance companies creating eye-popping visual works: Catherine Gund’s Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, hot on the heels of Sheffield Doc Fest and SXSW, follows a motley troupe of dancers who defy the laws of physics to perform daredevil, breathtaking works. David Iverson’s Capturing Grace follows members of the established Mark Morris Dance Group as they join forces with Parkinson’s patients to demonstrate the power of dance to transform and heal. Louis Wallecan’s Dancing Is Living: Benjamin Millepied is an intimate portrait of the founder of L.A. Dance Project (and the newly appointed director of Paris Opera Ballet) as he works with his own company in L.A. and collaborates with a variety of artists, including Lil Buck and Nico Muhly. For opera lovers, there is also Wallecan’s delightful Little Opera, a valentine to the Italian American obsession with the enduring title art form.

FILM DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE 
(Unless noted screenings are at Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street)

Opening Night
Girlchild Diary
Meredith Monk/The House Foundation for the Arts, USA, 2014,  HDCAM, 86m
In her 50th year of creating work that combines voice, movement, and image, Meredith Monk revisits her iconic pieceEducation of a Girlchild for this evocative documentary centering on the 1993 Joyce Theater reunion of that production’s brilliant cast. Girlchild Diary offers a unique look at Monk’s unconventional creative process, interweaving music, photographs, interviews, and performance footage to illuminate a crossover artist still radical after all these years. U.S. Premiere

Screening with:
Letting Go
Lori Petchers & Susan Jacobson, USA, 2014, HDCAM, 4m
Sifting through photos and memories, a woman revisits her past, saying goodbye to what was while contemplating what will be.
Friday, January 30, 8:00pm (Q&A with Meredith Monk and cast member Lanny Harrison)

Closing Night
Desert Dancer
Richard Raymond, UK, 2014, DCP, 104m
Set in Iran, this powerful, incredible yet true story follows the brave ambitions of Afshin Ghaffarian. During the volatile climate of the 2009 presidential election (when many cultural freedoms were threatened), Afshin and some friends (including Elaheh, played by Freida Pinto) risk their lives to form an underground dance company. Through banned online videos they learn from the likes of Michael Jackson and Rudolf Nureyev—icons of dance whose resonance crosses all cultural divides—while also teaching themselves, and in the process embracing their passion for dance and for one another. This special advance screening is courtesy of Relativity Media.
Tuesday, February 3, 8:15pm (Q&A with Richard Raymond)

All That Jazz
Bob Fosse, USA, 1979, DCP, 123m
“It’s showtime, folks!” That’s the refrain of anxiety-ridden and unhealthfully driven choreographer Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) at the center of Fosse’s semi-autobiographical musical extravaganza, also featuring star turns by Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, and Jessica Lange. Scheider is never less than captivating in his portrayal of Gideon, a complicated figure not so secretly patterned after Fosse himself. Long out of circulation, the Oscar-winning tour de force is back on the big screen after a 15-year 4K digital restoration by The Film Foundation.
Sunday, February 1, 5:45pm (Preceded by a panel discussion featuring assistant choreographer Gene Foote, Fosse’s daughter Nicole, and several other Fosse dancers)

American Cheerleader
James Pellerito & David Barba, USA, 2014, DCP, 89m
An in-depth look at how cheerleading has evolved from a sideline activity preceding a football game to an athletic event that highlights physical skills and musical routines—synchronized tumbling, flips, pyramids—unimaginable in the past. This engrossing documentary follows the journey of two high-school teams from regional competitions to the Nationals as they compete for the coveted cheerleading championship. Twelve girls from New Jersey and 12 from Kentucky, empowered by families and devoted coaches, redefine what it means to be an American cheerleader today.
Saturday, January 31, 1:00pm (Q&A with James Pellerito and David Barba)

Ballet Boys
Kenneth Elvebakk, Norway, 2013, HDCAM, 75m
Norwegian with English subtitles
Lukas is a teenager dreaming of success in the rarified world of ballet. Together with pals Syvert and Torgeir he trains at the Norwegian Ballet School. In this heartwarming documentary, the trio navigate the competitive world of dance and their last years of high school, encountering a variety of new challenges and opportunities along the way. New York Premiere

Screening with:
Det Skal Danses Vaek
Maia Elisabeth Sørensen, Denmark, 2014, DCP, 5m
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.
Friday, January 30, 1:00pm

Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity
Catherine Gund, USA, 2014, DCP, 82m
The “Evel Knievel of dance,” Elizabeth Streb pushes her dancers to trade fear for “extreme action” as they walk on walls, spin from cables, and aim for the sky. Director Catherine Gund provides close access to Streb and her daredevil company, allowing viewers to share her life at home, in rehearsal, and on the road, including a breathtaking performance in London just prior to the 2012 Olympics.

Screening with:
Angsters
Benjamin Epps, USA, 2014, HDCAM, 7m
A dance work exploring the anxieties of modern life, set in site-specific locations that incorporate large-scale sculptures and paintings in the Houston area.
Sunday, February 1, 3:20pm (Q&A with Catherine Gund and Elizabeth Streb)

Capturing Grace
David Iverson, USA, 2014, DCP, 60m
When the Mark Morris Dance Group joins forces with Parkinson’s patients, magic happens. Under the guidance of former Morris company dancers Daniel Leventhal and John Heginbotham, this film’s engaging subjects forge a close-knit community, demonstrating art’s power to transform and to heal.

Screening with:
Renewal
Stacy Menchel Kussell, Israel, DCP, 40m
Renewal profiles a group of dancers—the Vertigo Dance Company—in their pioneering eco-arts village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Under the imperative of becoming more sustainable forces, these dancers, many of them extended family, reconsider their art, their values, and their place in the world. U.S. Premiere
Sunday, February 1, 1:00pm (Q&A with David Iverson and cast members)

The Dance of the Sun
Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt, Japan/Sweden, 2013, DCP, 58m
Swedish and Japanese with English subtitles
Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt is a Swedish choreographer immersed in Japanese mythology. She is drawn to the haunting legend that serves as the basis for much of Japan’s dance and theater, both classical and contemporary: The Sun Goddess, who hides in a cave, plunging the word into darkness, until the Goddess of Laughter lures her out with “crazy dancing” and the world returns to light. Dahlstedt’s journey also takes her to Kyoto, where she practices alongside her teacher, the beautiful Nishikawa Senrei. We also meet shrine maidens, a flutist who plays a 600-year-old instrument, transgender artists, and many others. New York Premiere

Screening with:
The Realm of Nothingness
Kathy Rose, USA, 2013, DCP, 7m
A dance of puppet-like figures and mesmerizing forms accompanied by percussive rhythms. Kathy Rose, fascinated by Noh and Japanese theater, creates a magical spectacle in which figures flow and drip in a universe of their own.
*Monday, February 2, 3:30pm
*Venue: Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th Street

Dancing Is Living: Benjamin Millepied
Louis Wallecan, France, 2014, digital projection, 57m
French and English with English subtitles
This engaging documentary chronicles Benjamin Millepied (choreographer of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan), the newly appointed director of the Paris Opera Ballet and founder of L.A. Dance Project, as a globe-trotting ambassador for dance: in rehearsal with his company in L.A., hanging out with Lil Buck, and sharing his ideas about life and dance. New York Premiere

Screening with:
Little Opera
Louis Wallecan, France, 2012, HDCAM, 53m
Italian, French, and English with English subtitles
An intimate look at the historical and cultural roots of the Italian and American kinships with grand opera, featuring profiles of numerous notable figures, from renowned tenor Roberto Alagna to legendary Amato Opera Theatre founder Tony Amato.With the generous support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York. New York Premiere
Saturday, January 31, 8:00pm (Q&A with Louis Wallecan)

Fall to Rise
Jayce Bartok, USA, 2014, DCP, 91m
A multilayered drama following a famous dancer as an injury forces her out of her company and into the uncomfortable role of a new mother. With her world turned upside down, a former company member with her own emotional issues unexpectedly provides her with support. The film stars former Martha Graham principal dancer Katherine Crockett and actress/dancer Daphne Rubin-Vega (the original Mimi in the Broadway musical hit Rent), and features a powerful performance by the charismatic Desmond Richardson (co-director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet). New York Premiere

Screening with:
Stella & Tom
John Resner, USA, 2014, HDCAM, 7m
Stella & Tom features two of American Ballet Theatre’s finest dancers—Stella Abrera and Tom Forster—in a specially choreographed dance on film.
Sunday, February 1, 8:45pm (Q&A with Jayce Bartok and cast members)

Ghost Line and Other Celluloid Antics
A program that features the world premiere of Shona Masarin and Cori Orlinghouse’s new experimental dance short Ghost Line (USA, 2013, DCP, 15m), which merges the rhythmic and comedic timings of silent film and vaudeville with the absurdist impulses of Dada and Surrealism in a kinetic spectacle of light and shadow. This 78-minute program will also include films that illustrate Ghost Line’s affinity with cinema’s past: two early Buster Keaton shorts, The Playhouse (USA, 1921, 35mm, 20m) and Back Stage (USA, 1919, 35mm, 19m); Hans Richter’s Ghosts Before Breakfast (Germany, 1928, digital projection, 9m); and James Broughton’s Four in the Afternoon (USA, 1951, 16mm, 15m). This program will be moderated by former MoMA curator Jon Gartenberg of Gartenberg Media, a film archivist, distributor, and programmer with a special interest in silent and experimental film and film preservation.
*Monday, February 2, 6:00pm (Followed by a discussion with Shona Masarin and Cori Orlinghouse)
*Venue: Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th Street

Here Now with Sally Gross
Douglas Rosenberg, USA, 2014, DCP, 46m
Here Now with Sally Gross documents the achievements of dynamic New York choreographer Sally Gross as she creates a site-specific work with a group of students for an exhibition by the renowned digital artist Leo Villareal. An original member of the Judson Dance Theater in the 1960s, Gross remains a powerful presence as she engages with her young performers and reflects on her enduring career in dance. New York Premiere

Screening with:
Ze’eva Cohen: Creating a Life in Dance
Sharon Kaufman, USA, 2013, HDCAM, 32m
This documentary spans some 70 years in the career of the noted title dancer/choreographer, virtually encompassing all phases of her richly creative life. World Premiere
Tuesday, February 3, 3:00pm

Jiri Kylian: Forgotten Memories
Don Kent & Christian Dumais-Lvowski, France, 2011, HDCAM, 52m
World-renowned Czech choreographer Jiri Kylian, always a reluctant subject, finally agreed to participate in this film, the only record of his personal history and artistic life. Narrated by Kylian, it covers his school days in Prague, as well as his apprenticeship in London and Stuttgart, where he began his choreographic life. Through interviews shot largely in the Netherlands, home of the Nederlands Dans Theater, which he guided for more than 30 years, and gorgeous excerpts of some of his best-known works, a picture emerges of a singular artist whose vision has inspired dancers and choreographers around the globe. U.S. Premiere

Screening with:
Memory House
Ryan Fielding & Loughlan Prior, New Zealand, 2013, DCP, 17m
A number of New Zealand Ballet’s prominent dancers create dramatic solos and duets that evoke memories of the past.U.S. Premiere
Friday, January 30, 6:00pm

Let’s Get the Rhythm: The Life and Times of Mary Mack
Irene Chagall, USA, 2014, DCP, 55m
The wondrous hand-clapping games of inner-city playgrounds in New York City and the remote corners of the world alike become a music genre and a fertile subject for exploration in this delightful homage to the beauty of the beat. Three 8-year-old girls charm with personal insights of the hand-clapping experience, while archival footage collected by Alan Lomax and choice observations by ethnomusicologists, folklorists, and just plain folks stress the empowering impact of the practice on the lives of women.

Screening with:
Bookin’
John Kirkscey, USA, 2013, HDCAM, 17m
Bookin’ explores the idea of dance fusion with two jookers (urban street dancers) and two ballet dancers who merge their styles to a soundtrack that mixes hip-hop beats and cello at a famous Memphis juke joint.
Friday, January 30, 3:15pm (Q&A with Irene Chagall)

Mia, A Dancer’s Journey
Maria Ramas & Kate Johnson, USA, 2013, DCP, 55m
A daughter’s promise to tell her mother’s story serves as the starting point for this documentary on the life of the celebrated Croatian ballerina Mia Slavenska, which becomes a fascinating and moving reflection on historical memory, national identity, and the power of dance. The film retraces Mia’s journey from tumultuous prewar Europe through her emergence as a glamorous ballerina of the Ballets Russes and a star attraction on stages across America, culminating with her return to her homeland. New York Premiere

Screening with:
Hamadryad
Nancy Allison & Paul Allman, USA, 2014, DCP, 8m
Jean Erdman came up with the choreography for “Hamadryad,” a vision of a passionate wood nymph, in 1948 while walking through a forest and hearing a lone flutist practicing Debussy’s “Syrinx.” The filmmakers creatively re-create the Erdman piece using Martha Graham dancer Miki Orihara, taking her from the Manhattan streets to her studio where she rehearses the solo conjuring herself into the very forest where the dance was first imagined.
Saturday, January 31, 3:30pm (Q&A with Maria Ramas and Kate Johnson)

Perpetual Motion: The History of Dance in Catalonia
Isaki Lacuesta, Catalonia, 2013, DCP, 57m
Catalan with English subtitles
A living history of dance in Catalonia—home to legends like Carmen Amaya, the repository of many dance genres, and a region where dance has flourished since the early 19th century. Archival images, interviews, and reconstructions of works bring this rich heritage into the present. Thanks to La Termita Films and Televisió de Catalunya TV3, in collaboration with Arts Santa Monica, Institut Ramon Llull, and Mercat de les Flors. U.S. Premiere

Screening with:
Pas
Frédérique Cournoyer Lessard, Canada, 2014, DCP, 15m
An imaginative exploration of one woman’s relationship to dance through close encounters of the third kind. World Premiere
Tuesday, February 3, 6:00pm (Introduction by Perpetual Motion: The History of Dance in Catalonia choreographer Cesc Gelabert)

Robot
Blanca Li, France, 2015, DCP, 61m
This radical vision from choreographer/director Blanca Li involves eight dancers whose extraordinary flexibility and expressivity are demonstrated as they explore the relationship between humans and machines. They are aided by mechanized instruments shaped like musical notes (created by Maywa Denki, a Japanese artist group), and witty movement by NAO, a playful, highly developed humanoid robot capable of interactivity. A performance that will surprise and amuse anyone interested in how the future of dance might look. U.S. Premiere

Screening with:
Primitive
Tom Rowland, UK, 2013, DCP, 29m
Choreographed and performed by acclaimed contemporary dancer Dane Hurst, this narrative, told entirely through dance, explores creativity, violence, and loss via one man’s intense spiritual journey, cast against the moody backdrop of nocturnal London. U.S. Premiere
*Monday, February 2, 8:30pm (Q&A with Tom Rowland and Dane Hurst)
*Venue: Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 West 65th Street

SHORTS PROGRAM
Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th Street

 This year’s crop of short films is particularly diverse: from dances inspired by Stephen Sondheim and created for the iPhone, to complex stories that unfold through choreography designed to heighten narrative tension. This program demonstrates that there is no shortage of imagination among the filmmakers who seek to explore dance’s relationship to film.

A Juice Box Afternoon
Lily Baldwin, USA, 2014, DCP, 8m
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.” New York Premiere

A Tap Dance on the Pier
Geoffrey Goldberg, USA, 2014, DCP, 2m     
A Tap Dance on the Pier introduces the “tap stalker,” a man who finds unsuspecting people and dances with them. World Premiere

Washed
Daphna Mero, Israel, 2012, DCP, 13m          
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. U.S. Premiere

Dancing Sondheim (selections “Children and Art” & “Every Day a Little Death”)
Richard Daniels, USA, 2014, DCP, 7m
Charting new territory in bringing dance to a wider audience, choreographer Richard Daniels, the creator and producer of “Dances for an iPhone,” continues his pioneering work for the small screen with a new collection of dances created for his iPhone and iPad app. We present two selections from the Dancing Sondheim series : “Children and Art” with Carmen de Lavallade and “Every Day a Little Death” with Deborah Jowitt. World Premiere

Well Contested Sites
Amie Dowling, USA, 2012, DCP, 13m
Developed and shot on Alcatraz Island, this film explores the issue of mass incarceration and the complex experience faced by the incarcerated. New York Premiere

Knock
Thomas Pollard & Nathan Smith, Australia, 2013, DCP, 6m
A man sits alone in a room. Three boys entertain each other with scary stories during a sleepover. The narrative gains momentum as a link becomes apparent between a fictional man’s life in solitude and the future of one boy’s reality. New York Premiere

Vanishing Points
Marites Carino, Canada, 2014, DCP, 9m
Like two molecules unknowingly affecting each other in space and briefly crossing paths, conceptual hip-hop dancers collide and share fleeting moments of intimate synchronicity on the streets of Montreal. New York Premiere

Tagged
Danielle Kipnis, USA, 2014, DCP, 6m           
Graffiti-painted dancers move through the private and public domains of New York City. New York Premiere

Escualo
Martin & Facundo Lombard, USA, 2014, DCP, 4m
A powerful new piece from the Lombard Twins, a “Dance Scene” set to music by Astor Piazzolla. World Premiere

Butterfly
Joey De Guzman, New Zealand, 2014, DCP, 6m
A dark, poetic dance film depicting a girl’s obsession with a butterfly. U.S. Premiere

Embrace
Shantala Pèpe, Belgium/UK, 2014, DCP, 7m 
A man and a woman share a suspended moment of intimacy sitting before a vast ocean. U.S. Premiere
Saturday, January 31, 6:00pm

FREE EVENTS 
Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center Amphitheater, 144 West 65th Street

 Black Ballerina 
Black Ballerina is a documentary-in-progress that uses the overwhelmingly white world of classical ballet to take a fresh look at race, diversity, and inclusion. Narrated by black women of different generations but united in their passion for ballet, the film asks if anything has changed and why diversity in dance matters.
Tuesday, February 3, 4:30pm (Followed by a panel featuring producer/director Frances McElroy, Dance Theater of Harlem artistic director Virginia Johnson, and former Ballets Russes ballerina Raven Wilkinson)

Capturing Motion NYC 
For a fourth year, Dance Films Association invites high-school students throughout the five boroughs to submit dance films between one to five minutes in length for Capturing Motion NYC, a student film competition. This program will feature the top juried films and a panel discussion about the students’ processes. The winning work will be screened on closing night of Dance on Camera.
Friday, January 30, 4:00pm

Filmmaker Services Panel 
Invited organizations dedicated to providing filmmaker services, including Fractured Atlas, AbelCine, DCTV, and VHX, will join Dance on Camera to engage in a lively discussion focused on getting a film made—sharing tactics from pre-production to distribution, and all the important steps in between. In addition to the panel, we are offering a free field trip to AbelCine (609 Greenwich St.) on Monday, February 2, from 12:00pm-2:00pm. RSVP required, open to attending filmmakers and DFA community.
Friday, January 30, 5:00pm

Meet the Artist 
Critically acclaimed immersive theater company Third Rail Projects, creators of the award-winning production Then She Fell, will join Dance on Camera to offer audiences the opportunity to learn about the influence of dance film on their large body of work. Artistic directors Zach Morris, Tom Pearson, and Jennine Willett will be joined by filmmaker Lucas Smith to discuss their recent collaborative film project produced by Dance Films Association with funding received from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Monday, February 2, 5:00pm

Young Dancemakers 
Young Dancemakers Company, founded by Alice Teirstein, is a unique summer dance ensemble of NYC teens dedicated to creating their own original choreography and performing it in concerts citywide. Young Dancemakers (USA, 2014, 28m) follows three members of the company, mentored by Teirstein, as they deal with their personal struggles and ultimately learn to express themselves through dance.
Saturday, January 31, 5:00pm (Followed by a discussion with Young Dancemakers director Greg Vander Veer, Alice Teirstein, and subjects from the film)

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Greg Vander Veer’s Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter.

The 42nd edition of the dance-centric film festival Dance on Camera returns to the Film Society of Lincoln Center for the 18th consecutive year from January 31 to February 4, 2014.  This year’s lineup includes world premieres of opening night’s selection of Greg Vander Veer’s MISS HILL: MAKING DANCE MATTER, a film about influential dance pioneer and administrator Martha Hill and closing night’s selection of Kate Geis’s PAUL TAYLOR: CREATIVE DOMAIN, a privileged look at the choreographer’s process as he makes his 133rd dance.

This year’s diverse lineup also includes a Spotlight on Ice with the New York premiere of Keri Pickett’s lively documentary THE FABULOUS ICE AGE about the glamorous age of big-scale ice spectaculars and a return engagement of ICE THEATRE OF NY with a brand new program featuring appearances by ice skating legends JoJo Starbuck and Dorothy Hamill, as well as ballet maestro Edward Villella with a premiere of his new ice dance “Reveries.” The festival is also hosting the official NY premiere of Fabrice Herrault’s poetic homage to ballet idol Rudolf Nureyev on the 20th anniversary of his death, and a world premiere of Mary Jane Doherty’s SECUNDARIA, an in-depth look at ballet training from the vantage point of one high school class at the famous National Ballet School in Cuba – known for churning out international stars in the dance world. Kersti Grunditz’ THE MAN BEHIND THE THRONE puts the spotlight on the dance world’s best-kept secret, Vincent Paterson who has worked largely behind-the-scenes for Michael Jackson, Madonna, Bjork and more.

Public Screenings and panels will be held at the Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street) and Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 West 65thStreet). 
 
FILM DESCRIPTIONS & SCHEDULE

OPENING NIGHT
WORLD PREMIERE
MISS HILL: MAKING DANCE MATTER (2014) 80m
Director: Greg Vander Veer      
Country: USA        
Miss Hill: Making Dance Matter tells the inspiring and largely unknown story of a woman whose life was defined by her love for dance. Martha Hill emerges as dance’s secret weapon, someone who fought against great odds to establish dance as a legitimate art form in America. Through archival footage, lively interviews with friends and intimates, and rare footage of the spirited subject, the film explores Hills’s arduous path from a Bible Belt childhood in Ohio to the halls of academe at NYU and Bennington College to a position of power and influence as Juilliard’s founding director of dance (1952-1985).  Peppered with anecdotal material delivered by dance notables who knew her, this revelatory story depicts her struggles and successes, including the battle royal that accompanied her move to the Lincoln Center campus.
DIRECTOR GREG VANDER VEER AND ADDITIONAL PANELISTS WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
HOMEGOINGS: A DANCE (2013) 5m
Director: Christine Turner
Country: USA        
Inspired by the award-winning documentary HOMEGOINGS, this original dance piece finds meaning and beauty in the life cycle.
Friday, January 31, 8:00pm
 
CLOSING NIGHT
WORLD PREMIERE
PAUL TAYLOR: CREATIVE DOMAIN (2013) 82m    
Director: Kate Geis           
Country: USA        
Paul Taylor is one of the dance world’s most elusive and admired choreographers. For over 50 years, he has only given glimpses into his creative process, but for his 133rd dance, THREE DUBIOUS MEMORIES, he opens the door and allows the filmmaker into his creative process. The dance he is choreographing is a Rashomon-like exploration of memory, three characters entangled in a relationship, each believing only in his own dark memory of it.  The dominant voice in the documentary is Taylor’s, and it is alternately soothing, demanding and amused. Between the guarded and unguarded moments, the viewer is witness to a mysterious work ethic that has created some of the most iconic modern dances of our time.
DIIRECTOR KATE GEIS AND DANCERS FEATURED IN THE FILM WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Tuesday, February 4, 9:00pm
 

NEW YORK PREMIERE          
ALL THIS CAN HAPPEN (2012) 50m       
Director: Siobhan Davies and David Hinton
Country: UK
A flickering dance of intriguing imagery brings to light the possibilities of ordinary movements from the everyday which appear, evolve and freeze before your eyes. Made entirely from archive photographs and footage from the earliest days of moving image, “All This Can Happen” follows the footsteps of the protagonist from the short story ‘The Walk’ by Robert Walser. Juxtapositions, different speeds and split frame techniques convey the walker’s state of mind as he encounters a world of hilarity, despair and ceaseless variety.  Hinton is an award winning director who has worked with some of the best known names in contemporary dance, including DV8 Physical Theatre, Siobhan Davies, and Russell Maliphant.
Screening with
CROSSWALK  (2013) 4m       
Director: RJ Muna
Country: USA
A crosswalk is a unique place and this short film explores what can happen in it and how it is navigated second by second.  An experimental delight that captures both the routine and the unexpected.
Screening with
DERVISHES (2013) 4m
Diector: RJ Muna
Country: USA
A perfectly calibrated study of movement and physical architecture based on the characteristics of circular movement.
Friday, January 31, 6:15pm
 
NEW YORK PREMIERE
GISELLE (2013) 105m 
Director: Toa Fraser        
Country: New Zealand
Director Toa Fraser brings The Royal New Zealand Ballet to the big screen, capturing their acclaimed production of the ballet classic GISELLE.  Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobberg have re-staged the production (after Petipa) with an eye toward the inherent drama of the tragic romance. The two-act ballet has been reimagined by Fraser who interweaves the filmed stage performance with behind the scenes moments that hint at a romance between the dancers.  ABT principal Gillian Murphy and RNZ’s Qi Huan perform the doomed lovers with impressive conviction and the second act captures the haunting essence of this enduring masterpiece.
Sunday, February 2, 8:00pm
 
WORLD PREMIERE
HÄSTDANS på HOVDALA  (2013) 60m
Director:  David Fishel
Country: USA
Imagine a life devoted to blending the artistry of dance with the physicality of horsemanship! That is exactly what the unconventional choreographer JoAnna Mendl Shaw has done with Equus Projects. Her previous large-scale works for dancers and horses have been produced throughout the United States.  Now, she takes her company to Sweden to work with new elements and new friends in the rural countryside. Ulrike Michels Nord, director of Klinten Kultur, a company of young adults with autism, opens the way for the American choreographer to create a magical piece that expresses the joys and challenges of bringing together unfamiliar beasts (the new horses), trainers, professional dancers and autistic individuals to make a work of art in a mystical setting—the Hovdala castle and library ruin deep in a forest.  The challenge is to accomplish this feat in just 12 days! 
SUBJECT MENDL SHAW AND DANCERS WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
CARRY IT ON…  (2103) 19m
Director: Sharon Leahy
Country: USA
CARRY IT ON… explores the power and potential of place and our relationship to it. A cast of dancers and musicians explore the human need to gather and connect with their environment.
Saturday, February 1, 1:00pm
 
NEW YORK PREMIERE
HOW LIKE AN ANGEL (2012) 46m
Director: Yaron Lifschitz
Country: UK
This bold collaboration of music and movement blends Circa’s exhilarating brand of contemporary circus with the exquisite sound of I Fagiolini’s choral singing.  HOW LIKE AN ANGEL, commissioned by the London 2012 Festival, celebrates the beauty and grandeur of three stunning English cathedrals while displaying the artistry of the circus performers.  Polyphonic Films captures the live performance brilliantly, catching the essence of this ground-breaking collaboration. Film commissioned by The Space in association with BBC.
Screening with
WIDOW  (2013) 13m
Director: Jil Guyon
Country: USA
Features an iconic, enigmatic woman encapsulated in a stark, futuristic environment. Gradually she reveals the evolving mystery of her psychological condition, a shifting tableau of personal loss and the struggle for transcendence.
Tuesday, February 4, 3:00pm
 
NEW YORK PREMIERE
LA PASSION NOUREEV (2013) 56m
Director: Fabrice Herrault
Country: USA
From the moment of his dramatic leap to freedom at Paris’ Bourget Airport in 1961, Rudolf Nureyev was embraced as a ballet idol.  On the 20th anniversary of his death, Fabrice Herrault, a notable NY ballet teacher and film collector trained at the Paris Opera Ballet and the Conservatoire, has assembled an impressionistic tribute film that showcases this Byronic artist in some of his peerless early performances through archival footage, much of it previously unseen, revealing “Rudi” at the peak of his powers.  As director of the Paris Opera Ballet, Nureyev guided the careers or rising stars, among them Sylvie Guillem and Isabelle Guérin.  Former Paris Opera Ballet star, Isabelle Guérin, will join the filmmaker and French dance historian Helene Ciolkovitch, to share memories of her mentor. 
Screening with
OUBLIER LE TEMPS (2012) 5m      
Director: Boroka Nagy
Country: USA
A young woman notices her shadow, which triggers memories of her past love.
Screening with
LOST IN MOTION 2 (2013) 4m
Director: Ben Shirinian  
Country:  Canada
Framed on a highly stylized environment, the film lures the viewer into the world of the performer, brought to life by dancer Heather Ogden, with choreography by Guillaume Coté of the National Ballet of Canada.
Sunday, February 2, 6:00pm
 
NEW YORK PREMIERE
PRIMA (2013) 57m
Director: Tatyana Bronstein    
Country: USA
Prima is moving portrait of Larissa Ponomarenko, prima ballerina of the Boston Ballet, who has recently hung up her pointe shoes to pursue new avenues of self-expression.  Through flashbacks to her journey from a difficult childhood and rigorous ballet training in Russia to her emergence as the prima ballerina of a leading American ballet company, the film captures Larissa’s uniqueness as an artist of many emotional colors.  Now, as she transitions from prima ballerina to mentor to aspiring dancers, she also magically re-invents herself as a dancer, showing a new expressivity and a more modern approach to her art in filmed improvisations in unexpected settings– a field, a forest, even a subway station!
DIRECTOR TATYANA BRONSTEIN WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING. 
Screening with
ME – STORY OF A PERFORMANCE  (2013) 8m
Director: Jopsu Ramu     
Country: Finland
ME: Story of a Performance is an intriguing collaboration between Finland and Japan. Choreographer/dancer Johanna Nuutinen performs a solo piece, which is photographed from different points of view to a haunting score by Jukka Backlund.
Monday, February 3, 3:30pm
 
NEW YORK PREMIERE
SECUNDARIA (2013) 96m    
Director: Mary Jane Doherty   
Country: USA
Why are so many world-class ballet companies relying on Cuban dancers? What is special about their training in a society that offers rare opportunities but with with strings attached?  With curiosity and admirable patience, Mary Jo Doherty  follows one high school class for three years through Cuba’s famous National Ballet School, focusing principally on two teenagers – Mayara, shy but accomplished,  and Gabriele, the equally talented extrovert.  The quietly riveting film offers a privileged in-depth look at the training and home life of these students, culminating in a dramatic crisis when one dancer decides to take charge of her destiny.
DIRECTOR MARY JONE DOHERTY WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Screening with
TIZZY (2013) 3m
Director: Ysaye McKeever
Country: USA
A playful duet between a man and dodge ball, inspired by the form of a 12-bar blues.
Monday, February 3, 6:00pm
 
TAP OR DIE (2013) 62m
Director: Jackie Paré       
Country: USA
For decades tap was a hugely popular performance dance form. But is it in crisis?  This film tells the story of a genre through the prism of Derick Grant, an African American choreographer struggling to bring his hip, rousing show to Broadway.  Mentored by the genre’s giants, Grant says tap has given him a voice. Indeed, his feet have something to say.  A gallery of talented tappers raise their voices and make their moves, expressing their love for a dance form that may be in need of re-invention through role models and community support. Footage of legendary tappers–Bill Robinson, Honi Coles, Gregory Hines and more, adds pizzazz and interviews with hoofers and experts illuminate.
DIRECTOR JACKIE PARE WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING. 
Screening with
TAP TAP TAP (2013) 8m
Director: Kenneth Sherman     
County: Canada
A dance parody of the infamous Republican Senator Larry Craig’s airport washroom sex scandal styled as a 1930’s Busby Berkeley film.
Friday, January 31, 3:30pm
 
NEW YORK PREMIERE
THE FABULOUS ICE AGE (2013) 73m    
Director: Keri Pickett
Country: USA        
The exciting journey begins in 1915 when a young German skater ignites America’s love with dancing on ice. “The Fabulous Ice Age” chronicles a century of theatrical skating, from Berlin’s Charlotte, to America’s Ice Follies, Ice Capades, Holiday on Ice, and the Sonja Henie shows, illustrating how these big spectaculars dominated live entertainment for decades while, simultaneously depicting one particular skater’s quest to share this history. Never before seen footage, photos and rare archival material introduce us to a handful of skaters, producers and entrepreneurs who helped change their world.   
DIRECTOR KERI PICKETT, FIGURE SKATER/PHOTOGRAPHER/ARCHIVIST ROY BLAKEY (“UNCLE ROY”), FIGURE SKATER RICHARD “MR. DEBONAIR” DWYER WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.
Sunday, February 2, 1:00
 
THE MAN BEHIND THE THRONE (2012) 58m
Director: Kersti Grunditz
Country: Sweden
Until now, Vincent Paterson has remained the dance world’s best kept secret, avoiding the spotlight and concentrating on the work itself. So it may come as a surprise to learn that he is, as the film’s title suggests, the Man behind the careers of superstars Michael Jackson and Madonna, in fact, the inventor of some of their defining dance moves, as well as the choreographer who created the ensemble dance numbers for Bjork and dancers in Lars von Trier’s cult classic, Dancer in the Dark.  Through previously unseen rehearsal footage from Paterson’s own private collection and iconic films clips that made history (Smooth Criminal, Blonde Ambition and more), the film looks at the private Vincent. From his family oriented Catholic boyhood in suburban Pennsylvania to the glamor factory of Hollywood and the heady experience of choreographing for Cirque de Soleil’s Viva Elvis!, this is a personal and professional journey to be savored.
DIRECTOR KERSTI GRUNDITZ WILL ATTEND THE SCREENING.   
Screening with 
IT’S A FEELING: DANCING WITH JEFF SELBY (2013) 9m          
Director: Diana Quinones Rivera        
Country: USA
Jeff Selby has found his niche: As a dancer and teacher he inspires others but it could have been different. This engaging short establishes how family support and the love of dance have kept him on track through hard times growing up in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood.  Connecting to the sound of House Music he is moved to create his dynamic trademark New Style Hustle.
Monday, February 3, 8:30pm
 
US PREMIERE
THE UNSEEN SEQUENCE (2013) 69m
Director: Sumantra Ghosal       
Country: India
THE UNSEEN SEQUENCE finds new meanings and renewed vigor in India’s classical dance tradition through one dedicated disciple.  Malavika Sarukkai is a celebrated Bharatanatyam dancer rooted in that tradition but imbued with a uniquely contemporary sensibility that she exerts on this prescribed form, turning each performance into a new, revelatory experience.   As a superb interpreter of Bharatanatyam’s rhythmic and expressive aspects,  she is the perfect guide for this  investigation  of an ancient art that has evolved from temple dance to court entertainment to a new, more universal model.  Beautifully shot in temples and sacred sites, the film blends interviews, historic footage, and performance to create a truly mind enhancing experience. 
INTRODUCTION and Q&A with HARI KRISHNAN, A BESSIE NOMIMATED CHOREOGRAPHER AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF DANCE AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.
Screening with
PAS  (2013)            4m
Director: Charli Brissey & Courtney Harris
Country:  USA
This delightful parody draws upon ballet’s codified steps to embody animal qualities. Pas de chat and pas de cheval are ballet staples but take a look at this!
Friday, January 31, 1:00pm
 

SHORTS PROGRAMS
 
The short form is gaining ground as the ideal platform for exploring the relationship between dance and film.  Whatever the mood, explosive (Carly’s Exit) or provocative (2412); bizarre (Magma) or lyrical (No More Worry, No More Blue); exuberant (Momentum) or whimsical (Drawing Blank), these filmmakers dare to push the envelope in original ways.  The selection includes the concrete and the abstract and reveals that filmmakers and choreographers are partnering in exciting new ways.
Saturday, February 1, 3:30pm
 
2412  (2013) 8m  
Director: John T. Williams        
Country: USA
A highly controversial and thought-provoking film based on the 1984 G. Edward Griffin interview with EX-KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov discussing ideological subversion in the United States.
 
CARLY’S EXIT (2013) 7m
Director: Harry Amies
Country: UK
A dramatic and passionate film about one of life’s darkest subjects:  A friend is in trouble, bent on self-destructing, but can one save her from herself?
 
DRAWING BLANK (2012) 6m
Director: Stefan Verna   
Country: Canada
An artist discovers a magical property inside a discarded ink sketch. A miniature dance partner comes to life through the world of paper and ink.
 
HEALAH DANCING (2013) 5m       
Director: Eve McConnachie      
Country: Scotland
A study in motion as two Scottish Ballet dancers connect and disconnect.  Erik Cavallari and Eve Mutso are the intense couple performing a duet of sensuous contact and electric fury.
 
MAGMA (2010) 6m       
Director: Rannvá Káradóttir & Marianna Mørkøre           
Country: Faroe Islands   
Shot in the extreme landscapes of the remote Faroe Islands far up in the North Atlantic Ocean, free of dialogue or narrative, this film creates a bizarrely hypnotic atmosphere that recalls images from Swedish master filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.
 
MOMENTUM (2012) 7m
Director: Boris Seewald  
Country: Germany
For some it is just an ordinary party snack, but for Patrick a tortilla chip started his moment of self-discovery. Through exuberant dancing he shares his inspiration and invites everyone to participate. Even his mother….”
 
NATURAL SELECTION (2013) 6m
Director: David Fishel     
Country: USA
WORLD PREMIERE
This amusing film explores one woman’s battle against rigid forms. Created for Dances Made to Order.
 
NO MORE WORRY, NO MORE BLUE (2013) 4m
Director: Kathy Rose
Country: USA
Kathy Rose makes magic with her hand-made art.  In this music video, she offers various visual interpretations of a poetic ballad by Greg Boyer. Here, images of water scenes, paper flying, mysterious figures in a surreal fantasy all combine to create a special universe.
 
ROOMS (2013) 6m
Director: Paul Sarvis       
Country: USA
Two lives, a youthful one and an elderly one, are juxtaposed in separate yet interlocking images to suggest a relationship between the two even though one may not exist.
 
RULES OF THE GAME (2013) 9m
Director: Jeff & Rick Kuperman
Country: USA
Trust between four factory workers is severely tested when management turns a watchful eye on them.
 
THE PERFECT DANCE (2013) 9m
Director: Anne Elvedal
Country: Norway
A woman tries to find a rhythm with different men, but fails again and again until she finds her own. A comic yet moving narrative about finding true love.
 

DANCE AND COMMUNITY SHORTS PROGRAM
 
This program is dedicated to those artists who find their inspiration in community. These five short films share some common traits and demonstrate a youthful optimism, as well as a rebellious spirit that once ruled, sadly waned and seems, now, to be springing up in near and distant parts of the globe.  From the rolling hills of West Virginia (Dan’s House) to the rough streets of Dublin’s inner city (The Area), these performers gather to tell their stories or simply express the desire to understand one another despite their differences.
Sunday, February 2, 3:30pm 
 
DAN’S HOUSE  (2012) 20m  
Director: Michelle Fletcher       
Country: USA
Inspired by Dan Wagoner, a choreographer with a unique vision, this film is a valentine to a beloved mentor and the choreographic aesthetic he cultivated during the 25 years he directed his company, Dan Wagoner and Dancers. Filmed on location at his 18th century farm house (no electricity!) in rural West Virginia, dancers, family and friends gather and a trio of performers unite to perform a playful, rambunctious series of dances in beautiful outdoor locations, with Wagoner himself as guiding spirit.
 
GIMP – THE DOCUMENTARY (2011) 14m
Director: Richard Move  
Country: USA
Challenging the prevalent societal precepts about the nature of beauty, the dancer and the dance, this powerful film also makes visible an often invisible demographic, as it captures the creative process, performance and public response to the theatrical dance work “The GIMP Project” by Heidi Latsky Dance. 
 
JE NE SAIS PLUS QUI A FAIT QUOI  (2013) 9m
Director: Antoine Renouard      
Country: France
This intense movement piece with its seemingly unrelated, disparate characters, all expressing a different state of being, grows more compelling in its arc, reflecting both the absurdity and the necessity of attempted unity in a time of global disorder.
 
ONDEK  (2013) 6m
Director: Louis-Martin Charest
Country: Canada
A merchant sailor decides to leave behind a life at sea. As he orchestrates what is to be his last night in the company of his crewmates, dancing becomes the means to imprint this momentous time forever.
 
THE AREA  (2013) 25m
Director: Ríonach Ní Néill & Joe Lee  
Country: Ireland
The Macushla Dance Club for ages 50 and up is a motley group of people from Dublin’s rough and tough north inner city, who share a common love of dancing. Their lives are written on this city’s streets. Buildings may have gone up and got torn down, but they’ve excavated their memories from under car-parks, tenements and half-built ruins to share their lives, loves, losses, and most of all, their irrepressible joy for life. 

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