As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, artists and the venues that support them continue to adapt, move forward and find ways to reach audiences in the comfort of their homes. It is in that spirit that Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz (TRK), the performance space at Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles, and Dance Camera West (DCW) have put together an exclusive set of international dance films and announce the online presentation of the INTERNATIONAL DANCE: LOS ANGELES on January 7 – 9, 2021 at 8:00pm.
International Dance: Los Angeles kicks off the month-long DCW 2021 which runs from January 7 – 31, 2021. In partnership with The Broad Stage and Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, DCW 2021 presents live and virtual dance screenings throughout the month. LA Dance Chronicle will soon provide more information on DCW 2021 Film Festival in a separate article.
“The goal of our programming is to produce a range of live performances with an eclectic array of creative artists from around the world,” says Pierre Leloup, Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz Artistic Director, “In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic, our mission remains the same, though slightly transformed to present diverse cultural traditions from across the globe online, ever enriching the lives of our students and attendees from the greater Los Angeles area.”
The 3-day long International Dance: Los Angeles will feature new work by filmmakers and choreographers from France, Australia, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and more. It will include a total of 18 international short dance films, along with exclusive interviews on the TRK stage with filmmakers, producers, dancers, choreographers and festival directors.
International Dance: Los Angeles – “Navigation” (Canada) Director: Marlene Millar Choreographer: Sandy Silva – Courtesy of TRK
I contacted Pierre Leloup, Executive and Artistic Director at TRK to learn more about the genesis of the International Dance: Los Angeles.
“When I came back in August 2020 after a short summer break,” He wrote back. “I decided to build a “virtual” programming. The TRK is a multidisciplinary programming theater, with a French and International touch, and the options for programming, due to Covid travel restrictions, were reduced. Bringing international artists on stage was impossible. Cinema and screenings had a modest amount of programming pre-Covid, I decided to develop those so I could keep our niche in the francophone market, keep the theater active, and also to find a way to support the artists.
I also decided to work with local artists, for live performances (filmed and streamed). I wanted to keep dance alive in our program so I reached out to Deborah Brockus, with whom I put the LADF on two years in a row in 2017, and 2018.”
Leloup and Brockus discussed plans for LADF 2020 which Brockus was co-producing with the Luckman Performance Complex. Leloup wanted to add a fourth weekend featuring international filmmakers and reached out to companies he knew in Europe and Canada. “The idea was to show some short pieces from international companies along with some footage of some international choreographers, living in LA, on the TRK stage,” Leloup said. Sadly, the project did not come together.
International Dance : Los Angeles – “FLOOR FALLS” (UK) Directors: Jennifer Paterson, Lewis Gourlay, Abby Warrilow – Courtesy of TRK
Leloup also contacted Kelly Hargraves, Executive and Artistic Director of DCW, about the possibility of partnering on a project with DCW. “I called Kelly and offered her to partner for “International Dance : Los Angeles”, a 3-night festival in January. She said she had something planned with The Broad Stage and after checking with them, agreed to work with TRK. They each had contacts in Europe and Canada, and after viewing and selecting films, created International Dance: Los Angeles. “She sent me a selection of more than 50 short films,” Leloup said. “I selected 16 out of her list and added 3 from my list to make 19. I divided them into three themes to fit with the 3-day festival and came up with the idea of doing a documentary night, a Love and more night and new Inspiration night (experimental).”
On Thursday, January 7th, TRK and DCW present Unique Stories, with three documentary shorts from Australia, Canada, and the USA. In CHEN, Orit Novak (Australia) recounts the story of a Chinese-Australian dancer, who at the age of 10 was thrown into the strict and rigorous training world of the Beijing Dance Academy. Talia Woodland (Canada) in All It Gives follows the story of Kosi Eze, a Nigerian immigrant who moved to Canada when she was 14. And Stephanie Owens (USA) in Downstage tells the story of 11-year old Aedan and the challenges and rewards of ballet.
On Friday, January 8th, TRK and DCW present a collection of eight short dance films L’amour! And more, inspired by questions of love, gender, loss, intimacy, domestic violence and the objectification of women, with work by Ismaël Mouaraki (Canada), Lois Norman (UK), Alayna Jennings (US), Amélie Gagnon (Canada), Desi Jevon (US), Cati Jean (France), Tuixén Benet (Spain), Matthew McKee (US) and Marcat Dance (Spain).
On Saturday, January 9th, New Inspiration offers up a night of experimental dance shorts for those on the bleeding edge of dance appreciation, with seven shorts made by choreographers pushing boundaries around the world. This series of shorts includes Marlene Millar (France), Mathieu Mondoulet (France), Quinn Wharton (USA), Paulo Filipe Monteiro (Portugal), All or Nothing (UK), Cass Mortimer Eipper (Australia), Bertrand Guerry (France), Hofesh Shechter (UK).
International Dance: Los Angeles – “ON THE MATTER OF FLOWERS” (Canada) Director: Ismaël Mouaraki, Choreographers: Andrea Peña, Christophe Garcia, Dominique Porte, Ismaël Mouaraki – Courtesy of TRK
Night One: Thursday, January 7, 2021
CHEN
Director: Orit Novak
Choreographers: David McAllister, Marius Petipa, Arthur Saint Leon
Cast: Chengwu Guo, Ako Kondo, David McAllister, Li Cunxin, Dale Baker, Jiahong Wong, Carol Guo
Details: Australia, 21 min, Documentary
Language: Chinese, English
ALL IT GIVES
Director: Talia Woodland
Cast: Kosi Eze, Caroline “Lady C” Fraser, Marcelino “FrostFlow” DaCosta, Mariano “Glizzi” Abarca
Details: Canada, 15 min, Documentary
DOWNSTAGE
Director: Stephanie Owens
Details: USA, 12 min 15 sec, Documentary
International Dance: Los Angeles – “WINTER GREW COLD” (USA) Directors: Cati Jean and Desi Jevon , Choreographers: Desi Jevon, Cati Jean – Courtesy of TRK
Night 2: Friday, January 8, 2021
WINTER GREW COLD
Directors: Cati Jean and Desi Jevon
Choreographers: Desi Jevon, Cati Jean
Cast: Hunter Krikac, Mark Morante, Haley Jessup
Cinematographer: Vinny Randazzo
Details: USA, 6 min 6 sec, Short fill
ON THE MATTER OF FLOWERS
Director: Ismaël Mouaraki
Choreographers: Andrea Peña, Christophe Garcia, Dominique Porte, Ismaël Mouaraki
Cast: Daphnée Laurendeau, Danny Morissette
Photos: Bobby León
Details: Canada, 14 min 50 sec, Short film
An initiative of Agence Mickaël Spinnhirny, co-produced with the companies Andrea Peña & Artists, Destins Croisés, la [parenthèse] / Christophe Garcia and Système D/Dominique Porte.
DUET ALANDA
Company: Marcat Dance
Choreography: Mario Bermudez Gil
Assistant Choreographer: Catherine Coury
Dancers: Mario Bermudez Gil & Catherine Coury
Lighting Designer: Mario Bermudez Gil
Music: La Rosa Enflorese
Details: Spain, 10 min 14 sec, Short film
HORS
Directors: Amélie Gagnon, Julia-Maude Cloutier
Choreographers: Amélie Gagnon, Julia-Maude Cloutier
Cast: Amélie Gagnon, Julia-Maude Cloutier
Cinematographer: Stéphane Thériault
Editor: Stéphane Thériault, Elias Djemil-Matassov
Sound: Mathieu Grégoire, Alexandre Laberge
Sound Mix: Synchro Postproduction Audio
Sound Editor: Alexandre Côté
Details: Canada, 5 min 51 sec, Narrative Short
DIGNITY
Director: Alayna Jennings
Choreographer: Alayna Jennings
Cast: Jillian Teskey, Sadie Posey, Kristy Dai, Pauler Lam, Alayna Jennings, Keenan Reed, Taylor Shultz, Cameron Wille
Details: USA, 2 min 57 sec, Narrative Short
AVOIDANCE
Director: Matthew McKee
Choreographer: Ben Needham-Wood
Cast: James Gilmer, Jennifer Stahl
Designer: Susan Roemer
Music: Hae Voces
Makeup: Sarah Coy
Director of Photography: Matthew Piniol, Matthew McKee
Editor/Colorist: Matthew McKee; Sound Design: Sasha Michkovsky; Audio Mix/Master: Elad Marish; Set Design
Details: USA, 6 min 30 sec, Narrative Short
SWIVEL
Director: Lois Norman
Choreographer: Iron&Sparks
Director of Photography: Teryl Brouillette
Sound Design: Jemma Cholawo
Editing: Lois Norman & Teryl Brouillette; Score: Helen Mountfort
Cast: Iron&Sparks
Details: United Kingdom, 6 min 39 sec, Narrative Short
LAZARUS
Director: Tuixén Benet
Choreographer: Tuixén Benet
Cast: Àngela Boix
Details: Spain, 8 min 34 sec, Narrative Short
International Dance: Los Angeles – “DIGNITY” (USA) Director: Alayna Jennings, Choreographer: Alayna Jennings – Courtesy of TRK
Night 3: Saturday, January 9, 2021
FLOOR FALLS
Directors: Jennifer Paterson, Lewis Gourlay, Abby Warrilow
Cast: Freya Jeffs
Director of Photography: Andrew Begg Focus Puller: Sefa Ucbas
Aerial Performance Rigger: Imogen Michel
Editor and VFX Artist: Lewis Gourlay
Hair & Make Up: Karen Shields
Lighting Assistant: Stuart Anderson Production Coordinator: Suzanne Heffron
Details: United Kingdom, 2 min 56 sec, Experimental Short
NAVIGATION
Directors: Marlene Millar
Choreographer: Sandy Silva
Cast: Bobby Thompson, Andrew Bathory, Sonia Clarke, David Cronkite, Dominic Desrochers, Afia Douglas, Isaac Endo, Hélène Lemay, Kimberly Robin, Sandy Silva
Editor: Jules de Niverville
Composers: Jean Fréchette, Sandy Silva Sound editor: Félix Boi
Details: Canada, 13 min 30 sec, Experimental Short
A HARD DAY’S NIGHT
Directors: Benjamin Hoffman, Mathieu Mondoulet
Choreographer: Thibaut Eiferman
Cast: Thibaut Eiferman
Producer: Asterias Productions
Details: France, 4 min 25 sec, Experimental Short
PAS DE QUOI
Directors: Paulo Filipe Monteiro
Choreographer: Amélia Bentes
Cast: Amélia Bentes, Fran Martinez, Diego Buceta
Music: Nuno Veiga
Editing: Rúben Gonçalves
Cinematography: Filipe Dores
Sound: Toninho Neto
Details: Portugal, 10 min 53 sec, Experimental Short
LA MÉCANIQUE DES ANGES
Director: Bertrand Guerry
Producer: MITIKI
Screenplay: Bertrand Guerry, Thomas Guerry, Cédric Marchal
Cast: Cédric Marchal, Thomas Guerry, Camille Rocailleux, Romie Esteves, Nicolas Martel, Aline Braz Da Silva, Caroline Rose, Thierry Morlet, Nadège Giguet, Elsa Joubert
Cast: Camille Rocailleux
Details: France, 13 min 13 sec, Experimental Short
WATERS INTO WILDERNESS
Director: Quinn Wharton
Choreographer: Lauren Edson
Cast: Brett Perry
Music: Andrew Stensaas
Details: USA, 4 min 42 sec, Experimental Short
ID
Director: Cass Mortimer Eipper
Choreographer: Cass Mortimer Eipper
Producers: Paul Malek, Chris Curran
Details: Australia, 5 min 58 sec, Experimental Short
HOFESH SHECHTER’S CLOWNS
Director: Hofesh Shechter
Producers: John Wyver, Henny Finch
Cast: Chien-Ming Chang, Frédéric Despierre, Rachel Fallon, Mickaël Frappat, Yeji Kim, Kim Kohlmann, Erion Kruja, Merel Lammers, Attila Ronai, Diogo Sousa
Choreographer: Hofesh Shechter
Composer: Hofesh Shechter
Details: United Kingdom, 28 min 21 sec, Experimental Short
To read more about each film, click HERE.
Tickets are $10 for each night of the festival or $25 for all three nights (18 movies total), and can be purchased on the festival’s page, HERE.
To learn more about Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz, you can visit their website HERE.
You may also follow TRK on Facebook and on Instagram.
To visit the Dance Camera West 2021 Website, click HERE.
TRK and DCW wish to give special thanks to Deborah Brockus and the Los Angeles Dance Festival.
By Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: International Dance: Los Angeles – HOFESH SHECHTER’S CLOWNS (United Kingdom) Director/Choreographer/Composer: Hofesh Shechter – Courtesy of TRK
