Dance for Reel, October 14, 2010

Image from the film "Cinetica" by Ana Cembrero of Spain

On Thursday, October 14th, the Emory Dance Program partners with the Department of Film Studies to present Dance for Reel, a screening of dance for camera works taking place at the Performing Arts Studio (1804 N. Decatur Rd.), at 8:00pm. Now in its third run, this free signature series brings contemporary, international works from The Dance Films Association in New York to campus and community audiences. Emory Dance alumna Blake Beckham (01 C) curates and helps coordinate the event. “This is one of several ways“ says Beckham, “that the Dance Program makes cutting edge work accessible to diverse audiences, and takes part in an interdisciplinary dialogue to move our field forward.”

This year’s program features five short films that range in length from 2 to 30 minutes. Each artist adopts a unique approach to how choreographic framing intersects with filmic devices. They artfully manipulate time and space to create evocative imagery that resides in a variety of locales – amongst them a rolling hillside, a desert, a cave, a bathtub, bedside, bridge. Several of this year’s films share a meditative quality, unfolding like a dream in which graphic elements merge, meander, and collide.

Dance for Reel’s dynamic line up of films should appeal to a wide variety of patrons, artists and students – from visual artists, to film buff, to dance-goers. “Rather than relying heavily on formal, choreographed sequences, most of the films adopt a subtle approach to movement” explains Beckham. “Constructed more conceptually, these works ask us to re-imagine how we see the moving body and place it in the context of performance. As a choreographer, I am always inspired by an experience that challenges my practices of looking and habits of visual design.”