Dancing Through the Lens

This week, we welcome Dancing Through the Lens co-host Chris Ouellette. Chris' unique path in dance includes training at San Francisco Ballet, performing internationally with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, and acting as a company manager for AXIS Dance Company. This conversation touches on Chris’ first encounter with dance film, his work with accessibility in dance spaces and how some of our audience may already have a picture with him


Subscribe to SFDFFs new dance film series Encore Shorts at this link:

https://sfdancefilmfest.org/2021-encore-shorts/


@sfdancefilmfest
@couellette87
@axisdanceco

This episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

Dancing Through the Lens is back and we are kicking off by speaking with Irish Dancer and Tiktok star, Morgan Bullock. The 2021 documentary Steps of Freedom (dir. Ruan Magan) memorably features Bullock dancing at an intersection in New York, a visual metaphor for the many crossing paths found in the history and trajectory of the development of Irish Dance. Co-host Chris Ouellette and Morgan spoke not only about her role in the documentary, but also touched on topics related to technique, her journey to Riverdance and Megan Thee Stallion.


"Steps of Freedom: The Story of Irish Dance" screens as a part of Stage to Screen, SFDFF's Spring Festival, at the Delancey Theater on Friday, May 13. More information and tickets can be found here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/steps-of...


Watch the Q&A on Youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM8qJzGYMfI&t=4s&ab_channel=SanFranciscoDanceFilmFestival

Social:

@sfdancefilmfest
@couellette87
@morgvn.elizabeth

This episode was recorded on the territory of xučyun (Huichin), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people in what is now known as Berkeley, CA. Morgan is speaking from the ancestral lands of the Seneca Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in what is now known as Rochester, NY.

This fall saw another edition of the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and for the first time in two years, screenings in front of a live audience. We were fortunate to be able to present four live programs during the twelfth edition of our festival and were especially honored to host the North American theatrical premiere of Coppelia, a filmic reimagining of the classic story that blends live action ballet with charming animation (catch our interview with producer Adrienne Liron in Episode 12). 

We were even more honored to have Michaela DePrince, star of the film and current dancer with the Boston Ballet, in attendance for a live Q&A with our audience. Michaela was very open and generous with her answers and did not shy away from the less glamorous side of pursuing a ballet career. This Q&A was moderated by KQED Forum host Mina Kim.

@michaeladeprince

Twitter:
@mkimreporter

https://www.kqed.org/author/minakim

sfdancefilmfest.org
@sfdancefilmfest

Rashaad Newsome is a world-renowned multidisciplinary artist whose work blends multiple practices—including collage, sculpture, film, music, technology, and performance and crafts compositions that speak of and to Black and Queer culture. His latest filmic work, Black Magic documents a 2019 live performance that explores trans women and their contributions to the vogue fem lexicon and expands and activates it with the use of motion tracking software and visual effects. Clare spoke with Rashaad about the multi-layered journey of the current version of the work, which will screen in our Dancing Queens Program at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival.

 @rashaadnewsome
soundcloud.com/rashaad-newsome

Black Magic will screen as a part of Dancing Queens
Saturday, October 23, 2021 @ 7:30pm
Brava Theater
https://sfdancefilmfest.org/festival-films-2021/shorts-program/dancing-queens/


Build or Destroy, San Jose Museum of Art
https://sjmusart.org/digital-projects/rashaad-newsomes-build-or-destroy

Black Magic
https://rashaadnewsome.com/performance/black-magic/

Five
https://rashaadnewsome.com/performance/five-the-whitney-museum/

BAMPFA talk
https://youtu.be/g6FlqsIiie8

1st Place
http://rashaadnewsome.com/collage/selected-works-2016/

@sfdancefilmfest

2020 was a special year for Amy Seiwert’s Imagery as it marked the 10th anniversary of the Company’s SKETCH series. The company had planned  planned SKETCH 10 : WRECKED, which would have brought in six choreographers, including Seiwert  and choreographic fellow Ben Needham-Wood, to work in pairs to “wreck” or edit each others work.  In response to the changing art landscape due to COVID-19, we instead produced four documentary dance films, entitled SKETCH FILMS: Red Thread. Two of these films will be screening as a part of the twelfth annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival. 

Coral spoke with Amy and Ben about the process of producing films that were created around the country as well as the weighty topics the films address.

https://www.asimagery.org/sketchfilms

@asimagery
@aseiwert
@bneedhamwood

Finding Me: Dance Heals (featuring "What the Body Holds")
October 17th, 7:30 PM
Catharine Clark Gallery
https://sfdancefilmfest.org/festival-films-2021/shorts-program/screendance/contemporary/dance-heals-at-catharine-clark-gallery/

@sfdancefilmfest

https://sfdancefilmfest.org/

If you have attended the San Francisco Dance Film Festival over the years, you have likely seen  captures of spectacular live performances from around the world such as A Swan Lake, Betroffenheit and Revisor. The producer of these films, Adrienne Liron, has a new offering for our SFDFF audiences in the form of Coppelia, a visually opulent adventure that blends live action ballet with charming animation starring internationally renowned ballerina Michaela dePrince. Clare had the privilege of chatting with Adrienne about this ambitious project as well as her path from dancer to producer.

https://www.3minuteswest.com/

@3minuteswest
@thecoppeliafilm

Be sure to catch Coppelia this fall at the twelfth annual San Francisco Dance film Festival. The film will screen on October 16th at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason, and will be followed by a Q&A from the film’s star Michaela De Prince. Tickets are on sale now at the links below:

https://sfdancefilmfest.org/festival-films-2021/feature-length/narrative-feature/ballet/coppelia/

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coppelia-2021-sf-dance-film-festival-at-fort-mason-cowell-theater-tickets-168978341769

@sfdancefilmfest.org

This week, Coral sits down with the 2021 SFDFF Co-Laboratory team of dance-based performance group Fog Beast and filmmaker Lindsay Gauthier.

Directed by Melecio Estrella and Andrew Ward,  Fog Beast weaves social, physical and aural curiosities driven by the lived experiences of convening and creativity. Lindsay Gauthier is a San Francisco based filmmaker and is also the founding Creative Producer of the San Francisco Dance Film Festival's Co-Laboratory.

In this episode, the team discusses their early collaborations as dancers in Scott Wells and Company and chart the trajectories of their artistic paths that would eventually cross again in the creation of the new CoLaboratory film, Wild. They also discuss the initial inspiration and research for the film and how their collaboration with Sonoma county conservation group LandPaths helped connect them to the land and deepen  the creative process.

Wild will  premiere in the Bay Area Shorts Program at the Brava theater on October 24th as a part of the twelfth annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Visit sfdancefilmfest.org to learn more

https://www.fogbeast.com/company

http://www.lindsaygauthier.com/

Raptproductions.com

https://www.landpaths.org/

@fogbeast
@lulutrublu
@landpaths

@sfdancefilmfest

Transpire- Another new collaboration between Lindsay and Melecio
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyywKinrREUZdkXQk4447cN_KPhcCIbdJ

On this second episode of a two-part conversation with Turffeinz member Gary “ Ice Cold” Morgan and YAK films co-founder Yoram Savion, we discussed how Yoram’s early filmmaking days in Oakland served as the best possible training ground for collaborations with street dance artists from around the world. We also discuss Gary and Yoram’s collaboration with the Oakland Ballet on the new film “What I See”, which will screen at SFDFF this October. 

Links

RIP Rich D Dancing in the Rain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQRRnAhmB58&ab_channel=YAKfilms

Yak Films
https://www.youtube.com/user/yakfilms

@yoram.savion
@icecold3000

@theturffeinz
@yakfilms

@sfdancefilmfest.org


Night Watch Launch & SFDFF Film Screening
Co-Produced by BOXBLUR and Immersive Arts Alliance
September 17th, Fort Mason
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-watch-at-fort-mason-september-17-tickets-166226635341

If there is any style of dance that the Bay can call its own, its turfing. Whether seen on a BART train or an E-40 video, the physics defying physical storytelling of turfing can turn any place into a stage. But it was one performance from the group Turffeinz captured in the rain in 2009 that saw turfing thrust onto an international stage, changing the trajectories of both the dancers in front of the camera, including Gary “Icecold” Morgan, and the person behind the camera, Yoram Savion, cofounder of SFDFF-embodiment award winning production company YAK films.

On this first episode of a two part conversation with Gary and Yoram, we discussed how their creative paths led to their collaboration and how one’s life changes when the world is your audience.

Links

RIP Rich D Dancing in the Rain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQRRnAhmB58&ab_channel=YAKfilms

Yak Films
https://www.youtube.com/user/yakfilms

@yoram.savion
@icecold3000

@theturffeinz
@yakfilms

@sfdancefilmfest.org


Ballet22 presents Carmen
Great Star Theater, San Francisco
September 3-5
https://www.greatstartheater.org/carmen

This week on Dancing Through the Lens, Coral spoke with Evie Ladin. Not only is Ladin the director of the Oakland-based MoToR/dance, she is a singer/songwriter with many groups including the eponymous Evie Ladin band and also the director of the International Body Music Festival (a project of Oakland-based nonprofit Crosspulse). The episode discusses her upbringing in music and dance, technical considerations of creating music videos, and the inspiration behind 2021 SFDFF selection Drumset. 

The Storm
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWJKC9wqM5M&ab_channel=EvieLadin)
filmed and edited by Chafic Saad and Kris Lee

Ain't No Grave
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiDrGmgj1CM&ab_channel=EvieLadin_
filmed by Mark Kohr (2014 SFDFF Co-Lab Participant)

@evieladin
@crosspulse

https://evieladin.com/

 #MoToRMondays