New blog location!!

Dear Friends,

We have just moved Move the Frame to a brand new location with a new design. Please go to: http://pentacleblogs.org/movetheframe/

We look forward to seeing you!

This Week’s Videodance Contest – Classroom or Stage

Thank you to everyone who submitted or nominated a work for this week’s theme of “Classroom or Stage.” Keep in mind, this contest will be happening every week for the remainder of the summer. If you haven’t had a chance to participate yet, there will be plenty of more chances for you to do so. Our next theme is “Private or Public.” All submissions and nominations are due by July 14th, and the contest winners will be announced on July 17th. Please scroll to the bottom of this post for more information on how to submit.

This week’s winning videos are:

“Fabric of Being” by David Wasserman representing our stage category

And

“Aldana” by Jordi Martin representing our classroom category

Classroom or Stage

For the theme “Classroom or Stage,” we imagined that one term was about how we learn and explore movement, and the other was about the execution of already learned and rehearsed movement. As we watched various videos though, the distinctions became a little less clear.  If a video  is of a dance being performed for an audience, but it is still in its experimental stages, does it fall into the category of stage or classroom? What about a piece that has been completed, but was created solely for the purpose of teaching it to others? Ultimately, we chose two videos that were similar in essence but extremely different in intention and execution.

Stage: “Fabric of Being”

This David Wasserman’s “Fabric of Being” is a representation of stage because it shows the final product of a creative process. It takes also place on a stage in a frontal format, as if to be performed before an audience. Not only is the choreography set, but the piece is also filmed in a very specific way in order to portray the artist’s vision. By incorporating beautiful choreography with unique camera work, Wasserman captivates the audience and invites them to interpret the work in their own way. The underlying concept of “no two snowflakes are alike,” provides the foundation for the piece. Wasserman explains that the piece actually delves into the depths of humanity through the personification of a snowflake. Even though the same dancer is performing the same choreography to the same music in each of the two layered wide shots, when placed side by side it is evident that the movements are not identical. Although at times the movements seem to sync up, when you look closely it is clear that the movements in one shot are drawn out slightly longer than they are in its counterpart. It is rare for a piece to work well both as a stage and filmic piece, but this work accomplishes just that with a unique and strong message.

More info on David Wasserman: www.WorldWideWass.com

Classroom: “Aldana”

Similarly to “Fabric of Being,” Jordi Martin’s “Aldana” features two dancers executing the same choreography. Unlike “Fabric of Being”, “Aldana” is not a finished and polished work. At this stage in the creative process, the choreography does not necessarily have a set purpose, but rather is an exploratory experimentation with movements, and is a great illustration of how dancers learn. A major part of a dancer’s learning process involves watching and mimicking movements. In this video the two dancers start out seeming to be in perfect sync, but as the phrase progresses, we see that the woman is following the man, and he is showing her the movements. Later in the learning process, when the movements have been refined, the dancer is able to embody the choreography and make the movements their own. “Aldana” captures the moments of new choreography being set on a dancer’s body, and the learning process that this involves.

More info on Jordi Martin: http://www.proyectocajmir.com

Please leave us a comment, and let us know what you think about classroom and stage videos, this week’s winners, and anything else you’d like to share!

Next Week’s Theme for Movement Media’s Online Video Dance Contest:

Theme: Private or Public
Submissions are due by Tuesday July 14th.
Winners will be announced on Move the Frame on Friday July 17th.
With Facebook, Twitter and social media all the rage, privacy is a hot button topic these days. Tons of people are capturing private dances on video and posting them on Youtube for public consumption. What are your thoughts on private and public, and how has his played out in your work?

Please submit or nominate a video for one of these categories and tell us how you interpreted this theme.

HOW TO SUBMIT

• Submissions may be made by anyone – artists, film makers, and anyone who knows of online videos that fit the weekly themes.
• The video submitted must be under 10 minutes long.
• Pick/Submit one video to represent only one of the weekly themes.
• Send the link of the video to Movement Media
• The video submitted needs to be embeddable, ie hosted on YouTube or another sharable online video platform.
• Include a short biography/artist statement (if it is your work).
• For every submission, include a short summary that describes why you have chosen a particular video for the contest and describe how it relates to the weekly theme.
• Include a brief synopsis of the video.
• Include a link to your website (if you have one)
• Include your email address

Email all information to movementmedia@pentacle.org
If your submission is chosen for the weekly contest, we will contact you directly.

Impetus for Contest Participants

• Have your videos seen by an online audience who’s interested in movement-based video.
• Receive publicity for your work/work of others
• Receive comments and feedback
• Automatic consideration for live screening at Kinetic Cinema in NYC.
• Automatic consideration for UMOVE, Movement Media’s Online Dance Film Festival in October 2009.

UP-COMING THEMES FOR JULY:

Week four in July: Pop Dance Phenomenon
Submissions due by July 21st. Weekly Contest winners will be announced on July 24th.

The final week of July will be guest curated by Doug Fox of Greatdance.com.

This Week’s Videodance Contest Winners for the Theme ‘Rehearsal or Performance’

by Mollie Shapiro

Although the first month of our Videodance Contest has come to an end, we have a whole new crop of themes for the month of July. Our next theme is “Classroom or Stage.” All submissions and nominations are due by July 7th, and the contest winners will be announced on July 10th. Please scroll to the bottom of this post for more information on how to submit.

The winning videos for this week’s Videodance Contest for the theme “Rehearsal or Performance” are:

“Chunky Move’s Mortal Engine” by Chunky Move representing our performance category

There is an issue with the YouTube embeddable player, so please go to this link to watch “Mortal Coil”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS1WALmBqUw

And

“One on One” by Caleb Custer for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet’s Project 52

Rehearsal or Performance

When watching a performance, it is easy to become so wrapped up in a piece that you lose sight of the meticulous rehearsal process behind the polished execution. This week’s theme is an examination of the dichotomy between rehearsal and performance. While strongly interconnected, the differences between these two stages in the creative process are immense. Rehearsals often function as laboratories to experiment with movement material, and then hone in on the composition and execution of the movements. Once a piece reaches the performance stage, the focus shifts to how it looks to outside viewers (the audience). At this point visual effects such as lighting, costumes, and sets are incorporated, to create a seamless magical experience for the viewer.

Performance: Chunky Move’s “Mortal Engine”

“Mortal Engine” by the iconoclastic Australian dance company, Chunky Move (http://chunkymove.com/), is unique in that it incorporates choreography and animated visual effects to create a completely new hybrid form: an “intermedia” performance. The video of the performance is very effective at capturing the magic of this mingling of media and live performance, giving us a great sense of what it was like to see it in the theater. When watching this piece, it’s hard to fathom how it was made. The performance is utterly captivating and fascinating to watch. The technology behind the piece is a program called Calypso, that uses real-time generated graphics to accompany each dancer’s movements. To create the incredible effects shown on the stage, a projector shoots onto the floor, next to an infrared camera, which is next to infrared lights. Nick Roux, the operator for another performance by Chunky Move using this technology entitled “Glow,” explains that the camera, which is lined up exactly with the image of the projector, tracks the movement of the dancer and sends it to a computer running the program Calypso. The operator then responds to the choreography through a series of cues to create the stunning visual effects that move in time with the dancers. The sophistication of technology for real-time performance has made giant advances in recent years. Chunky Move has utilized these new technologies to great effect, making work that not only breaks technological barriers, but is also artistically innovative.

Rehearsal: “One on One” by Caleb Custer for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet’s Project 52
Our winning rehearsal video, “One on One” is part of Project 52, a series of one-minute videos being posted each week for an entire year by Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (http://www.cedarlakedance.com/). Each video is intended to give audiences a window into the company’s rehearsal process and give them information about the new pieces they are working on. “One on One” is about the exploratory zone of the rehearsal process in which the dancer must find the specific intention behind each movement in order to execute it with precision. In this video the rehearsal director explains that you cannot expect a dancer to fully absorb the information or grasp the concept of each movement after one rehearsal. Time must be spent one on one with the dancer in order to give the important information necessary to fully comprehend the movements. The rigorous concentration required for each movement is what makes rehearsing dance such a complex and extensive process.

Project 52 is a great example of how a dance company can continue to engage audiences even when they are off-stage. By showing the vigorous work that goes into each polished performance, audiences gain new appreciation for what they see, and are more informed about the piece. Dance is one of the most misunderstood art forms. A common question from audiences after seeing a modern dance performance is, What was that supposed to be about? An online rehearsal video series like Cedar Lake’s Project 52 can help audiences feel more clued into the performance they are watching, and give them a much richer and more meaningful experience.

Please leave us a comment, and let us know what you think about rehearsal and performance videos, this week’s winners, and anything else you’d like to share!

Next Week’s Theme for Movement Media’s Online Video Dance Contest

Theme: Classroom or Stage

Submissions are due by Tuesday July 7th.

Winners will be announced on Move the Frame on Friday July 10th.

Classroom could mean training videos, how-to videos, dance teachers and students, field study, or any other learning environment. Stage could mean performance, showing before an audience (of any size), the completion of a course of study, or any other final stage of a creative/learning process.

Please submit or nominate a video for one of these categories and tell us how you interpreted this theme.

HOW TO SUBMIT

• Submissions may be made by anyone – artists, film makers, and anyone who knows of online videos that fit the weekly themes.
• The video submitted must be under 10 minutes long.
• Pick/Submit one video to represent only one of the weekly themes.
• Send the link of the video to Movement Media
• The video submitted needs to be embeddable, ie hosted on YouTube or another sharable online video platform.
• Include a short biography/artist statement (if it is your work).
• For every submission, include a short summary that describes why you have chosen a particular video for the contest and describe how it relates to the weekly theme.
• Include a brief synopsis of the video.
• Include a link to your website (if you have one)
• Include your email address

Email all information to movementmedia@pentacle.org
If your submission is chosen for the weekly contest, we will contact you directly

Impetus for Contest Participants

• Have your videos seen by an online audience who’s interested in movement-based video.
• Receive publicity for your work/work of others
• Receive comments and feedback
• Automatic consideration for live screening at Kinetic Cinema in NYC.
• Automatic consideration for UMOVE, Movement Media’s Online Dance Film Festival in October 2009 (information and submission guidelines to be announced in early July).

UP-COMING THEMES FOR JULY:

Week three: Private or Public
Submissions due by July 14th. Weekly Contest winners will be announced on July 17th.

Week four: Pop Dance Phenomenon
Submissions due by July 21st. Weekly Contest winners will be announced on July 24th.

The final week of July will be guest curated by Doug Fox of Greatdance.com.

Using Choreography in Cinedance

By Dawn Paap

Given all the possibilities of dance on screen, choreographers for the camera have a multitude of ways to keep us astonished.  Fortunately, the creative interaction between film technique and dance are endless.  In the emerging field of Cinedance, filmmakers or video artists create works that use dance as raw material, and now, choreographic achievements are being made available to the video artist for artistic exploration.

At the last Kinetic Cinema screening on May 13th at Chez Bushwick, curator Victoria Murphy showed a video by Matt Tarr and Ami Ipapo entitled ‘Little Ease (Outside the Box)’ that was a screen adaptation of Elizabeth Streb’s iconic solo ‘Little Ease’. For the film version of the piece, Streb company member Ami Ipapo reconstructed the choreography off-stage in an urban landscape.  The choreography of the live piece on its own is powerful, but the film was able to capture more action and intensity in the piece. I felt more connected to the dancer by being able to hear her breathing, and see her minute facial expressions as she powerfully pushes through the movements. The film took me “inside the box” with the dancer, and I forgot that I was a voyeur watching a choreographed work, something that rarely happens when watching a live performance. My favorite element of this Cinedance was the artistry in editing together of the shots of choreography, which to me added a new specific cinematic “pulse” to Streb’s dance.

Fortunately, other dance icons are lending their choreographed works to video artists to create cinedances. For instance the Martha Graham Company recently released videos of several dances from Martha Graham’s Clytemnestra to be remashed and reedited by contestants in their Clytemnestra Remash Challenge. The contestants displayed a huge range of styles and approaches to remashing the choreographic material, and all of the contest entries are available for view on the Clytemenestra Remash Challenge website at http://clytemnestraproject.com.

I am a personal fan of taking choreographed works made for the stage out into the world to be performed, so I was very pleased to see so many  video artists take Martha Graham’s choreography and characters into new environments off stage.  To me, it made the characters more appealing and more passionate. As a result, I found myself enjoying and connecting with Graham’s work on another level.   The following submission was my personal favorite in the Remash Contest.

The winners of the Remash Contest for Martha Graham’s Clytemnestra have been announced.  Check out their videos and look at some of the other contestants as well. Voting is still open for the popular choice awards! Regardless of the winners, I am thrilled to see new film-makers responding to choreography and furthering the development of cinedance.

People all over the globe are now able to share and collaborate on artistic works over the Internet. Dance innovators would be wise to tap into these new possibilities and use today’s networked media technologies to make the works of dance masters more accessible. In so doing, like Martha Graham and Elizabeth Streb, they would ensure the cultural significance of their work over time, while also enabling to new works of art to be made and contributing to new developments in cinedance.