5 Dance Film Projects We're Following Over the Next Month
From unexpected collaborators documenting their experiments on social media to ambitious dance film series, here are five projects that we’ll be dedicating screen time to during the next month. Xeno
Mondays in Motion
Sam du Pon, Courtesy Jacob Jonas The Company
Jacob Jonas The Company is producing an ambitious new dance-film series. The 15 short films created for Films.Dance feature more than 150 artists from 25 countries and were shot across 10 dif-ferent cities, from Los Angeles to New York City, São Paolo to Shanghai. Perhaps most emblematic of the project’s breadth and star power is “Match,” which features choreography by Emily Kikta, Jamar Roberts, Oliver Starpov, Peter Walker and Xin Ying, performed by a roster of 44 dancers from leading companies around the world. One film will premiere every Monday beginning Jan. 25, available for free on Instagram and at films.dance.
Chopped
Mike Esperanza, Courtesy Chop Shop
Seattle’s CHOP SHOP: Bodies of Work Contemporary Dance Festival is bringing its annual master classes and no-experience-necessary workshops, plus a new arts-journalism intensive for teens, online this year. But the centerpiece of the festival is the premiere of seven newly commissioned dance films, debuting every Thursday in February. Created by Lauren Horn//Subira vs. Movement, Nicole von Arx/NVA & Guests, Omar Román De Jesús/Boca Tuya, Daniel Costa, Eva Stone and Simone Elliott, Javier Padilla and The Movement Playground, and Mark Haim, the works will be available on a pay-what-you-can basis through March 31; live Q&As with the artists will take place the Sunday following their respective premieres. chopshopdance.org.
Process as Product
Raymond Jerome, Courtesy Carol Fox and Associates
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Chicago Dancemakers Forum are teaming up to make the most of an unconventional season. 10×10 | Crossbody Collaborations pairs 10 Hubbard Street dancers with 10 previous CDF awardees, each duo documenting the process on social media—but with no expectation of a final product or piece. The second cohort comes together beginning this month, pairing Craig Black with bharatanatyam choreographer Anjal Chande, Adam McGaw with tap dancer Jumaane Taylor, Elliot Hammans with burlesque artist Jenn Freeman (aka Po’Chop), Jacqueline Burnett with multimedia artist Catherine Sullivan, and Andrew Murdock with Red Clay Dance Company founder Vershawn Sanders-Ward. The duos’ experiments will be posted on Instagram at #10×10 and #CrossbodyCollaborations Feb. 8–March 19. hubbardstreetdance.com.
Everybody Dance Now
Yi-Chun Wu, Courtesy Janet Stapleton
Dance Now thrives on challenging artists to create within limitations—specifically, asking them to craft bite-size pieces that fit on the bite-size stage at Joe’s Pub in New York City. It’s not so surprising, then, that celebrating its 25th-anniversary season virtually has only fostered more creativity. This month’s chapter features newly commissioned works by Kate Ladenheim, Alice Sheppard, Subject: Matter and Maleek Washington alongside archival captures of pieces from Adam Barruch and Mark Gindick. Unlimited digital access to these works is available for $10 beginning Feb. 11, with an option to add on a ticket to a Zoom celebration on Feb. 25 honoring Claire Porter, hosted by the inimitable TruDee. dancenow.online.
Highlighting Heritage
Thomas Mohr, Courtesy SCDT
South Chicago Dance Theatre typically spends February touring a Black History Month–themed program to schools around the greater Chicago area. The up-and-coming company’s 2021 virtual edition, open to the broader public, comprises almost entirely new choreography by executive artistic director Kia Smith, beginning with a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. before taking viewers on a tour through the history of Black innovation in jazz music and dance. Streaming Feb. 20. southchicagodancetheatre.com.
