SSF @ Colorado Mesa University 2022

co-presented by Colorado Mesa University Department of Theatre Arts as part of our Screening Partner Program

virtual screening May 1-8, 2022

  • curated selection of short dance films
  • link available for CMU students from the Dance Division
a shirtless man performs a one-handed cartwheel in a forest illuminated by road flares

SSF is excited to announce our first ever screening partnership with the Dance Division at CMU Department of Theatre Arts. Featuring dance films from eight countries and a plethora of dance forms, this virtual screening illuminates the breadth and diversity of the field of dance cinema.

a silhouette of a woman tap dancing on a bench; part of the Sans Souci logo

virtual screening

May 1-8, 2022

The link for the virtual screening can be obtained from the Colorado Mesa University Department of Theatre Arts Dance Division.

an Asian American woman looks through her fingers upside down

Where We’re Going

2019 / United States / 3 min

Directed by Katherine Helen Fisher
Produced by Heidi Duckler Dance, Safety Third Productions, Caroline Haydon, Raphaelle Ziemba
Creative Direction and Choreography by Heidi Duckler
Director of Photography Shimmy Boyle
Featuring Heidi Duckler Dance
Dancing by Raymond Ejiofor, Tess Hewlett, Ryan Walker Page, Himerria Wortham, Ching Ching Wong
Music composed by Joe Cunningham
Edited by Shimmy Boyle, Katherine Helen Fisher
Costumes by Debby Weiss, Mimi Haddon
Graphics by Dan Evans

Filmed on the rooftop of the historic Bendix Building in the garment district of Los Angeles where Heidi Duckler has her office space, this work is choreographed by Heidi Duckler and performed by her dancers, her staff and several workers from the building. This short work explores a common feeling in Duckler’s oeuvre – a sense of belonging and how we define family.

an Asian American man in mid air in a balletic jump

The Air Before Me

2021 / United States / 5 min

Directed by Shaun Clarke
Produced by Shaun Clarke, John Lam, Helen Pickett
Choreography by Helen Pickett
Dancing by John Lam
Music composed by Peter Salem
Edited by Shaun Clarke
Director of Photography by Daniel Jacobs

The Air Before Me is a short dance film that connects ethereal space and light with human agency in a continual affirmation of the present’s power.

two dancers falling backward into a pool as waves ripple

Flood

2021 / United States / 4 min

Produced and Directed by Mike Esperanza
Choreography by Mike Esperanza
Featuring BARE Dance Company
Dancing by Mike Esperanza, Leann Alduenda
Music composed by Mike Esperanza

Flood is a depiction of time and its build in spacial dynamics. Showing moments of interaction that dwell in surreal forms of suspension.

an Indian dancer emotes dramatically, reaching an arm toward the camera

The Nangiarkoothu Artist

2020 / India/United States / 12 min

Produced and Directed by Deepa Nair
Featuring Dr Aparna Nangiar

The Nangiarkoothu Artist is a portrait dance film that uses a multi-narrative approach of traditional storytelling and a staged dance performance to create a poetic profile of a young Nangiarkoothu artist, who practices and teaches a 2000 year old Sanskrit dance/theatre art form in Kerala, India. The audience is invited to become part of the dancer’s world and leave with a new awareness of an art form so ancient and yet little known to the larger world.

many dancers of diverse races and genders huddle closely together

The Broken Phone Project

2020 / Netherlands / 4 min

Directed by Sara Europaeus
Produced by Athina Liakopoulou
Choreography by Sara Europaeus
Cinematography by Niels Lockhorst
Spoken Word by Lin An Phoa

watch the trailer

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the streets of Amsterdam have changed, and so have the people. A group of international dance artists through a common movement task reflect the time of the pandemic – how has it affected them? A common experience but an individual interpretation. Each with their unique story, filmed individually, untouched. When so much has changed, how can we connect again?

a shirtless man performs a one-handed cartwheel in a forest illuminated by road flares

Akasha

2017 / Switzerland / 5 min

Directed by Sean Wirz
Produced by Hannah Rocchi, Sean Wirz
Choreography by Sean Wirz/Hannah Rocchi
Featuring none
Dancing by Jelena Pfister, Simon Progin, Annina Biesold, Nadir Josi
Music by edIT/The Glitch Mob (Los Angeles)
Cinematography by Sean Wirz/Jean-Christophe Dupasquier
Edited by Sean Wirz

watch the trailer

Akasha: the all-embracing fifth element. It moves effortlessly on the shores of the world. It overcomes gravity, explores the deepest of waters and fuels with its power the eternal flame of life. Akasha knows no space, no time, no fixed form. This high-tension dance short offers the viewer a surreal encounter with the sovereign of earth, air, water and fire. Akasha is embodied by four different performers who move to the futuristic song Ants by Los Angeles based musician edIT. His quintessential electronic music contrasts heavily with the metaphysical theme of the film. The result is a vibrant and ephemeral glimpse into the powers of the universe.

two pairs of light skinned hands cupping a ball of light

The Gift

2021 / France / 5 min

Directed by Paul Mignot
Produced by Jeanne Gay
Choreography by Lisa Deckert
Dancing by Lisa Deckert, Laura Arned, Lorenzo Finocchi
Cinematography by Paul Mignot

The Gift is a dance performance to express the beauty inside all of us.

one dancer in the foreground and two in the background with buckets on their heads

Tide

2020 / Ireland / 6 min

Directed by Laura Murphy
Choreography by Laura Murphy
Dancing by Marion Cronin, Sarah Ryan, Kevin Coquelard
Music Composed by Melanie
Filmmaker: Luca Truffarelli

Tide contrasts the pace of industry with human movement, and the soft yielding nature of the body with the hard edges of manmade objects.

two dancers on a pole reach high and wide, set against a mountain backdrop

Axis Mundi

2020 / France / 2 min

Directed by Patrick Foch
Choreography and Dancing by Céline Garbay, Loriana Lorenzon
Cinematography by Benjamin Ziegler

The “axis mundi” is a connection between heaven and earth, between the divine and the material. With this gravity-defying choreography, imagined and performed at the top of a mountain and on the verticality of a pole dance bar, I wanted to deliver my own vision of this “axis mundi.” Two bodies merge and evolve precisely between earth and sky, in a quest for physical and spiritual elevation along this invisible thread.