FilmFest by Rogue Dancer: Must B Sed
(August 2022)
There are some who believe that messages spoken through the arts are the only way to change the world. Dancers, choreographers & filmmakers, through sound, images & movement, tap into communication that is beyond words… hoping for pause, absorption and thought. And in that space, there is the potential for betterment and beauty in oneself and for the world.
and then… sometimes there are word too.
This month, join me in celebrating works with a message, DANCE Filmmakers with something to say.
August 26th - September 11, 2022
«»dance for the camera», «video dance», «cine dance», «screendance», – may seem somewhat interchangeable, they are, in actuality, quite specific. Each term speaks to a particular combination of performance and materiality, and each sites the dual properties of their hybridized identities in an order that signifies the relative importance of the parts.” - Douglas Rosenberg, Screendance
☯☯☯
«»dance for the camera», «video dance», «cine dance», «screendance», – may seem somewhat interchangeable, they are, in actuality, quite specific. Each term speaks to a particular combination of performance and materiality, and each sites the dual properties of their hybridized identities in an order that signifies the relative importance of the parts.” - Douglas Rosenberg, Screendance ☯☯☯
“We think the only way to change the worlds is through ART & we appreciate our audiences more than you know. Thank you for experiencing the DANCE with us, please enjoy this month’s event!
Click on the picture below to access this month’s SHOWCASE. ”
— Jennifer Scully-Thurston, Rogue Dancer Creator & Curator
Your Playbill
This Car Up
film by Ari Christopher (c) 2021 USA
“This Car Up” is a film by Tulsa Modern Movement commissioned for the Greenwood Art Project and Bloomberg Philanthropies to activate civic healing around the 100-year mark of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The film explores the nature of perception by looking at the story of Sarah Page and David “Dick” Rowland and their possible interaction in the Drexel Building elevator, the catalyzing event of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. In the mix are questions about the politics of these two bodies together (White woman and Black man) and America’s general paranoia about these two bodies in contact. In the face of ambiguity about what happened in the elevator, Choreographer Ari Christopher sees a certainty about perception: “What is true for a person is heavily influenced by their position in society and the accompanying fears, resentments, and beliefs — crafted and delivered by our storytellers and meaning-makers.”
Ari Christopher - Choreography & Concept
Jessica Vokoun - Director of Photography, Costumes & Editor
Tulsa Modern - Movement Producer
Greenwood Art Project - Producer
Kevyn Butler - Dancer
Roma Catania - Dancer
Adam Crossman - Music
Christa Patrick - Costumes
How the World is Painted
film by Mia Fortier (c) 2020 CANADA
A visual rollercoaster of emotions describing the human experience painted by people of different backgrounds.
Mia Fortier - Director, Writer & Producer
Krista White - Dancer
Charles Saxton - Dancer
Melissa Buluran - Dancer
Katie Green - Dancer
Maw Jaw
film by Megan Lowe (c) 2021 USA
Megan Lowe Dances presents "Maw Jaw," a site-specific dance film journey that takes place outside in public spaces around San Francisco’s Chinatown—activating benches, railings, poles, stairs, and play structures—inviting passersby to witness the creative process, enhancing cross-generational community engagement, and inspiring interest in dance as a tool to engage with the environment/people around us. This film explores mixed-race Asian American experiences, and Asian American Pacific Islander place-making/community building.
Megan Lowe - Director, Choreographer, Dancer, Videographer & Editor
Zachary Abelson - Music
Joshua Abelson - Music Producer
Maurice Ramirez - Videographer
Johnny Huy Nguyen - Dancer
Claudine Naganuma - Dancer
Melissa Lewis - Dancer
Raymond Yu - Community
Yee Lam Yu - Community
Choi Ung Yu - Community
Cindy Zhang - Community
Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center - Co-Presentors
Clear Creek
film by Kate Elias & Ellen Smith Ahern (c) 2019 USA
A dust storm, a shoot out and endless horizons. Two women dance through iconic western images and into something new: a moving portrait of home, land and memory as illuminated by the voices of a rural Wyoming community. Kate Elias - Director, Choreographer & Dancer Ellen Smith Ahern - Director, Choreographer & Dancer Tori Lawrence - Cinematopher/Editor Vicki Brown - Composer Lynne & Mike Latham - Community Voices Billie Little - Community Voices Tim McCleary - Community Voices Brian Mealor - Community Voices Misty Stoll - Community Voices
Lockdown
film by Alessia Stracuzzi (2020) ITALY
Blurred feelings, given by an imposed condition, make you live a nightmare that ends only if you decide to react. Alessia Stracuzzi - Director & Writer Rosanna Borcanello - Producer Jennifer Rosati - Producer Alessio Martinoli - Producer Dancers - Amato Dominique Francesca, Bonaffini Giuliana, Bordiga Silvia, Brogi Federico, Bonavoglia Viviana, Collantoni Sofia, Consiglio Chiara, Costanzo Giusi, Da Soghe Livia, Foglia Beatrice, Febert Sara, Haddad Tamara, Jędrzejczyk Paulina, Lacour Julie, Magnatta Eleonora, Masones Laura, Muratore Samanta, Sacchi Francesca, Scotto Lucia, Stracuzzi Alessia, Federica Tocci
The Keeping of the Bees- A Short Informative Dance Film
Film by Christina Belinsky (c) 2021 USA
“The Keeping of Bees” is a short informative dance film that brings light to one of the many effects human behavior and climate change has had on a very important species; bees. Bees are responsible for pollinating a very large portion of our vegetation and food. It is estimated 1/3 of every bite of food is a product of bee pollination. Utilizing audio from NPR Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, we learn through Frank Aletru the many struggles beekeepers are facing today by combining dance, humor, and education. Christina Belinsky - Director, Producer, Dancer & Choreographer Nathan Duszny - Dancer
Like Water
Film by Mthuthuzeli November (c) 2020 UK
LIKE WATER acknowledges the resilience of our ancestors, passed down from generation to generation. A world unkind to our people, yet somehow we survive. A world that that has conditioned us to not see the beauty of our skin, hair, culture and our people. But like water we flow, like water we change shape. We remain resilient. Mthuthuzeli November - Director Nauris BuksevicsDirector of Photography Cassa Pancho - MBE Artistic Director Asisipho Malunga - Writer Richard Bolton - Producer Dancers - José Alves, Isabela Coracy, Alexander Fadayiro, Marie Astrid Mence & Ebony Thomas Georgina Lloyd-Owen - Music Composer Hannah Gibbs - Administrator
One Last Ride
film by Anastasia Babenko (c) 2021 USA
Following the Alaskan Way Viaduct teardown in Seattle, the film is a cinematic dialogue between concrete and flesh. Anastasia Babenko - Director & Writer Francis Miranda - Producer Jane Cracovaner - Dancer Jim Kent - Dancer Liane Aung - Dancer Karl Watson - Dancer Andrew McShea - Dancer Nell Josephine - Dancer Michael Arellano - Dancer Olivier Wevers - Choreographer
Monster News Feed
film by Cara Hagan (c) 2020 USA
Monster News Feed follows a central character who, when overwhelmed and attacked by the media they consume (literally and figuratively) through analogue and digital means, decides to fight back to reclaim sound body and mind. A hostile encounter with the continuous flow of information ensues. Does our character triumph? Born of the director's research on device use, information addiction, and the effects of a constant stream of news on the body, this piece weaves aspects of science, shared cultural experiences and magical realism to make commentary on our ever-changing relationship to media and our wellbeing.Cara Hagan - Director Ben Erlandson - Photography
practice of falling
film by Dina Veruytina (c) 2022 BELARUS, RUSSIAN FEDERATION & UKRAINE
Falls bring pain, but it also bring healing. Three artists: Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, whose nations were plunged into a criminal, bloody war, convey their hard feelings through movements and cinematic language. Dina Veruytina - Director
Tshishikushkueu (Woman of Space)
film by Ben Shirinian (c) 2021 CANADA
Tshishikushkueu (Woman of Space) Third film of the serie In Tandem Jera Wolfe, choreographer and dancer with Natasha Kanapé Fontaine, poet and singer Inspired by the experience gained in 2020 with the realization of the digital project A Shared Solitude, Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur continues to support creation in all its shapes and gives you, in 2021, the new digital project In Tandem. Four short films directed by Ben Shirinian, combining dance and other artistic forms and filmed in different theatres in the beautiful Laurentian region, are launched in 2021. These short films will present a combination of dancers of different styles, and artists from various artistic disciplines: poetry, opera, gospel song and classical music. Ben Shirinian - Director Jera Wolfe - Key Cast Nathasha Kanapé Fontaine - Key Cast Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur - Producer Lookout - Producer
Table Manners/Stopping at Red Lights
film by Ingrid Nachstern (c) 2014 IRELAND
Reading of a man who, several years ago, went on a rampage killing several people in the North of England. Whilst he was driving from village to village, he stopped at the red lights en route to each one. This then got me thinking about the public/private self which each of us has. The dinner table represents a bourgeois-type dinner party which is played out alongside the diners descent into the 'swamp' from time to time. This is where they reveal their animal selves, relax and then come back to the table with their public mask on. It is a light-hearted look at public/private behavior. Ingrid Nachstern - Director, Writer, Producer, Dancer Lucia Kickham - Dancer Michael Cooney - Dancer Luca Truffarelli - Videographer & Editor Michael Gallen - Music
Ancester
film by Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt (c) 2022 SWEDEN
Swedish choreographer Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt found a new story about Sweden when she followed the advice of her Nihon Buyō master Nishikawa Senrei: "If you want to keep dancing, you have to dance with your ancestors." Skånberg Dahlstedt searched and finally found her ancestors' past. It was a story of magic, dissent and resistance. To expand on what an ancestor can represent, she asked her first screen dance teacher, Douglas Rosenberg, to dance the role of her ancestor Andreas Jakobsson. In Ancestor, Rosenberg represents both a professional and a real ancestor. Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt - Director Douglas Rosenberg - Dancer, Andreas Jakobsson (1826-1907) Nishikawa Senrei (1945-2012 ) Linnea Johansson (1924-2017) John Areblad - Photography Rasmus Ohlander - Editor Karin Brygger - Assistant Kajsa Magnarsson - Music Folke Johansson & Palle Dahlstedt - Additional photo Studio BuJi, Gothenburg - Produced and distributed by with support by - Adlerbertska Stipendiefonden, Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Jonsereds Herrgård, Villa Martinson Filmed on location - in Kyoto (2011), Hyltebruk (2017) and Jonsered (2021).
TrascenDance
film by Serena Betti (c) 2020 ITALY
At the core of the short dance video echoes the dichotomy between reality and imagination. We are walking on the thin line that separates the actual and the desired state of mind. The Pirandellian approach about the self and how it is externally perceived permeates the entire structure of the work. In a connected world, our mind and body are often disconnected from the present moment, distracted by what it could have been or what we could have had. We are constantly subjected to a media bombardment that overexposes our senses and paralyses us, giving us the impression of a better present lost in memories and future dreams. In the short film, movement and stillness confront each other in an unbearable fight. Though, even in stagnation there are elements to unveil: there is potential energy, there is the electricity flowing. Join us in this electric journey. Serena Betti - Director, Producer, Camera Operator, Editing & Sound Mixing Francesca Orlando - Key Cast & Sound Mixing Paolo Carabetta - Camera Operator & Colourist
Marajee7 مراجيح Swings
film by Phaedra Darwish, Amal Kaawash & Nedal Hamdan (c) 2020 LEBANON & USA
This international collaboration dance and music film features dancing by Arab-American dance artist Phaedra Darwish (Chicago, USA) to an original song made for Beirut. This song is an experimental first time collaboration between Amal Kaawash (Palestine-Lebanon) and Nancy Mounir (Egypt). After the devastating explosion in Beirut, singer Amal Kaawash of Lebanon composed this song as an expression of her feelings and grief, and sent it to collaborator Nancy Mounir in Egypt, who then returned it with the musical arrangement added; otherwise, the audio is unedited. The ambient sound of their surroundings while recording provides a raw and honest audio environment for true expression of the soul. The narrated poem at the beginning is the translation in English of the lyrics. Lyrics, Melody, and Vocals by Amal Kaawash (Palestine-Lebanon) Musical arrangement and recording by Nancy Mounir (Egypt) Dancing, Narration, and Filming by Phaedra Darwish (USA) Editing by Nedal Hamdan (Palestine/Jordan-USA)
Pastic Harvest
film by Jody Sperling (c) 2021 USA
“Plastic Harvest” is a Covid-era dance film that explores the omnipresence of plastic. The film continues the ongoing collaboration between choreographer Jody Sperling and composer Matthew Burtner, both acclaimed for their creative engagement with environmental issues. Ironically, while plastic is a proliferating pollutant, it is also something we all share that connects us across virtual spaces—we wear it, we bathe in it, we even breathe it. How we live in plastic tells us about who we are. In Covid’s wake, Sperling began rehearsing remotely with the dancers of her company who were dispersed geographically. Each dancer fashioned a unique plastic costume and investigated a different relationship to the material. Anika Hunter luxuriates in a bathtub filled with plastic bags. Maki Kitahara glides ghostlike in a plastic-bag kimono in a church sanctuary. Sporting a plastic tutu emblazoned with yellow-smiley face, Andrea Trager frolics amid traffic on a busy avenue while her remote partner, Frances Barker, sports a red target on her back on an empty suburban street. Plastic Harvest was created in part during a 2020 artist residency at The Center at West Park and with support from Dance/NYC’s Coronavirus Relief Fund. Jody Sperling - Dorector, Choreography & Producer Matthew Burtner - Music Anika Hunter - Dancer Maki Kitahara - Dancer Frances Barker - Dancer Andrea Trager - Dancer
COWBOYS
film by Sebastian Weber (c) 2018 GERMANY
A short dance film based on the contemporary tap dance production "COWBOYS" by the Sebastian Weber Dance Company. Sebastian Weber - Director & Dancer Andrea Alvergue - Dancer Jenne Eraker - Dancer Helen Duffy - Dancer Vilma Kananen - Dancer Nikolai Kemeny - Dancer Michela Pesce - Dancer Sam Vère - Dancer
Entangled Waters
film by Robin Bisio (c) 2021 USA
Inspired by Michelangelo’s Flood Panel on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, underwater dancers falter, orient and support each other in a churning gyre of illuminated plastics. Robin Lancaster Bisio - Director, Producer Lamara Heartwell - Producer Kaita Lepore Mrazek - Dancer Lamara Heartwell - Dancer Erick Alvarez - Dancer Kweisi Petillo - Dancer Ethan Turpin - Co producer, Cinematographer & Editor James Connolly - Composer
amser / time
film by Deborah Light (c) 2022 UK
Special PATREON ONLY Screening!!!
Moving through time along Bae Ceredigion/Cardigan Bay, we arrive at today's climate crisis. Sarn Gynfelyn is revealed every low tide and looks like a road into the sea. In fact, it is a glacial moraine laid down 20,000 years ago when ice sheets melted, and it marks the beginning of the global conditions that have enabled human expansion. At Borth, a 6,000 year old forest flourished for a few thousand years. Submerged by the sea, it has since been re-exposed in recent storms. Sarn Gynfelyn and Borth’s forest are both cited as supporting the Cantre'r Gwaelod legend of lost fertile lands in Cardigan Bay, but the geology tells a different story. Moving forwards, we arrive at Fairbourne, a seaside town built on saltmarsh and English industrial wealth. It is now set to become the first UK town to be decommissioned due to sea level rise. It will be demolished and returned to salt marsh and will have existed for less than 200 years. In the intertidal zone, between land and sea, three people move, with arresting visual imagery through these three remarkable sites. Deborah Light - Director & Dancer Laura Drane - Producer Eddie Ladd - Dancer Jake Nwogu - Dancer Sion Orgon - Soundtrack Pete Telfer (Culture Colony) - DOP & Editor Light Ladd Emberton - Choreographers Rob Key - Drone&gimbal
owl of minerva arrives only at dusk
film by zap mcconnell (c) 2020 USA
Special PATREON ONLY Screening!!!
“The owl of Minerva arrives only at dusk” is a seven chapter dance for film, using movement, symbology and location to explore the themes of structural white supremacy, legacy, intergenerational trauma, the opiate epidemic, misogyny and the interconnectedness of oppression. This film interweaves embodied research into injustices in/of the Americas and the consequential trauma that persists, tackling issues of family legacy and environmental racism.
zap mcconnell - Director & Producer
Dancers - cinthia perez navarro, paola de la conche, jennifer tweel kelly, demetrius burns, janice lancaster, julie rothschild, cara hagan, liz simmons, opal lechmanski, blakeney bullock & caitlyn swett
***This film is dedicated to the ecology of compassion.