The LA Dance Project studio was set up with a large screen upstage center and, along with the usual bleacher-style seating, had comfy couches on the sides. There was also popcorn and drinks to be had like any movie house in LA. The first half of the evening was dedicated to archival movies that put Dance Camera West (DCW), helmed by Kelly Hargraves, on the map and helped to establish it as a new force in the medium of dance on film. The second half of the program featured LA POPS UP, “a new initiative from Kitty McNamee and DCW highlighting contemporary Los Angeles-based artists working in dance film today”(program notes). This is an outgrowth of the original DCW foundation showcasing local artists as they explore movement on film. The MovementFest LA is “a new dance festival connecting the spaces where dance is trained, created and performed and shared with the public” (program notes). It was founded by Jessie Lee Thorne, Mike Tyus, and Majella Bess.
MovementFest LA Dance Camera West x LA POPS UP at LA Dance Project – Photo courtesy of DCW.
“There is a Place” 7:25, 2010 United Kingdom, Director: Sang Jijia, Simon Fildes, Katrina McPherson. Here we see a solo man sitting in a chair in a classroom setting. He begins to move while sitting and proceeds to contort and shift dynamics. He utilizes the chair, and then a table and at one point the perspective changes to an outside panorama. The scene shows us a wide meadow with interminable sky above. The man is a speck in this setting while going through his motions. I daresay this piece beautifully described isolation and angst at insignificance, although it also portrayed a yearning and constant striving to overcome. The man’s movement was twisted, contorted and full of anguish. Part of the constant torturous tempo was the frequency of edits and cuts to the film. They were fast and many creating a feeling of manic energy being expelled. Towards the end he breathes and releases much of the tension utilized while moving to simply relax in his chair. It was a release, a letting go, a realization.
“Reines d’un jour” 26:00, 1996 Switzerland, Director: Pascal Magnin. This film began with a group running up the side of one of the Alps and then falling to their sides and rolling down while the ones behind jumped over their bodies to repeat the sequence. All within the spectacular visual of the snowcapped peaks in the distance. It began as a physical tour de force and remained there for the rest of the film. The group consisted of three men and three women. This film was a lesson in physics as the choreography capitalized on the steep sides of the mountain and how gravity displaced bodies falling, sliding, rolling, running down inevitably. A great deal of the partnering in this first section was letting gravity dictate the unison movement that the bodies took on the way down. The sequences were naturally induced and beautifully executed. There was a Sisyphean aspect to this section as no one could actually overcome the force of gravity sending them careening downhill. This segued into a section with the herdsmen of the hill country and their cattle. We get the three couples mimicking the cattle in their struggle with status and utilizing the torque of higher ground in order to win that status. There was grappling and pressure and equal force all presented within partnering and movement. The three women slip into a mountain lake to swim and we are at once reminded of Water Nymphs which have inhabited these mountains for millennia. This scenario also capitalizing on ancient myth. This was a thrilling film full of deep connotations in mythology and dance, humor and society. It deserves a wider audience and more exposure.
“Reines d’un jour” 26:00, 1996 Switzerland, Director: Pascal Magnin – Still courtesy of DCW.
“Touched” 14:05, 1995 United Kingdom, Director: David Hinton. This film was set in a bar with many people interacting in close proximity to one another. It is in Black and White and because of that it makes the physical interactions between people pop against a very dark background. This was a very sensual essay in the subject of skin touching skin. The sensory input of touch when coupled in a casual atmosphere and how that can change when the touch develops just a tad further. There were close-up shots of both women’s and men’s necks being touched and manipulated to the point where that part of the human anatomy becomes something else entirely, where the expanse of jaw to neck and the sloping down to the collarbone can seem like a wide angle shot of the desert in “Lawrence of Arabia”. The panorama of skin around the shoulders and head were separated by angles to the point of seeing a Picasso portrait made manifest on film! It was disorienting and so very exciting at the same time. I was surprised towards the end when we see a couple actually engage in a prolonged kiss when all that went before was common physical interaction at a bar made poetic by the intense closeness of the shots.
“Touched” 14:05, 1995 United Kingdom, Director: David Hinton. – Still courtesy of DCW.
“Avignon” 6:10, 2026 U.S., Director & Choreographer: Mike Tyus & Luca Francesco Renzi. This had different groups making movement in different parts of a church. The movement was percussive and fairly angst driven. Some sequences were aggressive and volatile which worked well with the backdrop of the setting. There was also contact improvisation between two men that was a take on communication in general. Well done.
“Held You So” 4:54, 2022 U.S., Director: Mike Cruz, Choreographer: Danny Dolan. This was a lovely valentine. We see a cleaning man going about his business with his cleaning cart at some industrial site. He begins dancing with it and he has an entire fantasy of dancing while doing his work shift. It was in the style of old movies as he dances with a mop which reminded me of Fred Astaire dancing with a hatrack in “Royal Wedding”. This was a lovely homage to the old musicals and it brought forth a melancholy in the man’s dreams.
“Motherhood” 3:08 2024 U.S., Director: Nicole Spring, Choreographer: Stephanie Kim – Still courtesy of DCW.
“Motherhood” 3:08 2024 U.S., Director: Nicole Spring, Choreographer: Stephanie Kim. This short film showed us the weight of responsibility of a mother raising three young children and her need and desire to just have a moment to herself in order to express and release her inner tensions, dreams, fears, and hopes.
“Bells” 7:18 2025 U.S., Director: Ryan Spencer & Keean Johnson. In a coincidence, this film also began with someone rolling downhill in a carpet. He emerges at the end and gets up and there is a woman handing him a shovel. He takes it and then follows the woman where a series of vignettes ensues. There are three of them now digging in the desert. A grave? We do not know. They access different locales in the desert all stark and beautifully brutal. They dance as in prayer or ritual. At the end of the credits we get it as the film is dedicated to three people who have recently died. It turns out to be an evocative memorial for those gone.
“Metamorphose” 5:24 2025 U.S., Director: Or Schraiber, Choreographer: Paul Zivkovich & Or Schraiber. This film was also set in the great empty expanse of desert. We see two men walking in the same direction but on different paths. They come to a couple of posts with material tied onto them. Once they erect the posts and bury them in the sand, we see that they have created a boxing ring. They are at two opposing corners of the ring when they launch themselves at each other and fight, wrestle, contort. As they wrestle, they become physically entangled with one another. Their movement then evolves into the sensitive. One of the men fights it, until at the end, exhausted, he finally relaxes and gives in to the other man holding him. Is this a metaphor for some straight identifying man realizing he is actually gay? Or is it just that difficult for him to accept his feminine side?
“Metamorphose” 5:24 2025 U.S., Director: Or Schraiber, Choreographer: Paul Zivkovich and Or Schraiber – Still courtesy of DCW.
“Spaghetti” 10:00 2024 U.S., Director & Choreographer: Charissa Kroeger. This short seemed to me to be an ode to Federico Fellini! We see an entire movie audience of people made up in the most outlandish and colorful costumes all taking part in watching a film and reacting to it. Their reactions for the most part are unison but with all the different faces cartooning it up. It did remind me of the “Spaghetti Westerns” which were directed by Italian directors giving them an interesting niche in the annals of movie-making. It was fun and amusing.
Written by Brian Fretté for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: “Spaghetti” 10:00 2024 U.S., Director & Choreographer: Charissa Kroeger – Still courtesy of DCW.
