Wednesday 25 April 2007
French contemporary dance
Montage - Symposium by Denise Luccioni
Montage by La Cinémathèque de la Danse as part of a symposium on French contemporary dance by Denise Luccioni.
Denise Luccioni, a close observer of the arts of her time, offers a two-part retrospective in words and images of French dance since the early 1980s.
(sources, filiations, names; aesthetics, key concepts; the making of an institution).
Maison de la Culture de Grenoble
18 h
23 February - 22 April 2007
Three films choreographed and danced by Trisha Brown
Programme of three films choreographed and danced by Trisha Brown — "Man Walking Down the Side Of a Building" (1970), "Walking On the Wall" (1971), "Roof and Fire Piece" (1973) — in which Brown takes part with her dancers in experiments on the walls and rooftops of buildings in New York. Part of the exhibition “Space in the Arts”.
Berlin Academy of Arts (Germany)
Thursday 29 March 2007
Lucinda Childs
A founding member of the Judson Church Dance Theater of New York in 1963, Lucinda Childs formed her own company in 1973 and, three years later, helped create the opera "Einstein on the Beach" by Philip Glass, directed by Robert Wilson. During the 1980s, she worked with the architect Frank Gehry and composer John Adams, and created numerous choreographies for the ballets of the Paris Opera, the Bayerisches Staatsballett and the Ballets de Monte-Carlo. On the day before Arte’s broadcast of the film "Lucinda Childs" (Patrick Bensard, 2006), an evening in the presence of this post-modern dancer and choreographer showing rare and previously unscreened works.
Cinémathèque française
20h30
Thursday 22 March 2007
Dance and Plastic Arts
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse, for school screenings and public projections.
Using film footage of Oskar Schlemmer, Alwin Nikolaïs, Philippe Decouflé and Merce Cunningham filmed by Nam June Paik, the montage explores how a movement grounded in colour and plastic figure joins the realms of dance and film.
Centre National de la Danse contemporaine (CNDC) – Angers
Wednesday 14 March 2007
French contemporary dance
Montage - Symposium by Denise Luccioni
Montage by La Cinémathèque de la Danse as part of a symposium on French contemporary dance by Denise Luccioni.
Denise Luccioni, a close observer of the arts of her time, offers a two-part retrospective in words and images of French dance since the early 1980s.
(sources, filiations, names; aesthetics, key concepts; the making of an institution).
Maison de la Culture de Grenoble
18 h
Thursday 08 March 2007
Dance and Experimental Film
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse for Cefedem Aquitaine and l’Office artistique de la Région Aquitaine. With films by Georges Méliès, Thomas Edison, Etienne-Jules Marey, Maya Deren, René Clair, Len Lye (photo "Rainbow Dance", 1936), Ed Emschwiller and Alwin Nikolaïs, Jeff Sher, Pascal Baes.
Le Molière – Scène d’Aquitaine and Cinéma Utopia, Bordeaux
Sunday 04 March 2007
"Codex" and "2 Iris"
by Philippe Decouflé
Presentation of the films "Codex" and "2 Iris" by Philippe Decouflé to mark Compagnie DCA’s performance of "Solo : le doute m’habite" at the Joyce Theater in New York (6 to 11 March). In collaboration with the Alliance française, New York.
French Institute Alliance française, New York
Thursday 01 March 2007
Out of Boundaries
Jacqueline Caux, 2004
Screening of the film "Out of Boundaries" (2004) by Jacqueline Caux, on the American choreographer Anna Halprin, as part of a training programme for music and dance teachers, organised by the association Musiques et Danse en Bretagne.
The film retraces the fundamental breaks with tradition made by Anna Halprin, a key figure in post-modern US dance, through conversations with Halprin, rehearsal footage, performances, shows and archives from the mid-1950s onwards. It reveals the opportunities Anna Halprin offered to scores of dancers and choreographs, in particular to Simone Forti and the core group of the Judson Church movement — Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, Steve Paxton, Bob Morris and Meredith Monk.
Les Champs Libres – Rennes
Thursday 01 March 2007
From Lindy Hop to Hip Hop
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse, screened in the frame of the Festival international de danse d’hiver.
A montage highlighting the development of 20th century afro-American dance, its differences and shared characteristics, in historical sequence. Film extracts of Buck & Bubbles, the Nicholas Brothers (photo in "Stormy Weather"), Bill ’Bojangles’ Robinson, Bunny Briggs, Michael Jackson and Sidney.
Centre de danse Cynthia Jouffre – Rixheim (Haut-Rhin)
Monday 19 February 2007
The treasures of La Cinémathèque de la Danse
Montage
Twenty of the most rare and beautiful moments from films in our collection, including: Danse de Nicolska, "46 bis" by Pascal Baes with Jérôme Bel (illus.), "Harlem is Heaven" by Irwin Franklyn with Bill ’Bojangles’ Robinson, "Zoetrope" by Annie Leibovitz with Mikhaïl Baryshnikov and "Ballet mécanique" by Dudley Murphy with Fernand Léger.
Screenings for a student audience (but also open to the public).
Le Fresnoy Studio national des arts contemporains - Tourcoing
Sunday 18 February 2007
From Lindy Hop to Hip Hop
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse, screened for l’association de jazz Calabash.
A montage highlighting the development of 20th century afro-American dance, its differences and shared characteristics, in historical sequence. Film sequences of Buck & Bubbles, the Berry Brothers, Bill ’Bojangles’ Robinson, Bunny Briggs, Michael Jackson, Sidney…
Centre culturel de Cesson-Sévigné (Ille-et-Vilaine)
10 - 11 February 2007
Fists of Fury
Martial arts choreography in Hong Kong cinema
The Martial arts film is one of the great pillars of choreographic inventiveness in fictional cinema. As with burlesque or musicals, its corporal physicality is beyond the realm of cinema. Allied with cinematic devices, speed or montage, it displays bodily states that would be unimaginable elsewhere but in the cinema. The programme explores choreographic inventiveness in a number of martial arts film masterpieces, as well as their action choreographers (who in some cases are also film directors) and takes a look at its origins (opera performance) and its extensions (action films). Some sessions will begin with the screening of a dance short film (from Thomas Edison to Maya Deren) to evoke the visual link between martial arts and dance.
(photo "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin", by Lau Kar-leung, 1978 - © Licensed by Celestial Pictures Limited. All rights reserved)
Cinémathèque française
Friday 02 February 2007
Maguy Marin: back to "Umwelt"
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse to mark the new performance of Maguy Marin’s play "Umwelt" (photo: Christian Ganet).
"Despite the often violent reactions to the play, 'Umwelt' is no anomaly in Maguy Marin’s oeuvre. Although the device is simple and the everyday nature of the movements are the fruit of a slow choreographic labour, the seeds of this can be observed very early on in her work. In order to describe the literalness of everyday movement, Maguy Marin employs the pre-cinema device of intermittency. Like the zootrope, a rotating drum whose slots create the illusion of movement, the panels in 'Umwelt' allow movement to appear through intervals. In so doing, Umwelt is another remarkable example of cinema, 'the art of movement' (a definition that applies equally to dance), overstretching its own boundaries.” Xavier Baert
The programme was compiled with Maguy Marin and includes scenes from the following plays: "La Jeune fille et la mort" (1979), "May B" (1981), "Eden" (1986), "Cortex" (1991), "Points de fuite" (2001), "Umwelt" (2004), as well as footage of rehearsals for "Umwelt" shot at the CCN of Rillieux-la-Pape in September 2006.
Presentation by Xavier Baert.
Maison de la Musique - Nanterre
Thursday 01 February 2007
Solos Multitude
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse.
Does one really dance alone? Who is the “invisible partner” that Mary Wigman refers to in her solos? A series of film extracts and captured solos with Pina Bausch (illus. Café Müller, 1985), Carolyn Carlson, Merce Cunningham and Steve Paxton, will try and answer these questions.
School screenings and public screenings.
Centre National de la Danse contemporaine (CNDC) – Angers
Thursday 25 January 2007
Dance and Music
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse for the Cefedem Aquitaine and l’office artistique de la région Aquitaine.
With the help of extracts linking Petipa and Tchaikovsky, Balanchine and Stravinsky, Béjart and Ravel, Nijinsky and Debussy, the montage raises two questions: what is music for dance? when does music intervene in dance?
Le Molière – Scène d’Aquitaine and Cinéma Utopia, Bordeaux
Monday 22 January 2007
Charles Atlas, Live and in Color
From Merce Cunningham to Anthony & the Johnsons
Born in Saint-Louis (Missouri) in 1949, the film and video director Charles Atlas met Merce Cunningham when very young and worked with his company for ten years. In the late 1970s, their collaboration resulted in a series of innovative films, including "Blue Studio: Five Segments" (1976), "Torse" (1978) and "Channels/Inserts" (1981). Charles Atlas has also directed films with Douglas Dunn, Karole Armitage, Yvonne Rainer and Leigh Bowery. Atlas has recently begun working with the group Antony & the Johnsons, with whom he performed in the concert-happening "Turning" (photo) last November at the Paris Olympia. During the evening, he will be presenting an overview of his recent work, including:
- "Views on Video" (2005, 26’), in collaboration with Merce Cunningham, with music by John Cage
- "Turning" (2004) with Antony & the Johnsons, and other extracts from videos initially screened live with dancers and musicians.
- Mix live video/sound: "The Intensity Police Are Working My Last Gay Nerve", in collaboration with the composer Chris Peck.
Charles Atlas will be hosting the evening.
Cinémathèque française
21h
Fare: 6 euros
Thursday 18 January 2007
“Two forms of Dance: Expressionism and Post-modern Dance”
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse.
Created for a student audience, the programme highlights the links between two styles of “contemporary” dance and the recurrent features that bridge the historical and formal gaps between them. With films on Mary Wigman, Oskar Schlemmer, Dore Hoyer, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs and Yvonne Rainer. The programme is part of Anne Carrié’s classes.
Conservatoire national de la région de Nantes
09 - 13 January 2007
Maguy Marin: back to 'Umwelt'
Montage
Montage compiled by La Cinémathèque de la Danse, to mark the new performance of Maguy Marin’s play "Umwelt" (photo: Christian Ganet).
“Despite the often violent reactions to the play, 'Umwelt' is no anomaly anomaly in Maguy Marin’s oeuvre. Although the device is simple and the everyday nature of the movements are the fruit of a slow choreographic labour, the seeds of this can be observed very early on in her work.
In order to portray the literalness of everyday movement, Maguy Marin employs the pre-cinema device of intermittency. Like the zootrope, a rotating drum whose slots create the illusion of movement, the panels in 'Umwelt' allow movement to appear by intervals. In so doing, 'Umwelt' is another remarkable example of cinema, 'the art of movement' (a definition that applies equally to dance), overstretching its own boundaries.” Xavier Baert
The programme was compiled with Maguy Marin and includes scenes from the following plays: "La Jeune fille et la mort" (1979), "May B" (1981), "Eden" (1986), "Cortex" (1991), "Points de fuite" (2001), "Umwelt" (2004), as well as footage of rehearsals for "Umwelt" shot at the CCN of Rillieux-la-Pape in September 2006.