In 2018 I interviewed Licia Perea for the sixth year production of the BlakTina Dance Festival at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. Following more than a year of the pandemic,under the direction of Perea, BlakTina Dance Project and the Bootleg Theater just presented the third BlakTinx alumni concert Smash Cut – dances for camera. Smash Cut features ten films by BlakTinx alumni artists Melesio Anthony Aceves, Rosa Rodriguez Frazier, Michelle Funderburk, Keilah Glover, Nancy Rivera Gomez, Irishia Hubbard, Primera Generación, Joshua Estrada Romero, Stacey Strickland Jr., and Rosanna Tavarez. BlakTinx 3rd Alumni Concert Smash Cut runs thru Tues., June 29, 10 p.m. Suggested donation $10. Registration.
This year, the ten dance artists had the great opportunity of having workshops on the technique of making dance films with the Artistic Director of Dance Camera West Kelly Hargraves and artistic feedback by three distinguished dance artists Rhapsody James, Rande Dorn, and Ericka Vaughn Byrne.
The challenge to the choreographers was to make a dance film using a technique called smash cut, where one scene abruptly cuts to another for aesthetic, narrative, or emotional purpose, usually occurring unexpectedly at a critical moment in a scene. For example, to help enhance the impact of the cut, an inequality in the type of scene on either side of the cut is generally used, moving from a fast-paced chaotic scene to a more serene one. Not every artist met this challenge, but several did so quite admirably.
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “Ni de aqui, Ni de alla” – by Nancy Rivera – Screenshot by LADC
From beginning to end, Ni de aquí, Ni de allá is a brilliant dance film choreographed by Nancy Rivera. This film is about family, survival, cultural identity, and learning to love oneself. Rivera understands the smash cut technique and uses it to jar the viewers sense of time and emotions, including a mother and daughter escaping an abusive husband/father. Though no direct violence was seen, the subtle exchanges between the two women speaks volumes. Ni de aquí, Ni de allá is beautifully performed and the camerawork and editing are stunning.
The cast of Ni de aquí, Ni de allá: Starring: Athena Cruz. Dancers: Rachel Bergeron, Krystal Masteller, Mía Clark, Victoria Triggedsson and Cassidy Burroughs. Actors: Noemi Torres as Mother, Dan Lopecci as Father, Stav Ben Zur as Dance Instructor. Music: La gota fría by Carlos Vives, La llorona by Lila Downs, Mariposa de Coalcomán by Y la Bamba, A soft throbbing of time by Frank Bretschneider and Deixa A Girar Girar by OsTincõas
Director of Photography: Kassandra Carrettini; Producers: Nancy Rivera & Kassandra Carrettini; Choreographer: Nancy Rivera; Editor: Kassandra Carrettini; 1st Assistant Camera: Erin Erickson; 2nd Assistant Camera: Matt Jones; Lighting Technician: Matt Jones; AD/LP: Vivi Yupanqui; Production Assistant: Maddie Neuville; Best Boy Grip: Joshua Tolon; Best Boy Grip #2: Jason Weiss; Best Boy Grip #3: Alejandro Borbón
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “I’m Black/Dance Therapy” – Screenshot by LADC
I’m Black | Dance Therapy is a powerful film about being Black in America, standing together and confronting police violence. It is about the Black Lives Matter movement, but also much more. It is about Black identity and survival. I’m Black is by Keilah Glover, choreographed by Glover, Deonte Newell, Mychal Vandell, Heaven Lomotey, and James Cleaver. Though the smash cut technique was not as visible here, the switching back and forth between scenes of wonderful Hip Hop dancing and police violence; and then from filming in black and white to color is aptly used.
The cast of I’m Black includes dancers Brittney Benson, Cydney Ayrion, and Marlon Jamez; and Fake PD Paige Keen and Kenneth Hall. Dance Therapy, shot in color, features dancers Keilah Glover, Juquari Baskin, Marlon Jamez, Chris Rodriguez, Krystal Boyd, Crystal Pryor, and Antoinette Scot. Videographers were Johny De & Alik Tsyupa
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “Blue” by Melesio Anthony Aceves – Screenshot by LADC
Blue was choreographed and performed by Melesio Anthony Aceves, Co-artistic Director of AkomiDance. Aceves performs this moody work extremely well, but totally ignored the smash cut challenge. Set in the desert with a bright blue sky in the background, Blue is a handsome film that although nice to look at, sadly did not hold my interest.
The Director/Videographer of Blue was Nick Walker. Music Title: “How’s the World Treating You” (as made famous by Elvis Presley). Music Artist: Cover by Daniel Agee
Smash Cut, dances for camera – Harmonie Outlaw in Stacey Strickland Jr’s “Plea For My People” – Screenshot by LADC
The subject matter of cultural unity, survival, anger and grieving is clear in Stacey Strickland Jr.’s Plea for my people, but the film suffers from poor camerawork and editing. Dancers Harmonie Outlaw, Dylan Sanders, Isaiah Carson, and Strickland continuously go partially out of the frame and the film is often out of focus. In other circumstances, this might be an intended filming technique, but here it comes across as sheer neglect. The best choreography appears near the end in a section that included a solo, a duet and a trio performed by Outlaw, Carson, and Strickland.
The dancers ho perform extremely well include Harmonie Outlaw, Dylan Sanders, Stacey Strickland Jr., and Isaiah Carson. The Videography and Editing is by Stacey Strickland Jr. Music: “Colors On The Ground” by Trevor Jackson, “Black Death: Spoken word” by Marquan Nesbitt (Quan The Poet), and “Wake Up” by Tobe Nwigwe. Additional choreography by: Harmonie Outlaw.
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “Luchx” by Rosa Rodiquez-Frazier – Screenshot by LADC
Luchx is a gorgeous film by Rosa Rodiquez-Frazier performed extremely well by dancers Luis Arteaga, Emilio Manzano, and Jonathan Ramirez-Toledo. Set in a gay bar, Luchx focuses on the masks that queer men and women have to put on to feel safe and/or accepted by society. The bar is their haven and applied lipstick that is quickly hidden behind a mask highlights the disguised reality.
Everything comes together in this film, Luchx: the choreography, set, costumes, symbolism, performers, camerawork and the editing. I especially enjoyed the bright reds against the darkness of the set, the special effect using a tripled mirror, and the choreography utilizing a pool table and cue sticks.
Credits include: Filming by Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier, Anita Meinken, Bodie Smith; Editor: Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier; Costumes by Rosa Rodriguez Frazier + Dancers; Lighting by Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier + Bodie Smith; Music: mona ki ngi xica (Synapsing remix) by Bonga; Filming Location: Back to the Grind Coffee House, Downtown Riverside, CA.
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “Gladiolo y lirio” by Joshua D. Estrada-Romero – Screenshot by LADC
Next was Gladiolo y lirio choreographed, videoed and performed by Artistic Director of FUSE Dance Company Joshua D. Estrada-Romero to music by the Los Angeles based band La Santa Cecilia. Although Estrada-Romero does not make use of the smash cut technique, his somber film is beautifully made and performed. The choreography is far from flashy and the emotions are subtle, but the film’s power clearly stands out.
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “Dance Passage” by Michelle Funderburk-Norris – Screenshot by LADC
Michelle Funderburk-Norris is the director and choreographer of Dance passage that depends heavily on the poetry she wrote and performed. It investigates Black vs White in America and asks the question why people give in to repression. Funderburk-Norris’s poets encourages Blacks, and everyone else, to wake up and embrace who they are. The movement, which is afro-modern based, is primarily unhurried and gains strength from its controlled laborious action.
Dance Passage is not an excellent dance film, but it is a provocative work. The performers include Mychal Vandell Harris, Michelle Funderburk-Norris, Paris Sanjurjo, and Jordan Sims. It features Rite of Passage by Kevin Macleod. The Editor is Francesca Lee, and Videography is by Michelle Funderburk- Norris
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “(re)volver” by Rosanna Tavares – Screenshot by LADC
One cannot take one’s eyes off choreographer/dancer Rosanna Tavares in her dynamic and colorful film (re)volver. Performed to No Hay Tierra Como La Mia composed by Francisco Canaro and performed by Orquesta Francisco Canaro, Tavares is in constant motion. It feels like one long, exciting movement phrase with areas of the NoHo Arts District moving and shifting behind her. Brilliantly colored mural walls, houses and a metro station give texture to Travares’s creation. The Director of Photography and Editor is Robbie Shaw.
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “Muscle Memory” by Irishia Hubbard – Screenshot by LADC
Irishia Hubbard’s Muscle Memory features dancers Kyla Chaney, Nicole Rivor, and Julienne Mackey moving throughout a beautiful home whose walls are lined with fascinating artwork. This is a work about women and the physical history they all share with one another in their homes. Hubbard, the Artistic Director of The Hubbard Collective, incorporates every inch and item of this colorful and wonderfully decorated house. The movement echoes the emotions that continuously shift from fun to anxiety to anger and back again. The smash cut technique used here is the speed with which scenes and moods change. It is a pleasure to watch.
Director of Photography, Videographer, and Editor is Irishia Hubbard; Production Assistant is Santiago Rivera; Lighting is by Ebony Madry; and the music, Kitchen Talk, was composed by Dylan Romaine in collaboration with Irishia Hubbard.
Smash Cut, dances for camera – “Rasquachencias” by Primera Generación Dance Collective – Screenshot by LADC
Last on the program is Rasquachencias by Primera Generación Dance Collective (PGDC). Choreographed and danced by PGDC Alfonso Cervera, Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier, Irvin Manuel Gonzalez, and Patricia “Patty” Huerta, Rasquachencias is a collage of dancing, special effects and colors woven together quite expertly. I recognized scenes from a couple of prior PGDC films such as “low riting”. In researching the meaning of the title, Rasquachencias, the closest I could come was that its meaning involves inventing new uses for conventional objects or giving a new function to something that would conventionally be considered broken or otherwise useless. What the film is, however, is a collection of the company’s work designed to “consolidate a vibrant picture of our Mexican American sociality”.
This was a very entertaining film and an excellent choice to close Smash Cut. The dancing is fun and energetic, the colors are brilliant and the special effects add to the sense of movement and change.
The Filming is by Leo Rivas, Alfonso Cervera and Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier; Editor: Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier; Music: YouTube Free Music Royalty-free songs; Cumbia by Luis Escamilla; La pava by Camilo Martinez ft Shango Dely; Text: Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, and Cherrie L. Moraga; Voices: Rosa Rodriguez-Frazier, Irvin Manuel Gonzalez, and Patricia “Patty” Huerta; Music Composer & Performer: Francisco Canaro, Orquesta Francisco Canaro; and Costumes: Primera Generación Dance Collective.
BlakTinx 3rd Alumni Concert Smash Cut runs thru Tues., June 29, 10 p.m. Suggested donation $10. Registration.
To visit the BlakTinx website, click HERE.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Smash Cut – dances for camera – Ni de aqui, Ni de alla by Nancy Rivera – Screenshot by LADC
