FilmFest by Rogue Dancer: In the STUDIO Edition
(March 2022)
The studio is our place of worship.
Its where we examined our core, trained, found love and our muses. The home away from home and in some cases, it is one and the same. The origin of our creative selves. When resources are slim, time is short, we find ourselves opportunistic with friends and space. ART still needs to be manifest, crafted into existence inside the familiar walls of the studio… the home… the home studio…
Coming Soon - April 3nd, 2022
Your Playbill
Arcadia
film by Charly & Eriel Santagado (c) 2021 USA
Arcadia is a screendance inspired by the Greek god Pan and his homeland, Arcadia. In the film, the dancers embody mythological woodland creatures, and their mix of sprightly and earthy movement is complemented by the jovial chaos of Scotch Club, a neoclassical song by Victor Plumettaz. Charly Santagado - Director, Choreographer & Dancer Eriel Santagado - Director, Choreographer & Dancer Myles Langston - Dancer Harry Sukonik - Dancer Brian Curry - Videographer
Blank City
film by Damian Siqueiros (c) 2021 CANADA
In this video experimentation, choreographer and performer José Navas engages in dialogue in two parts with the city -Montreal-, in the multiple layers of his choreographic writing – vulnerability, grace, and inner peace.
Along with long-time collaborators Jamie Wright, François Richard and Lauren Semeschuk, José Navas has joined forces with director Damian Siqueiros to explore this artistic avenue.
About José Navas/Compagnie Flak
Artistic director of Compagnie Flak, founded in 1995, José Navas carries out his overall artistic approach in three distinct ways: he dances with intensity in solo shows charged with emotion, he constructs abstract and captivating group pieces, and he creates pieces of contemporary ballet with classicism and sensitivity.
As a soloist, his performances reveal a richly sensitive maturity – a quality that has earned him invitations to dance on the most
prestigious local and international stages. In 2013, surrounded by a hundred musicians from the Brussels Philharmonic, he performed his solo version of The Rite of Spring.
Invited as choreographer in residence for Ballet BC, he contributed 3 pieces to that company’s repertoire, including an iconoclastic version of Giselle, and made a commission for the prestigious National Ballet of Canada. In 2015, he created Dénouement/Auflösung for Staatstheater Mainz in Germany.
An Associate Dance Artist of the National Arts Centre, José Navas has presented his work in 30 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Damian Siqueiros - Director
José Navas - Writer & Dancer
Compagnie Flak - Producer
François Richard - Dancer
Jamie Wright - Dancer
Lauren Semeschuk - Dancer
Stopgap in Stop Motion
Film by Stephen Featherstone (c) 2017 UK
Photographs of performers in a disabled and non-disabled dance company come to life. The individual artists dance out of the photos and across table tops until the whole company meet and perform in unison. Completed in 2016, this is a promotional film for Stopgap Dance Company.
Stephen Featherstone - Director, Writer & Producer
Stopgap Dance Company - Dancers
Reading the Body
film by Paige Fraser (c) 2021 USA
A An exhilarating blend of poetry and dance, inspired by the challenges and possibilities of disability. Four dancers with disability create original choreography based on poetry from Bellevue Literary Review, set to music commissioned for this special event, plus ASL interpretation.
Danielle Ofri - Producer
Lesmah J. Fraser - Producer
Lin Lombardi - Producer
Paige Fraser - Creative Director & Dancer
Samantha Figgins - Dancer
Jerron Herman - Dancer
Quemuel Arroyo (Q) - Dancer
Tanner Probus - Videographer
Saleem Hue Penny - Narrator
Randall Riley - Composer
Carly Zimmermann - ASL Interpretation
Waiting Room
film by Didier MULLERAS (c) 2021 FRANCE
This film is a dance exploration of Dylan Thomas poem “Love in the Asylum”, performed by 15 dancers, gathered in an enclosed space. Waiting rooms are places far from regular time and space notions, where everyone can get lost in inner thoughts. A place that opens up to inner madness, a dedicated space to explore fake solitudes. A place of silence, stillness, of imposed physical distance.
Didier MULLERAS - Director
studios ESPACE 13 Béziers France - Producer
Dancers - Dorothée Audrin, Natacha Toquet, Hélène Azema Chantal Vidal Herrera, Sylvie Cassotti, Aurélie Bouin, Sandrine Estupina, Domy Carlesso, Andréa Carlesso, Michèle Denrée, Eléonore Raviscioni, Sophie Morières Florence Bresson, Lucie Taupin & Sandrine Remy
Distinction. or lack of
film by Natalie Gotter (c) 2021 USA
Natalie Gotter - Director
Heather Dutton - Dancer
Abigail Linnemeyer - Dancer
The Winter Ghost
film by Mark Esper (c) 2021 GERMANY
A house spirit appears inside an empty living space after it has been been vacated. However, it's not only the building's memories that she has for company...
"The past never leaves us;
there’s always an atmosphere to consider;
you wound the air as cleanly as you can the flesh…"
From 'In The Dream House' by Carmen Maria Machado
The Winter Ghost - A short, beguiling dance mystery.
Mark Esper - Director, Writer & Producer
Katja Vaghi - Producer & Dancer
Ashley Webb - Music / Sound Design
Enclosure
film by Debbie Mausner (c) 2020 USA
"Enclosure" is a solo film that explores the intimacy (with oneself) of creating alone in a studio, and exploring the perceived boundaries of one's physical space and also the boundaries of one’s own inner creative space.
Debbie Mausner - Director, Choreographer & Dancer
Joshua Bryant-Gainer - Producer
I'm Special
film by Ricardo Serrano (c) 2019 SPAIN
The opposite of success is not failure, it's giving up before you even try. True success is found in every moment that you have the courage to pursue your dreams.
Ricardo Serrano - Director, Writer & Producer
Salud Pérez - Dancer
Resisters
film by Gemma Crowe (c) 2019 CANADA
Resisters are a group of movers who confront layered forces of restriction, fragmented sovereignty, and the capacity of empathy. This work is about progress and the process of overcoming resistance. It's the cathartic catalyst for a new way for us to feel, and be, together.
Gemma Crowe - Direston, Writer, Choreographer, Editor & Producer
Dancers - Silene Razo, Marina Robinson, Rachel Maddock, Jennifer Aoki, Amanda Collinge & Carolina Bergonzoni
Sebastian Laskowski - Composer
Michelle Moore - Director of Photography
PERSEVERE
film by Luciana Johnson (c) 2021 USA
This is a dance film exploration into what it would be like to create without ever having met the collaborators in person. Rehearsal were held on zoom and the choreographer was separated from the filming process only to later choreograph with the film itself.
The resulting work explores the anxiety, confusion, resilience, strength and overall perseverance embraced during the covid-19 pandemic. It’s about finding the strength from within to keep going on.
Luciana Johnson - Dancer
Claire Sersun - Director, Choreographer & Editor
Rein Short - Camera Operator
Deep Blue from www.bensound.com - Music
First They Came
film by Stephen Butler (c) 2019 USA
"first they came" is inspired by the rise of the alt-right in the wake of trump's 2016 election. the film uses modern and contemporary choreography to explore the ways that toxic ideas can spread like a deadly parasite. it is a meditation of the hive mind.
Steven Butler - Director
Makeda Easter - Writer
Dancers - Amber Amrhein, April Torres, Miho Ueda, Mindy Guerra, Sam Sanders, Sheri Alzeerah & Victoria Hernandez
Bad
film by Cherie Carson, David Creech (c) 2021 USA
This film is an aerial dance solo on an open sling . Set to the music of George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” performed by Carolyn Wonderland.
Cherie Carson - Director & Producer
David Creech - Director
Helium Valentine - Dancer
Carolyn Wonderland - Music