SSF @ Museum of Boulder: Mason’s Nook 2025

Best of Sans Souci 2024: a Dance Film Installation

2nd floor video installation

  • June 24 – August 31, 2025
  • free for Museum members and guests
  • second floor, top of stairs (Mason’s Nook)

Sans Souci is pleased to collaborate once again with our favorite venue and presenting partner, Museum of Boulder. “Best of Sans Souci 2024” is a film exhibit celebrating SSF’s 21st Anniversary Season. This collection of staff favorites was curated from screenings at Museum of Boulder and Dairy Arts Center, with a focus on artistic excellence, significance within the festival, diversity in representation, and program variety, and they include a variety of artists from local Boulderites to internationally renowned dancers.

If you love what you see, join us for Premiere weekend 2025 for all new films, food, drink, installations, and more!

Museum of Boulder logo
Museum of Boulder
2205 Broadway St
Boulder, CO 80302

Accessibility: handicap parking, elevator to second floor.

a ballet dancer in green body paint and green tutu poses between two sets of ballet dancers en point wearing extravagant pink dragon costumes

Hong Kong Ballet Tutu Academy

2024 / Hong Kong & United States / 3 min

Directed by Dean Alexander
Featuring Hong Kong Ballet
Creative & Art Direction by Pum Lefebure
Choreography & Artistic Direction by Septime Webre

At Tutu Academy, where tutus are the uniform, students of all characters (geeks to goths) express themselves through ballet—and bizarro hair. One odd day, a UFO lands and an alien enters the classroom. Eager to connect with the visitor who doesn’t speak earthly language, the teacher starts a dance conversation—followed by the entire class. At first, the alien struggles to learn the artful language, until he’s gifted a magical tutu. With fresh confidence, the green-hued stranger joyfully joins the dancing crew.

a woman in a white skirt extends her leg upward; she is standing on a shipwreck underwater

The Deepest Dance

2024 / Bahamas / 4 min

Directed by André Musgrove
Dancing by Ariadna Hafez
Cinematography by André Musgrove

watch the trailer

In the crystal-clear waters of the Bahamas, underwater performer and professional dancer Arianda Hafez conducts a choreographed dance routine at depth on a variety of sunken shipwrecks while holding her breath. Directed and filmed underwater by Bahamian filmmaker André Musgrove, he combines his years of local knowledge and underwater expertise with the skills of Hafez from Spain to bring this performance of underwater mastery to life.

a wide shot of two dancers - one in a black suit and one in a peach dress - stand facing each other near the edge of a roof

If I Were You

2024 / United States / 9 min

first-time filmmaker

Directed by Margot Gelber, Rebecah Goldstone
Produced by Jessie Lee Thorne
Dancing by Marlie Couto, Jessie Lee Thorne

In If I Were You a couple shares an oscillating dance of intention and disruption–their movements a continuous exchange of support and potential peril, pushing them toward self-discovery. Falling into known patterns, but desperate to shift, they beckon and reject each other, careening toward togetherness. This is a slow, exhausting, mesmerizing dance, steeped in the unknown, where souls wait patiently to be held, released, and resolved.

a light skinned woman in a storage facility tilts her head back, arms reaching up

Fraudulations

2023 / France / 4 min

Directed by Clara Lie & Caroline Grimprel
Dancing by Amalia Salle
Music Composed by Léo Agapitos
Cinematography by Fabio Caldironi
Edited by Laura Parade
Written by Clara Lie & Caroline Grimprel
Acting by Nina Perrin

Sonia works for a cubicle rental company. Her passionless job chains her to a soulless screen where she mechanically executes tasks under the trance of neon lights, lost in the shadows of corporate servitude. When a fraudulent call triggers the void of her work station, Sonia’s pent-up frustration erupts, unleashing a storm of chaos, It’s the breaking point she’s been waiting for. Fraudulations humorously explores her descent into madness, through the endless, winding corridors of her workplace propelled by an uplifting soundtrack.

an overhead shot of a woman lying on her side on an illuminated section of floor in an otherwise dark room

Diana

2023 / Russia / 8 min

Directed by Anna Melikyan
Produced by Dmitry Litvinov, Ekaterina Kononenko
Dancing by Diana Vishneva
Music Composed by J.S. Bach

The pavilion space flashes for a moment with the music of Bach and the dance of ballerina Diana Vishneva.

a dark skinned woman in a bright yellow shirt looks intently at the camera, hands outstretched as if to push something away

After The Reign: Confusion

2018 / United States / 1 min

microshort

Directed by Jennifer Scully-Thurston
Produced by Jennifer Scully-Thurston
Dancing by Sharon Carelock
Music Composed by Christopher Scully-Thurston
Edited by Dustin Glasco

This is a one minute dance film interpretation of a woman experiencing the confusing and schizophrenic nature of loss. Confronting many versions of herself and the beginning of the healing process.

underwater, a soccer player is flailing, having just missed an attempt to kick a soccer ball

Aquafoot

2016 / France / 7 min

Directed by Kitsou Dubois
Produced by Ki Productions, City of Paris
Choreography by Kitsou Dubois
Music Composed by Cyril Hernandez
Underwater Acrobats Jorg Muller, Bertrand Lombard

Kitsou Dubois, choreographer of weightlessness, has always been inspired by gestures and body movements outside the dance world. She wants to share with the public a new vision of the gesture in football. Kitsou Dubois invites two renowned circus artists to take inspiration from the most beautiful gestures and passes. She plunges them under water for the filming of an artistic film, Aquafoot.

a light skin woman with dyed orange hair contorts her right arm behind her head, left arm gripping her right elbow

A Movement Deeper Than Dancing

2024 / France / 2 min

Directed by Katya Mokolo
Produced by Katya Mokolo
Choreography by Madaline Madlinez Riley
Featuring Madaline Madlinez Riley
Music Composed by Axel Guenoun
Edited by Thomas Penot
First AC Bill Fabre

A short documentary centered on Madaline Riley’s poem, reflecting her journey through dance and art. As a multi-faceted artist, Madaline blends her movements in krump, dance, and painting, seeking an expression that elevates the soul.

an overhead shot of a shirtless dark skinned man wearing a extremely long dark green vinyl skirt and lying on his back

Organized Hope

2024 / United States / 6 min

Directed by Amy Seiwert
Produced by Amy Seiwert’s Imagery
Choreography by Amy Seiwert
Dancing by James Gilmer
Music Composed by Daniel Bernard Roumain
Edited by Ben Estabrook, Amy Seiwert
Stopmotion by Aaron Kierbel
Libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Inspired by Kintsugi, the traditional Japanese craft of repairing broken ceramics using lacquer mixed with gold and the belief that something can be more beautiful through the stresses endured. Seiwert asked herself: coming out of an era that broke many of us, can we be re-formed? Can we create something both stronger and more beautiful?

a light skinned woman with short blond hair wearing a black tuxedo squats powerfully on a vast landscape of sand and points off frame

Not Now

2024 / United Kingdom / 4 min

Directed by Joshua Molony, Loughlan Prior
Produced by Milou-Mai Law
Choreography by Loughlan Prior
Dancing by Rebecca Bassett Graham
Cinematography by Joshua Molony
Edited by Joshua Molony, Loughlan Prior

watch the trailer

A dance film starring Rebecca Bassett Graham (of Company Wayne McGregor) about climate change and the consequences of our inaction. Filmed on the Norfolk coast.

a man in a dark furry robe stretches in a field, surrounded by a group of dancers in white feathered costumes

Beast (Bestia)

2022 / Poland / 9 min

Directed by Iwona Pasińska
Produced by Polish Dance Theatre
Featuring Polish Dance Theatre
Music Composed by Michał Lorenc, Michał Blicharz – EHO
Cinematography by Marek Grabowski
Edited by Natalia Jacheć
Set & Costume Design by Andrzej Grabowski
Makeup by Adriana Cygankiewicz

watch the trailer

Eeny meeny miny humpy not your son nor your daughter eeny meeny rumpy-pumpy cling cling lamb for slaughter. Which species is the biggest predator? Behind seven lakes, seven hills, seven forests, there is a seemingly idyllic land. And in it, as if by magic, an unexpected meeting happens not only once but three times. The first time, as if from a flying carpet, we see an animalistic figure in the thicket. The second time, we observe a frisky animal herd colliding with otherness. For the third and final meeting, the moment when a man enters the ordered world of nature. How does the relationship between animals differ from the relationship between humans and animals? This is asked by the creators of the sixth choreographic film project by the Polish Dance Theatre.

a dark skinned woman with long hair thrusts her chest toward the ceiling of a nearly empty bedroom

Home|Room

2024 / United States / 5 min

first-time filmmaker

Directed by Keith Haynes
Produced by Michelle Bernier
Choreography by Keith Haynes in collaboration with dancers
Cinematography by Jesse Rarick
Dancing by Vivian Kim, Jessica Bertram Williams, Keith Haynes
Music Composed by Josh Torrison

I feel confined/stuck. In this home. In this room. In this mind. Confined to both psychological and physical space. Stuck in a continuous, never ending loop. Ever changing but staying the same. I feel confined…stuck in this Home/Room. This film was created as a part of Sans Souci Festival’s Community Dance Film Project, with funding from the City of Boulder Arts & Culture.

two adjacent square rooms each with a dancer moving in front of modern looking furniture - the room on the right is upside down

Layers

2023 / Slovenia / 9 min

Directed by Michal Rynia, Nastja Bremec Rynia, Fabris Šulin
Dancing by Nastja Bremec Rynia, Michal Rynia
Music Composed by Mateja Starič
Camera Assistance by Aljaz Novak

Layers is a contemporary dance film that artfully explores the intricate layers of human connections, delving into the multifaceted nature of relationships, emotions, and personal journeys. By interweaving scenes from intimate home environments with industrial settings, the film symbolizes the complexities and interconnectedness of our daily lives, navigating the juxtaposition of personal and professional roles. Through visually representing the juxtaposition of home and work, Layers invites viewers to contemplate the intricate layers of human experience and the delicate balance between different facets of our lives. Ultimately, the film offers a profound exploration of the complexities inherent in the human experience and the interplay between work and personal identity.