One clear moment, one of trance
One missed step, one perfect dance
One missed shot, one and only chance
Life is all…but one fleeting glance – Sanober Khan
Directed by filmmaker Nathan Kim and recorded in one continuous shot, Genevieve Carson’s dark and lingering work titled BLINK opens with the above quote by Mumbai-based poet and freelance writer Khan. A woman (Hyosun Choi) is seen walking backwards into a starkly lit abyss with her eyes closed. Is she dreaming? Is she questioning? Or is she remembering and searching her past to understand her present? This woman, this person, this soul encounters several others throughout the film and they take on many roles within her life: our lives.
BLINK was filmed in 2018 and originally choreographed in silence. When Carson came upon the extraordinarily beautiful music of Ezio Bosso she immediately knew it was perfect for the film. Bosso was an Italian composer, pianist and double bass player, and conductor who died very recently of cancer. He composed film scores such as Un amore and Gabriele Salvatores’ Io non ho paura, and ballets which were performed by The Royal Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet, among others.
Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company in “BLINK” choreography by Genevieve Carson – Photo by Nathan Kim
Carson is Choreographer and Creative Director of Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) which recently moved into their new permanent home Stomping Ground L.A., owned and operated by LACDC’s previous director and choreographer Kate Hutter Mason. Carson’s work is always evocative, and in BLINK she uses movement – not dance phrases – to guide us through the emotions of the film’s main character.
Director Kim’s stunning camera work draws the viewer into the dance and she/he becomes the observer as well as the observed. BLINK is filled with personal and social struggles and Carson’s movement is never still. It is, however, never still with great meaning behind that unrest rather than simply to fill up time and space. Her gestures entangle, support and even torment its participants. Carson interweaves her characters’ bodies and gestures, and with the aid of Kim’s direction, absorbs the viewer and her characters as they experience all of life’s emotions without judgement or resolution.
Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company in “BLINK” – Choreography by Genevieve Carson – Photo by Nathan Kim
Near the end of the film, there is a breathtaking moment that follows a particularly intense physical and emotional involvement between the entire cast. As the camera circles them and then zooms in, the group comes together with a longing gesture. It is as if the entire human race is grasping as one for that continuous universal search for the meaning of life.
BLINK was choreographed by Genevieve Carson in collaboration with LACDC’s beautiful cast of dance artists: Christian Beasley, Hyosun Choi, Kate Coleman, Tess Hewlett, Ryan Ruiz, Drea Sobke, and Tiffany Sweat. Other credits are: Zack Bass, 1st Associate Director; Sami Martin Sarmiento, Costume Designer; Josiah Cracraft, Make up; and Lisa-Marie Powell, Hair.
To view BLINK online, click HERE. I highly recommend that you do.
To visit the Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, click HERE.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company – Hyosun Choi in BLINK – choreography by Genevieve Carson – Photo by Nathan Kim
