Welcome to the proto-post-pandemic inTO focus edition of the dance: made in canada Festival’s dance on film + video series! Fingers crossed!
We’ve all been missing live performance and studio time for too damn long, but good news! The lockdowns and isolation of the last year have led to an explosion in filmmaking activity. The volume of creativity is on ample display in these six loosely themed programs (as well as popup surprises that will continue throughout the season).
Resourceful, brave and persistent, the dance and media artists represented here didn’t just quit when the status quo slipped. In these works of all media, from animation and super8 to collage and state-of-the-art video, artists tackle the weirdness and instability of the times. Here, their expressive nature guides us on digital journeys through landscapes both physical and emotional. These works offer much to mull over as we re-enter and (hopefully) re-make our world.
Join us for six limited run film programs starting with count / step / stomp on September 20. And watch out for the staff favourite winner of the Moving Pictures Award to be announced on Tuesday September 28th.
Happy viewing!
– Kathleen Smith, Programmer
Discover dance on film + video
Mapping the heartbeats of dance with flamenco, step, and the inevitable 8-count.
Total running time: 39 min (approximately)
The Bull | El Toro
Maria Avila explores the use of choreography and dance on film to reposition iconic flamenco objects.
Seize
Exploring the obsessive, compulsive and competitive side of folkloric dance, Seize deconstructs the imperfect, enchantress and festive image of Quebec’s…
Bestia
In a sort of ritual, the bullfighter prepares to enter the arena. Visualisation, concentration, precision are part of his cruel…
adios mi corazon
A woman searches through her feelings and memories for her true love, but she does so too late, and that…
PLACE/is a city written on this body?
A trilogy of cities with significant professional and personal impact — Calgary, Napoli, Sevilla. Adapted from the live performance trilogy,…
8×8
A mind isolated in a small 8×8 room. As the body moves, boundaries between mind, body and time start to…
With words and gestures, jokes and telepathy, these films reach out to express inner dialogues and a need to communicate.
Total running time: 45 min (approximately)
Les Proies Meurtries-Hier (Murderous Preys)
During our existence, we are called to evolve, grow, change, become… For better…. and for worse. What in a lifetime…
Trace, tread
An otherwise typical day in the studio is shifted when a dancer’s notes animate into geometric objects. The magic that…
Blue
Blue… the colour , the emotion, the lyric are explored in this short film. A collaboration between performer Sara Porter…
Satin Semaphore
In this kinetic poem, two dancers connect in a sensual choreography that challenges the conventional confines of gender to explore…
Scraps of You
A dancer moves in empty room reminiscing over her past lover.
Sombre
A visual experiment in collaboration with Imogen Mansfield. An exploration and interpretation towards the darkest forces of nature, residing within…
Woodlight/ Field and Tree
Shot in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, this short outdoor dance film by Erin Donovan features dancer Susanne Chui and poetry…
can u feel me thru the screen
we persevere with online connection/creation. we live in different cities but we’re together on the internet. what does it take…
Inner Dialogue
In “Inner Dialogue”, choreographer Eva Kolarova and composer Maggie Ayotte were inspired by the isolation imposed upon them. Eva describes…
Using everything from outlandish acts to the power of a moo, these documentaries approach creation obliquely and sincerely.
Total running time: 44 min (approximately)
it’s not a passion project.
“It’s not a passion project.” follows a small Canadian dance company to a farm in rural Ontario. They’re not working…
MEN in charge
MEN in charge is a doc(mock)umentary by Melanie Kloetzel and Linnea Swan. The film follows the development of the satirical…
Endless curiosity, formal and otherwise, drive these hard to categorize works. Open your mind to the possibilities presented.
Total running time: 47 min (approximately)
Betsy
Welcome to a morning with Betsy, a quirky, bath-taking, cigarette-crazed woman whose routine is unlike most. A visit to the…
Gaea
The art of burlesque and animation merge together in the rotoscoped short film: “Gaea” This is the 6th short film…
The Comfort of a Lie
Let us toss within / A wave that will never break. / Hug the ebb and flow. “The Comfort of…
If
4 siblings who lost their sister when she was young imagine what it would be like if she were still…
14
As things started to close in around us, our technologies kept us company, and the current relationship I had with…
Unveiling
How do you begin to unveil painful truths? Unveiling is a call to question the past and follow the path…
Mama
First created by and for Mélanie Demers, at the invitation of the Italian festival B-Motion in Bassano, the performance Icône…
Sunglow Gecko
Sunglow Gecko is an exploration of introspection and an attempt to piece together fleeting moments of uncertainty. It is trying…
We are surrounded by danger at every turn. The artists in this program stand up to it, flirt with it, struggle with it and, ultimately, embrace it to come out the other side.
Total running time: 36 min (approximately)
Historians
A young black male shares a spoken word poem about his life growing up with racism, fear, hatred and hope.…
D A N G E R
DANGER is an immersive, timely reflection on current events, a film which criticizes perpetual, omnipresent growth and illustrates the liberation…
BLANCO
At the moment of the filming in May 2019, the mask was only an interesting prop that we were wondering…
Then There Was One
Man has become an Island. Seeking refuge. Muzzled by the course of nature. Coalescing with the pantheon built from ashes.…
The Inner Ring
On the eve of her biggest match yet, the boxer Lee must battle her true opponent — her own fear.
AUTONOME – MADA MADA
Montreal, 1954. An exiled author is thrown into a dance with his inner demons. Shaken by the unwavering tides of…
Shipwreck
Set against the urban and natural landscapes of St. John’s, Newfoundland during the Covid-19 lockdown, Shipwreck uses contemporary dance to…
Winter’s harsh breath gives way to gentler breezes / movement twirls and whirls to fill the landscape.
Total running time: 41 min (approximately)
Clearing
Waking up one morning in quiet solitude to a lush Canadian snowfall, everything seemingly pandemic, feels torn apart. The soft…
Anamnesis
As I walk, I stop and remember. Extraordinary but insignificant memories build the puzzle of my mind. I constantly look…
Hors
Hors is a dance film on the border of surrealism. It is carried by a reflection on the interior and…
And The Sun Someday
The past year was insanely weird. It was a year full of anxiety, loneliness, and being hopeless. It was a…
Woodlands Groove
“Woodlands Groove” is part of a series of six choreographic works called the Undercurrents Project that were devised as a…
Living Space
“Living Space” was created by choreographer Anne Plamondon and composer Cléo Palacio-Quintin as a visual representation of something that emerges…
Equinox
Equinox is inspired by the concept of the two faces: the face you show the world and the face of…
Portraiture
Portraiture is a cinematic manifestation of a personal journal. In an attempt to accurately capture the emotional and environmental shifts…
BONUS: In partnership with Harbourfront Centre and Fall for Dance North
Tessel
An Esie Mensah Film
NOW STREAMING
An Affirmation of Unity Between 14 Black dancemakers from Across Canada
A national initiative conceptualized by Dora-nominated choreographer and creator Esie Mensah (Shades, A Revolution of Love), TESSEL explores the complexities of movement and voice as a form of resilience – and to achieve truth and honesty in sharing its participants’ lived experience as Black dance artists.
Premiering across the country on the one-year anniversary of Blackout Tuesday (June 1) – a day when organizations worldwide publicly expressed their commitment towards institutional change to support the Black community – the film aims to amplify Black voices by providing a platform for the artists to share their truths. dance: made in canada/fait au canada is honoured to be supporting and co-presenting TESSEL along with a network of 21 Canadian performing arts organizations.
TESSEL is available for streaming FREE in Canada only by visiting: tessel.film
Featuring:
Eugene “GeNie” Baffoe (Winnipeg), Livona Ellis (Vancouver), Kevin Fraser, (Vancouver), Alexandra “Spicey” Land (Montr al), Gabrielle Martin (Vancouver), Esie Mensah, (Toronto), Raoul Pillay, (Toronto), Natasha Powell (Toronto), Liliona Quarmyne (Halifax), Lua Shayenne (Toronto), Crazy Smooth (Ottawa), Ronald A. Taylor (Toronto), Lisa La Touche (Calgary), Ravyn Wngz (Toronto)
dance on film is part of the 2021 Arts Encounters programming, which includes off-stage ways of connecting with dance, artists, and community. dance on film is curated by Kathleen Smith. Arts Encounters is produced by Sam Hale.