Trinidad’s COCO Dance Festival 2016, in partnership with the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema (Colorado), will present the inaugural COCO Video – a weekend of dance cinema, supported by workshops for filmmakers, videographers and choreographers – that celebrate the passion of dance and the intimacy of film.
COCO Video is offering something for everyone. There will be films and workshops for all ages, encouraging choreographers to enter the world of filmmaking, filmmakers to discover and build the skills involved in capturing the rich world of dance and the audience to experience the marriage of the two.
About Dance Cinema
Dance cinema involves films in which dance is a central theme of the story, with the choreography usually existing only on film or video. At their best, dance films use filming and editing techniques to create twists in the plotline, multiple layers of reality, and emotional or psychological depth. The forms and the movement convey the narrative.
According to the Dance Films Association (USA) – dance, like cinema, began as an art form centered on the human body, physical performance, and communication through action and image. Today, technology allows for even greater artistic experimentation, with the language of moving images further enriching viewers’ experience. Dance filmmakers continue to push creative boundaries, producing films that speak through the universal language of movement.
COCO Video Workshops
Ana Baer, the Sans Souci Festival’s director, will be in Trinidad to conduct film production workshops that should be of interest to filmmakers who incorporate dance into their films and videographers who shoot music videos that incorporate dance.
Workshop 1: Brief History of Video Dance and how to create a video dance piece.
Workshop 2: Creating a site specific Dance Video.
Participants are asked to bring along a cellphone, or iPad and download a free application called “we video”. If this is not possible, they can witness and collaborate with those who have a recording and editing device. Baer will demonstrate and have hands on exercises for all levels, so everyone is invited, including children.
Workshops cost $60 and participants are asked to come early on the day to register. Space is limited and available on a first come basis.
About the COCO Dance Festival
The COCO Dance Festival is an annual festival of contemporary dance and choreography
that seeks to provide talented local choreographers with a platform for experimental and cutting edge choreography. COCO also provides a space for dancers to showcase their post-modern forms of dance and innovative mosaics of body motion.
The Collective was founded by Sonja Dumas, Dave Williams, Nancy Herrera and Nicole Wesley in 2009 and serves as the premier festival for contemporary dance in the country and the largest contemporary dance festival in the English-speaking Caribbean.
For further information on the COCO Dance Festival visit www.facebook.com/COCODanceFest, follow the Festival on Instagram @coco_dance_festival or email cocodancett@gmail.com
See below for the schedule of films to be screened, and visit https://vimeo.com/72794677 for a taste of what’s to come.
KidVids, Saturday, October 22, 4:00 PM
Advance, 2010, 3 min
Directed by Mitchell Rose
One dance. Two minutes. Fifty locations. (USA)
Strönd/beach, 2010, 1 min
Produced and Directed by Ingi Jensson and Heike Salzer
Choreography by Heike Salzer
Tall grasses form the common mise-en-scène for dancers on separate beaches, one in Iceland and one in Denmark. The two dances are edited into a single piece. (Iceland / Denmark / UK)
Outside in, 2011, 10 min
Directed by Tove Skeidsvoll & Petrus SjövikProduced by Annelie Gardell
Choreography and dancing by Tover Skeidsvoll
Introspectively filmed by an intrusive crew, Cecilia dances inside a forest inside a studio. (Sweden)
Passing Through, 2009, 4 min
Produced by Michelle Ellsworth
Choreography by Toby Hankin
Humans passing through each others’ lives is portrayed with movement and overlay. (USA)
Vanishing Points, 2014, 9 min
Produced and Directed by Marites Carino
Choreography and dancing by EMMANUELLE & ELON
Two strangers cross paths, collide, and share moments of intimate synchronicity in an otherwise anonymous world.(Canada)
Animalz, 2006, 3 min
Directed by Sergio Cruz
Choreography by JP Omari
Sergio Cruz’s film “Animalz” takes the urban B-Boy Skills of Brighton and Hove’s B3 Boys into the city’s surrounding natural landscapes. Co-choreographed by BBC Strictly Dance Fever’s JP Omari, the sixteen 8-14 year-old dancers were encouraged to bring out the animal in themselves. (UK)
Approaching the puddle, 2014, 9 min
Directed by Sebastian Gimmel
Choreography by Sebastian Gimmel & Homai Toyoda
Playing in puddles, a young woman, dressed in rain gear with shiny yellow boots, drifts into a magical inner world. (Germany)
Höfn/harbor, 2010, 2 min
Produced and Directed by Ingi Jensson and Heike Salzer
Choreography by Heike Salzer
Anything can be turned into a duet partner – even this yellow structure at Reykjavik’s harbor. (Iceland / UK)
Natural Selection, 2013, 6 min
Produced and Directed by David Fishel
Choreography and dancing by Carlye Eckert
One woman’s whimsical battle against rigid forms. (USA / Sweden)
BigVids, Saturday, October 22, 6:30 PM
890 Broadway, 2012, 4 min
Directed by Marta Renzi
Choreography by Marta Renzi
The duet of two women dressed to go out – but, who never do.(USA)
ME – Story of a Performance, 2013, 7 min
Directed by Jopsu Ramu
Choreography and dancing by Johanna Nuutinen
An artfully rendered cinematic exploration of a dance performance. (Finland / Japan / Estonia)
Ferry, 2014, 3 min
Directed by Jennifer Keller
Choreography by Jennifer Keller
Boom operated by Jazmyne Koch
Remembering a happier past, a woman resists inevitable change at the remains of an old ferry docking station. (USA)
Helena, 2015, 4 min
Directed by Nadav Heyman, an emerging artist
Choreography and dancing by Nadav Heyman
A stream-of-consciousness voiceover accompanies a contemporary male soloist on an empty stage. (USA)
Above the light, 2016, 6 min
Produced and Directed by Heike Salzer & Jack Laidlaw
Choreography and dancing by Jennifer Essex
A movement exploration on a rooftop set to the backdrop of sunset and city lights. (UK)
The Time it Takes, 2013, 11 min
Produced and Directed by Katrina McPherson & Simon Fildes
Choreography and dancing by Rosalind Masson, Simon Ellis, Dai Jian
Screendance extraordinaire (UK)
Dunes, 2015, 8 min
Produced and Directed by ana baer
Choreography and dancing by kim olson
A female dancer, the Great Dunes of Colorado — an intimate dialogue. (USA)
OF THE HEART, 2007, 6 min
Directed by Douglas Rosenberg and Allen Kaeja
Choreography and dancing by David Dorfman and Lisa Race
“Of The Heart” is a tender and moving duet for the camera that slowly unfolds in a windblown field in late fall. The film speaks of longing and desire and is a richly metaphoric movement portrait. The performance by Dorfman and Race is heartfelt and honest, stripped to its emotional core. (USA)
KidVids, Sunday, October 23, 4:00 PM
Imitation and Splattery, 2016, 6 minDirected by Michelle Bernier
Choreography and dancing by Michelle Bernier
Globe Trot, 2013, 4 min
Produced and Directed by Mitchell Rose
Choreography by Bebe Miller
Dancing by people found on the street
An international crowd-sourced dance-film project: 50 filmmakers on all 7 continents each shoot 2 seconds of a dance by choreographer Bebe Miller. (USA & 22 other countries)
Animalz, 2006, 3 min
Directed by Sergio Cruz
Choreography by JP Omari
“Animalz” takes the urban B-Boy Skills of Brighton and Hove’s B3 Boys into the city’s surrounding natural landscapes. Co-choreographed by BBC Strictly Dance Fever’s JP Omari, the sixteen 8-14 year-old dancers were encouraged to bring out the animal in themseleves. (UK)
Produced and Directed by Ana Baer
Choreography by Ana Baer and dancers
Two dancers, one wall – sharing, resisting, and exploring. (USA)
Höfn/harbor, 2010, 2 min
Produced and Directed by Ingi Jensson and Heike Salzer
Choreography by Heike Salzer
Anything can be turned into a duet partner – even this yellow structure at Reykjavik’s harbor. (Iceland / UK)
Molat & Molat, 2015, 6 min
Produced and Directed by Kate Duhamel
Choreography and dancing by Pascal Molat
Featuring San Francisco Ballet
The story of Pascal Molat dancing, as told by Matisse Molat, age 5. (USA)
Skógur/forest, 2010, 2 min
Produced and Directed by Ingi Jensson and Heike Salzer
Choreography by Heike Salzer
Devised at a site north of Copenhagen, the choreography and filming is influenced by the associations the makers experience in relation to the place. (Iceland / Denmark / UK)
Vanishing Points, 2014, 9 min
Choreography and dancing by EMMANUELLE & ELON
Two strangers cross paths, collide, and share moments of intimate synchronicity in an otherwise anonymous world.(Canada)
BigVids, Sunday, October 23, 6:30 PM
Elon + Emmanuelle, 2012, 7 min
Directed by Natalie Galazka
Choreography and dancing by Elon Höglund & Emmanuelle Lê Phan
Charmed dancers observe their own duet in a magical street art fantasy. (USA)
Le Jardinier de la Gafferie, 2010, 7 min
Directed by Nancy Spanier, Ana Baer
Choreography by Nancy Spanier – Paul Oertel
“Le Jardinier de la Gafferie” takes a gentle look at a typical day in the life of an atypical gardener and asks the question: If one’s passion is one’s garden, what happens when the garden is no longer enough to whet one’s passion? Filmed in the Dordogne region of southwestern France. (USA)
In There, 2005, 7 min
Directed by Michael Theodore / Michelle Ellsworth
Choreography and dancing by Michelle Ellsworth
This film definitively answers the question, “What is she doing in there?” (USA)
OF THE HEART, 2007, 6 min
Directed by Douglas Rosenberg and Allen Kaeja
Choreography and dancing by David Dorfman and Lisa Race
“Of The Heart” is a tender and moving duet for the camera that slowly unfolds in a windblown field in late fall. The film speaks of longing and desire and is a richly metaphoric movement portrait. (USA)
Please, 2008, 6 min
Produced and Directed by Tara Rynders
Choreography and dancing by Tara Rynders
This dance for camera piece is about two people having a conversation over and over again in multiple locations. The conversation also takes place live while the film is being shown.(USA)
Outside in, 2011, 10 min
Directed by Tove Skeidsvoll & Petrus Sjövik
Choreography and dancing by Tover Skeidsvoll
Introspectively filmed by an intrusive crew, Cecilia dances inside a forest inside a studio. (Sweden)
Less, 2016, 10 min
Directed by Erika Randall Beahm and Daniel Beahm
Choreography by Erika Randall
Wearing a dress made of memories, a solo dancer explores notions of nostalgia, sensation, and grief as she moves through virtuosic phrases and theatrical vignettes. Photographs are clipped into and released from the skirt, the costume physically and metaphorically replicating notions of emotional scrapbooking and loss. Inspired by Randall’s aunt’s struggle with Bulbar ALS, “Less” borrows gestures from a body that is deteriorating at a rapid pace while the mind still grasps at an active, vibrant, and sensual history. (USA)
