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For a cultural project four dancers from Israel, Spain and Italy explore and interpret with their bodies the stories of some refugees in Berlin.
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Marlon Barrios asked me to post my thoughts on dance and technology in my work:
Here TEXT TO SPEECH (2008), a piece in which each dancer uses a PC with "text to speech" programs for the computers to read texts. A simple use of high end technology but in the context of the piece the manipulation of computer seems taken out of a normal daily life and does not seem technological. Technicaly we could not have made this piece 15 years ago, and 20 years ago the portable computer was not yet avaialble for maintstream use. And dramaturgicaly neither would have it been possible, 20 years ago a portable computer would have looked like a science fiction piece! I needed the audience to relate to the piece as a contemporary problematic. A laptoop computer in 2008 is an ordinary daily life object. When I was a kid a mobile phone was only to exists in Star Treck, now when you see an old movie you think "but why he does not use his mobile phone?". So the computer object has moved dramaturgicaly in less than 20 years from a science fiction status to a daily life item: We now live in this Blade Runner like world where technology is part of our life as objects, embeded in our life, our should we say that WE are embeded inside technology.
We used computers in Text To Speech to be able read live "fake" news of war and conflicts. It was very useful in the creation process, very flexible, we could modify our texts ourselves without needing a technician. We manipulated orignal press agency news about the war in Irak, and changed "Irak" by "Switzerland". With this little "mind" trick", we relocated distant events such as a bomb killing 20 people in a market in Bagdad by a bomb killing twenty poeple in a market in Geneva. Suddenly the "bodycount" became real, the news became more real and not anymore a distant lithany of numbers of death but a reality "virtualy" located in your backyard... A brutal switch of perpectives in the mond of the spectator. Te synthethic voice of the "text to speech" program, adds to the distanciation. Also, we were able to perform the pece in its original language, in japanase, german, french, english... This piece has been inspired by a story my uncle told me and also has to do with technology and the impact of it into reality. When he was a young journalist in a news agency in Zurich, he received the telex with the news of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing at the end of WW2. At this time, only him had the immediate info and the words were creeping out of the telex machine physicaly into his hands. The strip of paper coming out of the machine was slowly revealing the horror of the distant disaster. It was the power of suggestions of the words and the empathy of the reader, not the technology in itself that was revealing the horror-the same machine was also "vomiting" "banal" news . But without the technology, this "virtual experience of reality" would not have happenned to him and marked him for life.
QUANTUM (2013) Is a piece made out after my residency at CERN, the huge particle physic laboratory based in the Geneva area who famously revelead the existence of the Higgs bozon on the 4th of July 2012. I was at CERN on that day and the "virtual" emotion of finding something truly invisble was high. It was the technology who made us capable of tinking about this discovery that can not be seen. (see my residency blog). The piece QUANTUM came out after theree months residency inside this super high tech campus, the site of the bigger machine ever built by humans... I had this "creative collission" with co resident german visual artist Julius von Bismarck. Julis conceived a "kynetic light instalation" operated and constructed by his regular collaborator german engenier Martin Shied (he operates the piece on tour). Based on the pendulum principle, the 4 industrial lamps are piloted by a complicated algorythm that send signal to 4 motors that makes possible the syncronisation and variations of the movement of the lamps. It is super flexible and adaptable we can create almost any pendulum movement.
The music has been composed by American composer Caral Scaletti on her powerfull sound design machine KYMA, (she is the maker of the software of the machine and husband Kurt Heibel conceived the hardware-Kyma is one of the most powerfull soudn design computer in the market). She used real data taken from CERN LHC by a process of "data sonification". Collaborating with phycicist Lili Asquith she managed to use real data to produce amazing music (listen to phycicist Lili Asquith about LHC data sonification and datata driven Kyma sound project)
To me, technology is a tool, something that is not to necesarely be seen for itself but necessary only if it gives more meanig to a piece. My next project is a 3D dance film, I am very much interested by the volume of the space virtualy created inside our brain by the trick stereo images are playing inside on our heads...
QUANTUM SET UP. THE LIGHT INSTALATION RIG////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
QUANTUM IS ON TOUR IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
QUANTUM WORLD TOUR 2013-15
-Première 23 september 2013 Théâtre Forum Meyrin Geneva @ CMS Experiment-Cessy France
QUANTUM world tour is part of events celebrating the 60th anniversary of CERN in 2014
NORTH AMERICA
2-3-4th october QUANTUM @ BAM/New York Next Wave Festival + Crossing The Lines Festival - New Settings Fondation Entreprise Hermes/USA
12-13th october QUANTUM @ ODC/San Francisco / USA + lecture about Cern residency with Cern physicist Nicolas Chanon. With the support of Swissnex San Francisco
16-17-18th october QUANTUM @ TDC/Vancouver / CANADA
SOUTH AMERICA
21 october QUANTUM @ Festival Danzalborde/Matucana Theatre/Santiago de Chile/ CHILE
23 october QUANTUM @ Festival Danzalborde/Valparaiso/ CHILE
26 october QUANTUM @ Bienal do Dança Do Ceara/Fortaleza/BRAZIL
29-30 october QUANTUM @ Festival Internacional Dança Belo Horizonte/ BRAZIL + conference CERN physicist avec le soutien de Swissnex Brazil
2 november QUANTUM @ Panorama Festival Rio de Janeiro/ BRAZIL + conference CERN physicist + Masterclass avec le soutien de Swissnex Brazil
EUROPE
6-7-8-9th november QUANTUM @ ARSENIC/Lausanne SWITZERLAND
12-13-14th november A+B=X @ ARSENIC/Lausanne SWITZERLAND
SOUTH AMERICA
21-22 november QUANTUM @ FAEL Lima/PERU
WANTED: FEMALE ACTORS with movement skills or DANCERS with
acting skills, FOR ELENA BAJO'S PERFORMANCE With Entheogenic
Intent (Burn the Witch) AT 18TH STREET ARTS CENTER, LOS
ANGELES, CALIFORNIA-US- ON THE 1ST OF FEBRUARY, 2014
DESCRIPTION
The piece is created by Elena Bajo, a visual artist who has exhibited
internationally and focuses on the social, political aspects of the site in the
city of Los Angeles. Bajo combines performance with large scale
installations to investigate the political and social conditions of change in
post-industrial structures, creating site specific work and a space of
collective action.
The performers will be required to perform in the space of 18th Street Arts
Center. They will be required to do both improvised and choreographed
script/movements determined before hand with the artist. The generator
of the piece is a political text/poem. This political text-manifesto will be
handed to the performers and it will be used to generate their individual
script/choreography. Total duration of the performance around 20 min.
REHEARSALS
3 days, total: 2 days (1h/day) one on one individual work with the
artist and 1 day (1h/day) run-through in the space with all performers
If you are interested in this project please send ASAP an email to
elenabajo@gmail.com including a web link to video file where your work
can be seen , one image and a brief bio/cv. Express very briefly why you
want to participate in the project. You will be contacted by email to
proceed forward. If you don't have a link to video online let me know and
Ithe artist would send you a text fragment to prepare something short 1-2
min that you could record in Skype or video camera or iphone.
For your participation you will receive a small fee, copy of video footage
and photos of the performance as well as credits in the program. This is
an event widely advertised and expected to be a good exposure. Please
only apply if you are interested in being part of an experimental piece,
outside of the comfort zone, that is the spirit of this project.
More information about Elena Bajo’s work:
In the summer of 2013, I invited several artists to freely explore the AR space and its art making potential. Conceptual and technical support was provided and the artists were given complete access to their own AR channel and virtual studio.
dance-tech is pleased to announce the launching of the first dance-tech Augmented Reality creative project developed by NY dancer and choreographer Adam H Weinert.
Adam created THE REACCESSION OF TED SHAWN as a digital installation in The Museum of Modern Art without the museum’s consent.
He "placed" a permanent installation of his recent performances at MoMA in the AR environment. Through the use of the dance-tech.tv AR app, visitors are able to view footage of his performances simply by using their smartphones or tablet to the museum galleries where he performed in October of 2013.
His project implicate the uses of the mobile technology questioning notions and affordances of exhibition space, archive, participation, institutional legitimation, interfaces and mediation.
From project website:
"By installing the re-performances of Ted Shawn's choreography inside the museum walls, Weinert strives to perform an act of “Reaccession”. This perlocutionary flip, made possible by the use of AR and video documentation, trespasses on the museum and exposes aspects of its relation to its audience, to dance and to dance history usually unseen. The Reaccession of Ted Shawn challenges notions of the archive and re-performance as understood by recent scholarship in performance studies and art history by way of digital, performative intervention and offers a new vector for displaying performance in museum spaces - one which honors the vision of the authors and transforms the museum into more than a cenotaphic display."
Here you can see some screenshots:
Media coverage:
An Artist Is Using Augmented Reality To Stage a Guerrilla Show at MoMA
A choreographer whose work was sold off from the gallery makes a surreptitious return – via visitors' smartphones.
Great work Adam!
DanceOn would love for you check out our #MJLove dance video campaign and tribute to the King of Pop!
Watch D-Trix's amazing dance video: http://bit.ly/1sJA6hn
Spread the word that we want fans to submit their videos as well to go in our #MJLove Playlist on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1iiUJJJ Thanks so much #MJfam!
In most European countries independent dancers and choreographers lack suitable structures and financial means to develop their creations and promote themselves in front of new audiences.
One significant determinant of quality in dance art creation is the length of time required for the careful preparation and completion of the different phases of the process.
Most independent dance artists and companies receive only limited local subventions for their productions, which are often produced and presented within a very short period of time.
Modul-dance has been created and structured to address artists's needs during their process of creation and allow them to make itineraries across Europe.
Accordingly, the core of the project is the modular system, an organized model of support for dance art, creation and dissemination.
Every participating artist has the opportunity to work with at least 3 different partners while going through 4 module phases:
Research: During a 2-4 week research period, artists are invited to create and/or develop a concept, gather materials, partners and exchange information with the local dance/arts community, looking at locations, venues and political aspects.
Residency: During a period of 3-8 weeks, the selected artists and their artistic collaborators involve themselves in the creation of a new work by exploring their ideas.
Production: Over a fixed period of 4-8 weeks, the selected artists’ full companies, based in a studio, develop and produce the project to get it ready for presentation.
Presentation: The artists premiere and present the piece developed during the project, relating it to an audience.
This systematic approach ensures mobility and new experiences and also a process of dialogue leading to joint decision-making, valuable for the participants’ artistic development and dissemination of their projects.
Costa Contemporánea 2014: V Contemporary Dance & Performing Arts Festival
September 3 – 7 2014, Cabo de Gata, Almería, Andalusia, Spain
Workshops: from 3 to 7
- Contemporary Dance Workshop “Points of view” with Daniel Abreu (Cía. Daniel Abreu)
- Dance Composition/Choreography Workshop “Leche del sueño” (Milk before Bed) with Michelle Man and James Hewison ( Edge Hill University)
Masterclass: Saturday, Sept 6
- Contemporary Dance: “Technical training in contemporary dance” with Chevi Muraday
- Flamenco: “From dance to flamenco” with Anabel Veloso
- Videodance: “Dancing for the camera” with Ana Cembrero
Performances / Program:
Sept. 4: Noche de Varieté – Varieté Night
venue Rodalquilar
- Sandra Antón: “The Big Solution Clown” (Las Hortichuelas/Barcelona)
- Alberto Cortés, Rebeca Carrera: “EXIT” (Málaga)
- Cromática Pistona: Swing Party (Madrid)
Sept. 5: Noche Espectacular – Spectacular Night
venue Centro de Artes Escénicas (CAE), Níjar
- Daniel Abreu: “Gigantes” (Madrid)
- Performance of the Winner at the Choreography Competition Mujer Contemporánea
- Javier Barandiarán: “No estoy para nadie” (País Vasco)
Sept. 6: Fiebre del Sábado – Saturday Fever
venue Centro de Artes Escénicas (CAE), Níjar
- Chevi Muraday y Alberto Velasco: “Cenizas” (Madrid)
- Anabel Veloso: “La generación del 80” (Almería)
- Michelle Man y James Hewison: “Imaginarium” (England)
Costa para Todos - Costa for everyone (free entrance)
- Irene Cantero: “El vuelo” (Sept. 3, venue Camping Los Escullos) (Madrid)
- Ana Cembrero: “Europa Endless” (Sept. 3, venue Camping Los Escullos) (Valencia)
- Cromática Pistona: Swing Concert (Sept. 5, venue Plaza San José) (Madrid)
- Andrea Quintana: “Ángel cojo sin pierna” (Sept. 5, venue outdoors CAE) (Galicia)
- Smantik: Audiovisual Projections (Sept. 6, venue CAE)
- Open performance dance experimentations (Sept. 4, 5 & 7, outdoors: El Playazo, Isleta del Moro, etc.)
See promotional video: Costa Contemporánea - Encuentros de Danza Contemporánea y Artes Escénicas from low visuals on Vimeo.
See Youtube Canal: https://www.youtube.com/user/CostaContemporanea/videos
Modul-dance is a multi-annual cooperation project with the participation of 20 European dancehouses from 16 countries with the aim to support the artistic development and mobility of independent professionals in the dance field.
The project was created and structured to address the needs of the artists in their creative process. Thus, its core is the modular system, an organized model of support for dance creation and dissemination in which every participating artist has the opportunity to work with at least 3 different partners going through 4 module phases: research, residency, production and presentation. This allows them to make itineraries across Europe.
The project was set up by the European Dancehouse Network and funded by the European Comission through the Culture Programme
To know more about the modul-dance project click on here.
This work programme has been funded with the support of the European Commission. This blogsite reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be hold responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Based on artistic criteria, each modul-dance project partner proposed an artist in the three selection processes that have taken place (2010, 2011 and 2012).
All the proposed artists were invited to a meeting with all the partners and artists in order to present their project and see how modul-dance could support the creative process.
The proposed artists became modul-dance selected artists if more than 3 dance house partners were interested in collaborating in their projects.
After three selections, modul-dance now hosts a community of 52 European artists. It offers them a framework to create and present their work, linking diverse proposals, aesthetics and sensibilities under the same umbrella and providing regular interaction and exchange of ideas.
Click on the names to know more about the 52 modul-dance selected artists.
Agata Maszkiewicz [Poland]
Alessandro Sciarroni [Italy]
Alexandra Waierstall [Cyprus]
An Kaler [Austria]
Angie Hiesl & Roland Kaiser [Germany]
Anita Wach [Poland]
Anne Juren [Austria]
Antje Pfundtner [Germany]
Arno Schuitemaker [The Netherlands]
Ben Duke/Lost Dog [United Kingdom]
Ben Riepe [Germany]
Cláudia Dias [Portugal]
Coraline Lamaison [France]
Daniel Abreu [Spain]
David Wampach [France]
Emma Martin [Ireland]
Eric Minh Cuong Castaing / Cie. Shonen [France]
Eugénie Rebetez [Switzerland]
Fabrice Lambert [France]
Fearghus O'Conchuir [Ireland]
Frauke Requardt [United Kingdom]
Gunilla Heilborn [Sweden]
Hafiz Dhaou and Aicha M'Barek / Cie Chatha [Tunisia/France]
Helena Franzén [Sweden]
Hooman Sharifi [Norway]
Ioannis Mandafounis & May Zarhy [Switzerland/Greece]
Itamar Serussi [Israel/The Netherlands]
Jasmina Križaj [Slovenia]
Jefta van Dinther [Sweden/Germany]
Julia Cima [France]
Jurij Konjar [Slovenia]
Kaori Ito [Japan/Germany]
Leja Jurišić [Slovenia]
Lili M [Slovenia]
Liz Roche [Ireland]
loscorderos [Spain]
Luca Silvestrini / Protein [United Kingdom]
Magali Milian & Romuald Luydlin / La Zampa [France]
Mala Kline [Slovenia]
Marcos Morau / La Veronal [Spain]
Marie-Caroline Hominal [France/Switzerland]
Maud Le Pladec [France]
Patricia Apergi / Aerites Dance Company [Greece]
Perrine Valli [Switzerland/France]
Pia Meuthen [The Netherlands]
Qudus Onikeku [France]
Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz [Portugal]
Tânia Carvalho [Portugal]
The Loose Collective [Austria]
The Mob [Sweden/Denmark]
Tina Tarpgaard [Denmark]
Tina Valentan [Slovenia]
Here is the premiere of our wearable tech / contemporary dance piece at the HASTAC conference last week.
Our clumsy bows aside, we got some good feedback, and I am interested in continuing this line of research where new media technologies can be employed to enrich the affectivity of performative art.
Would love to get your thoughts on it.
Enjoy. Click!
Watch it at night. If you don't I'll know. :)
MG
Introducción: Arte, Cuerpo, Tecnología Aproximación a un Panorama Actual Latinoamericano" from Caída Libre on Vimeo.
ABTRACT
Art, Body and Technology: an overview of current approaches from Latin America
By: Brisa MP (Chile)
The presentation aims to make a brief tour of the current state of the art of the production that articulates the human body and the technology in the fields of dance and performance. This tour offers a mapping of various levels of production, such as artists, work of art , theoretical production, collaboration networks, research in Latin American festivals and an analysis of the general situation in the region.
No doubt that the art-technology development in Latin America has been largely led by artists from the visual arts. In this scope we can see that the performative arts are not far behind, while its approach to science and technology has been happening slowly, it is now possible to recognize several projects developed in our region. These projects constitute a network of performances, educational and outreach that have shaped a recognizable set between dance-performance and technological mediation.
Moreover, the state of the art makes evident conceptual, aesthetic and economic problems, it proposes new ways of collaborative creation, instances of intercultural exchange and training that have allowed local development of projects pushing the boundaries of traditional Dance and Performance Art territories.
Meanwhile It is recognized that in Latin America a first approach to the relationship between dance and technology, comes from the videodance production, in which the initial scenic event moved to digital imaging and the screen. This is evident in several countries, making it visible a second state of the dance-performance and technology exploring more complex technical and aesthetic structures therefore presenting unequal levels of development in the countries of the region.
Graduada en la Facultad de Bellas Artes, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Profesora en Artes Plásticas orientación Pintura y Cerámica; Licenciada con orientación Pintura y Cerámica; y Magíster en Estética y Teoría de las Artes.
Jefa de Trabajos Prácticos cátedra de Didáctica y Práctica de la Enseñanza, y en Dibujo I y II, FBA, UNLP. Coordinadora de Educación Artística, Dirección de Gestión Curricular y Formación Docente de la Nación.
Instigadora categorizada III y becada por la UNLP, para el estudio de las interrelaciones entre las disciplinas del cuerpo y el espacio escénico.
Especialista en performance interactivas en tiempo real. Trabaja en instalaciones interactivas con captura óptica de movimiento, en dos obras:
Proyecto Hoseo de su autoria: Invitada a Cuerpo Digital, Festival Internacional de Videodanza, Cuerpo y Nuevas Tecnologías, Cochabamba, BOLIVIA, Octubre 2010. FIVU 09, Uruguay, Centro Cultural España en Montevideo, http://www.cce.org.uy. Fase 1 Expo-Trastiendas mayo 2009, Curadora: Graciela Taquini. Proyecto en representación de la FBA, UNLP. http://www.fase1encuentro.blogspot.com; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo 2009(Salta): Diálogos Montevideo 2008 /; Interfase, Cuerpo Y Nuevas Tecnologías, Santiago, Chile, octubre 2007; Festival de Arte Contemporáneo AONI, Viedma, Río Negro, Argentina, Diciembre 2010; Seminario POETICAS TECNOLÓGICAS MAPAD2, Directora Ivanni Santana, Salvador de Bahía, Brasil. Noviembre del 2010 y 2011.
Proyecto Speak junto al artista sonoro y músico programador Fabian Kesler <www.fabiankesler.com.ar> y el creador del software MOLDEO <www.moldeo.org> programador de video e imagen Fabricio Costa. Invitados la Intervención “El insomnio de los monumentos”, instalación de Norberto Laino, Hall Central Carlos Morel del Teatro San Martín; al Festival Internacional de Videodanza del Uruguay FIVU, Octubre 2011, Montevideo Uruguay, http://www.fivu.org/; NHT. Septiembre 2011, C C. Recoleta, http://www.iuna.edu.ar/wordpress-2/?cat=10; VIII Festival de Nuevas Tendencias LA MENAGE, Teatro Real, Agosto 2011, Córdoba http://lamenagefestival.blogspot.com/p/programacion-2011.html; Ciclo La Plata Arde, plataforma para artistas locales, Teatro Argentino de La Plata, Sala TACEC, julio 2011, La Plata, http://www.teatroargentino.gba.gov.ar/2011/tacec2011/la_plata_arde.html.
Trabajos de Video Danza con el Proyecto Webcamdanza: exploración desde las posibilidades técnico-expresivas con la cámara Web, en donde indaga sobre esta relación entre cuerpo y dispositivo a través de la creación de “piezas audiovisuales”. Participa de ponencias y publicaciones en diversos medios en Internet y en papel:http://territorioteatral.org.ar/html.2/dossier/pdf/n5_02.pdf ; “Terpsícore en ceros y unos. Ensayos de Videodanza”; editorial Guadalquivir Festival Internacional VideoDanzaBA; Compilación: Silvina Szperling; ISBN: 9789872213879 “Estudios sobre Danza en la Universidad”, Universidad de la República de Uruguay. Compilación: Lic. Diego Carrera. 2009. ISBN 978-9974-0-6-0605-8, http://cuerpoytecnologia.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/estudios-sobre-danza-en-la-universidad.pdf.
“Pensar La Videodanza”, I Simposio Internacional de Videodanza “Espacio del cuerpo y de la imagen en la video danza” PG: 76 a 93; http://www.videodanzaba.com.ar. Danzanet Argentina es la revista de Danza Contemporánea. Red Escena Virtual. http://www.danzanet.com.ar/
Dicto talleres: Taller de Vídeo Danza dentro del marco del FIVU09 http://www.cce.org.uy ; “Taller / Producción / Video Danza A Partir De Tecnología Low-Tech” Biblioteca Nacional, Sala Cortazar. http://www.VideoDanzaBA.com.ar ; “Realización de una pieza de videodanza-Proyecto WEBCAMDANZA” en Cuerpo Digital, Festival Internacional de Videodanza, Cuerpo y Nuevas Tecnologías, Escuela de cine La Fabrica, Cochabamba, Bolivia, Octubre 2010.
Convocada por los directores Marcelo Delgado y Emilio García Wehbi para “El Matadero. Un Comentario”. Obra dramático-musical. CCR. Rojas, 2009; Ver publicación Libros del Rojas, UBA, ISBN 978-987-1075-90-4. Convocada por los directores de El Periférico de Objetos, D. Veronese y E.G. Wehbi, para la realización de la obra “El Suicidio Apócrifo I”, 2002-2004.
Invitada a trabajar bajo la dirección de Emilio García Whebi en un evento performático “El Matadero, Slaughter House” 2005/08. En línea, 2005/06/07/o8. Ciudad Konex, jueves 7 de febrero.
Ver material en línea:
http://www.alejandraceriani.com.ar
https://www.youtube.com/user/Danzainteractiva
https://www.youtube.com/user/WEBCAMDANZA
The screening of the two part film OLYMPIA directed by Leni Riefenstahl in 1936 made the women in re:PLAY 1913's audience to acknowledge the power of the female gaze. How often do we see evidence of that? Riefenstahl's exquisite framing of superb bodies in action, rhythmic editing, and the surreal dance film at the close of the diving sequence makes OLYMPIA a natural for a sports and dance film festival. Since Manipur had not largely been affected by the atrocities of WWII, the students openly studied the merits of this masterpiece without fear of condoning the motivations of its producer, Hitler. Sadly, this FESTIVAL OF BEAUTY, as the second part of the film is called, had no impact on the monster, nor has there been another film on an equivalent scale that celebrates the glories of athleticism and young graceful bodies united in a peaceful purpose.
New York based Somi Roy founded the film festival and workshop re:PLAY three years ago at the invitation of the Governor of Imphal, Manipur. Known for its prowess in sports and dance, Manipur theoretically has an audience ready to embrace a sports and dance film festival, the only one in the world. When he first got the invitation, Somi asked me to curate the festival as we had gotten to know each other when Joanna Ney and I showed in Dance On Camera Festival, ISHANOU, a trance inducing feature written by Somi's mother that is still the only Manipur film to have been invited to Cannes.
For the first time, my schedule allowed me to attend the festival in 2013, lead the discussions and workshop on film appreciation and criticism which opened every day with a dance class. Never having been to Asia or India, I was unsure what to expect of the audience, students, the country, facilities. A stop in Delhi had a dizzying affect so that flying into Imphal, Manipur which is surrounded by mountains was a relief and promised more green, less people, less smog, more calm. Indeed it offers more green, but as much stimulation! The festival screenings for the public were delayed to a date still to be set because a Naga guerilla assaulted a Manipuri film actress, whereas the screenings for the 100 workshop participants and the workshops continued as scheduled.
In my workshop, I was instructed by Somi to spur the growth of criticism in a culture where everyone is an artist and no one a critic. Besides exploring the various ways we could work to instigate a critical forum for the nurturing of Manipur films, we watched and discussed 5 videos made by the students: a martial arts feature, documentary short on a reformed terrorist, amusing commercial and short documentary, and a short travelogue on Andro, made on a lark. I found this unambitious film by Nelson Elangbam so appealing, I won a trip with him to see this mountain village that makes a vodka that I found tastier than Ketel One. And I am a Ketel One fan!
The offerings this year beside OLYMPIA included LATCHO DROM, Tony Gatlif's tale of the gypsies in 9 countries, a program of Dutch filmmaker Clara van Gool's shorts, THE LAST TIGHTROPE DANCER OF ARMENIA, MAO'S LAST DANCER, and DANCE OF DARKNESS, chosen because Somi had indicated the people of Manipur are eager to learn more about the dance from their Asian neighbors.
DANCE OF DARKNESS, shown at right, is one such poetic documentary on the Japanese art Butoh by Edin Velez created in 1989, provoked, disturbed, and intrigued the students. One woman warned that the film should not be shown, without warning families that the images could be disturbing to children.
Quite apart from the Bollywood style, and the violence of Butoh is the traditional dance of Manipur, more of a Tibetan-Burmese culture than Indian. Among my students was a dancer on her way to earn a Phd who informed me that you have to move a figure eight around your heart when you dance the traditional Manipurean dance. "That way, your dance will be graceful."
In addition to my workshop, Iben Trino-Molenkamp and Alexandra Viets led their own workshops so that all the students joined for the screenings and fruitful discussions. Somi who knows how to sustain an atmosphere of intense investigation and awareness is to be applauded for his leadership of this fascinating festival.
Costa Contemporánea met La Ignorancia to create a unique video dance project that took place at the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata, (Almería, Spain).
This video-dance project has been conceived as creative break for directors, dancers, performers, photographers, film technicians or anyone else interested in the art of filmmaking.
A new concept with the goal of creating cultural and educational experiences in a unique environment.
Costa Contemporánea broadened its horizons to international participants thanks to the collaboration and experience of the multidisciplinary collective La ignorancia dance film music, based in Brussels since 2008 and formed by the choreographer / filmmaker Ana Cembrero and the cinematographer /musician Jorge Piquer.
During the workshop participants approached the currently under expansion art genre video dance: reviewing the history of cinema and dance, learning the technical aspects of the camera, editing and post-production software, introducing themselves to the new independent filmmaking technologies as well as the low-cost HDSLR cameras.
They analyzed motion from a cinematographic point of view and the relationship between body and audiovisual language. Overall, participants explored their personal creativity through practical exercises and carried out their dance-film from the first steps, wrapping up with a general overview of the different coverage media and distribution.
A selection of the work created at the workshop was screened at International Dance Festival Mes de Danza de Sevilla (see pictures) and at EAMM Arts School Miguel Marmolejo (see pictures)
See video: MAKING OF VIDEO DANCE WORKSHOP, Videodance Workshop 2013
See video: MERCURIO by Tristana Castilla, Videodance Workshop 2013
See video: VIDEODANCE WORKSHOPS
Videodance Workshop 2013
Join us in the art of dance filmmaking in a charismatic environment.. Come and create movies, create dance in a natural environment through the interaction of these two artistic languages, developing a powerful visual expression.
Photo @Pollobarba
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"We drank wine, watched porno films, danced as though we were dancing contact improv or working for Forsythe, Kylian, Anne Teresa de Keersmaker, " said the charismatic dancer Jordi Cortes Molina about his collaboration with Daniel Munoz in the making of COUP DE GRACE based on two men whose friendship was brought to an abrupt stop - only to be tested again after 40 years. "We tried everything to get to all the layers of the friendship of these two men with their long long history together. Every day, we'd improvise, sometimes for 3 hours straight, continuing until one of us called to stop."
Molina was a font of information and insight about the challenge of making dance films in our Artists Chat, here in the charming city of Haugesund, pop. 25,000, in the Norsk Festival for Dans og Film. Now in its third year, this dance film festival has the distinction of being developed with the support, from its inception, with The Norwegian International Film Festival now in its 40th year. Anne Jorunn Salhus and Rikke W Lie started their Dans Og Film Festival in 2010, but sadly Anne passed that year. The screenings were primarily on the 4 screens of Edda Kino as well as the Maritim Hotel. This year's festival had the distinction of presenting 4 Norwegian premieres with the opening film being KON TIKI.
The screening in Haugesund of COUP DE GRACE directed by Clara van Gool, shown at Dance on Camera Festival 2012 in NYC, was a highlight of Dans Og Film, along with the screening of other old favorites such as HORIZON OF EXILE, ONE FLAT THING RE-PRODUCED, and a new short involving a staggering about of post-production from USA, SOLIPSIST by Andrew Thomas Huang, noted by Creativity Magazine as a Director to Watch. Jordi revealed how close he was to Clara van Gool, with whom he had made 6 films. When he worked for DV8, he made 2 films with David Hinton, STRANGE FISH and TOUCHED. Quite relaxed and warm in person, Jordi often appears imperious and domineering on screen. He confided that he had to learn to do much less for the camera and slow everything down. He currently is fascinated by the idea of body memory, exploring fossils as a catalyst for a new project. He begins in September to direct a documentary in Barcelona about his work with the disabled.
Dans og Film Festival ran August 19-21, 2012, offering screenings, 4 day workshop with Peter Jasko and Milan Herich from the Brüssels based Les Slovaks dance collective, artists chat, and the lecture/screening of my "100 Years of Dance on Camera."
For more information, see http://www.nf-df.no
Elena Carmona, coordinadora de Graner, nos ha hecho llegar un documento en el que habla de los temas más destacados sobre los que se discutió en la mesa de trabajo, dentro de la sala Movilidad y visibilidad de la que ella fue relatora durante el encuentro.
Documento en pdf.
Durante los días del encuentro en Cádiz, Marlon Barrios, en el marco de Meta_media Lab creó una lista de vídeos que se elaboró de forma colaborativa a partir de sugerencias anónimas de los participantes en el encuentro. Él lo define como un experimento de creación desde un contexto relacional de un evento en una cultura en red.
Podéis ver los vídeos aquí.