“Dance
Film in Eastern Europe”
by Alla Kovgan
TanzMediale in Köln,
Germany, January
23-25 , 2004
Dance Film
/ Video/ New Technology collaborations in Eastern Europe are considered
to be a new realm of exploration for contemporary dancers and
filmmakers. However, Eastern European dance and film probably
have repeatedly encountered each other throughout the history
of cinema. World famous film-ballets and ballet-animations were
created. One of the great examples of such dance film “encounter”
is Alexander Belinsky’s “Anyuta”
based on Anton Chekhov’s story “Anna na shee”
(“Anna on the neck”) with Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir
Vassiliev. This ballet was created specifically for the camera.
In his book “The Old Tango,” Belinsky ruminates on the
notion of “televisionnost”, i.e. different ways to expand
the choreography beyond the stage such as changing action locations,
having the same dancer play different characters, etc., he writes,
“’Televisionnost’ is something that is not possible
in the Ballet theatre; it is supposed to be figured out in the
script, it gives dynamism to the spectacle and compensates for
real time on screen. “Anyuta” was the first film-ballet
that demonstrates ‘televisionnost' consciously rather than
intuitively." Belinsky introduces the term montage choreography,
and points out that Vladimir Vassiliev, the choreographer of “Anyuta,”
constructed all mass scenes in the editing room. The success of
“Anyuta” was so remarkable that the choreography found
its re-incarnation on the stages of the Bolshoi and Naples Theatres.
The reason
that film-ballets have been the major form of dance and film collaboration
is that during the years of the Soviet era, ballet was almost
the only "allowed" form of artistic expression in terms
of body movement while most of the film production happened under
the umbrella of the large film studios and on 35mm. As a result,
experimental film tradition has never fully developed and therefore,
unlike in the US, for example, the space for the short dance film
experiments has never been created.
Meanwhile,
the word “choreography’ has not been alien to filmmakers
since the day film technology allowed filmmakers to pick up the
camera in their hands and virtuosically ‘pas’ with it
creating intricate choreography to express a certain idea or evoke
a certain feeling. One of the stunning examples of this kind of
choreographic exploration is “I am Cuba,” a film by
Mikhail Kalatozov. In this
film, cinematographer and cameraman Sergey
Urussevskii repeatedly choreographs complex multi-layered
scenes. The opening shot of the film lasts for about five minutes
as Urussevskii journeys with the camera from the roof top of the
hotel where a jazz band performs, through the staircases portraying
the views of the city to the pool area where wealthy Americans
are brunching and finally diving into the pool itself. There are
quite a few similar shots in the film and each of them requires
precise and meticulous coordination, i.e. choreography, of the
actors and the camera around them.
Within last
fifteen years, with the fall of communist regimes, re-birth of
modern dance in Eastern Europe, exposure to a diverse range of
contemporary dance traditions from around the world and de-centralization
of film production opened new alleys for every dancer and film
/ video maker to experiment with and explore this hybrid genre
of dance film. At the same time, the Eastern Europeans audiences
are yet to discover the potential of the dance film genre. There
are only a few dance films made in each Eastern European county
every year, and most producing companies and TV stations in Eastern
Europe have quite a limited understanding of dance film. They
treat it as either a documentation of a performance, a reportage
about a dance festival or other dance event, a TV special about
a ballerina hosted by a renown critic or, in the best case scenario,
a film adaptation of a ballet. For many producers, dance film
still stays a mystery.
But there
are exceptions in each country. For example, in Slovenia, the
dance company En-Knap managed
to obtain support from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture, and
every couple of years produces a short film on 35mm. At the same
time, in Poland, a town of Lodz, a home for the Polish National
Film School and one of the contemporary choreography centers,
hosts the Festival of Kino Tanca.
The directors of the festival brought film and dance school together
and as a result, the first dance films were produced. Similarly,
in Russia, in 2001 Kannon Dance School with the support of Dance
Film Association (New York) and ProArte Institute (St. Petersburg)
founded the St. Petersburg International
Dance Film Festival KINODANCE.
For the last three years the festival has organized master-classes
that invite dancers and filmmakers from Russia and neighboring
countries to obtain a hands-on experience in creating choreography
for the camera. Among the participants of 2002 were Theatre of
Open Creation from Poland, Fine Five from Estonia, Kannon Dance
Company from St. Petersburg, filmmakers from Novosibirsk, Moscow,
Ekaterinburg.
Films from
Poland, Slovenia and Russia form the core of this program. The
themes in these films vary from an absurd and humorous vignette
where dancers mix with striped chairs in “Burdug”
by Maria Stoklosa (Poland);
an ode to the Soviet cloak-room ladies in
“Verochka” by Natalia Kasparova and Kannon
Dance (Russia), a tango of light and darkness in “Vertical
Tango” by Julia Kryukova
and Tanya Balashova (Russia);
a rumination over eugenics in “Eugenica”
by Theatre of Open Creation
(Poland) and a journey through time and space in “Two
Trains” by Koit Ojaliiv,
Esko Rip and Tiina Ollesk / René Nõmmik
(Estonia) to an impressionistic 35mm sketch after reading Nijinky’s
diary in “Czarno-bialy”
(black and white) by Miachal Tywoniuk
and Jacek Owczarek
(Poland) and a portrait of the heavy industry plant taken over
by En-Knap dancers in the small mining town of Trbovlje (Slovenia)
in “Naravo Beso”
by Patrick Otten and
Iztok Kovac. To give a glimpse of the dance animation,
the program presents an animated dance short by Konstantin
Bronzit, one of the veterans of Russian animation.
With the fall
of the “iron curtain,” many Eastern European choreographers
and filmmakers work and sometimes even move abroad. Although they
live outside Eastern Europe, their work often possess certain
sensibilities in the spirit of Eastern European Literature, Theatre
and Cinema – phantasmagoric narratives and characters, dark
humor and sarcasm, surreal hyperbolized sets and design along
with lyricism, romantic sadness, and eternal quest for perfection
and redemption of the soul through deep suffering. This program
includes several films by the expatriates – two music videos
by Zbigniew Rybczynski (originally
from Poland, currently living in the US) and a lyrical short from
Maya Vass (originally from
Ukraine, currently living in Germany).
Among other Eastern European highlights that have NOT made into
the program but it is important to mention are “The
Miraculous Mandarin” (Hungary, 35min / 35mm /
2001) by filmmaker Márta Mészáros
and choreographer Yvette Bozsik;
“Táncalak (Dancing Figure)”
(Hungary, 68min / 35mm / 1998-2002) by filmmaker Frenec
Grunwalsky and choreographer Andrea
Ladányi; “Kuspokuso
(Piece by Piece)” (Czech Republic, 5min / video
/ 1998) by Michal Caban.
Alla
Kovgan is a film/video maker and teacher
from Moscow (Russia) who has lived and worked in Boston (US)
since 1996. Her 16mm films and videos have been screened at
film festivals and theatrical venues in the US, Canada, Europe
and Australia. Besides films and videos, Alla’s media
of expression and exploration encompass multimedia performances,
interactive video projections and other image/sound/body collaborations
with dancers and musicians. Alla co-founded and currently
acts as an International Director of the St. Petersburg International
Dance Film Festival KINODANCE in Russia (www.kinodance.com/russia).
Imagine
by John Lennon, 3 min, 1986
The Original Wrapper by Lou
Reed 4.5min, 1987
Director: Zbigniew Rybczynski
Imagine:
A choreographed life cycle wherein the movements of characters
are meticulously timed with the endless tracking shot that not
only sets up the rhythmic score but also serves as a visual metaphor.
The
Original Wrapper:
A sarcastic illustration of American life during the Reagan
Administration. Created in the spirit of phantasmagoric tradition
in the Eastern European Literature and Cinema, this piece painfully
resonates with the current situation in the United States.
Zbig
Rybczynski
was born in Poland in 1949 and has been working as a film director
in Europe and the United States since the early 1970s. His work
has received many prestigious industry awards in the United
States, Japan and Europe. The awards include an Academy Award®
in 1983 for "Tango", an Emmy® in Special Effects
in 1990 for "The Orchestra", the Prix Italia, the
Golden Gate Award in San Francisco and awards at the Electronic
Cinema Festival Tokyo/Montreaux. Numerous other awards include
MTV, American Video Awards, Monitor Awards and the Billboard
Music Video Awards. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where
he works for the Ultimatte Corporation as a member of their
R&D team www.ultimatte.com
and runs his own company, Zbig Vision Ltd.
Bog
(The God) 4.5min, 3D computer animation, 2003 (Russia)
Director: Konstantin Bronzit
A humorous
animated short about Shiva's encounter with a fly. "Sometimes
the Gods can be vulnerable." - Moscow Film Festival
Konstantin
Bronzit
is an internationally acclaimed animator and cartoonist. He
graduated from art school in 1983 and from the Department of
Industrial Design at the School of Art and Design in 1992. During
his studies, Konstantin also worked as an animator at the Studio
of Popular Science Films. It was at this studio where Bronzit
made his first film "The Round About" in 1988. In
1988, Konstantin began actively drawing cartoons for magazines
and newspapers. By 1994, he had participated in numerous international
cartoon competitions winning more than twenty different awards
for his cartoons. From 1993 until 1995, Konstantin worked as
a scriptwriter, director and animator for several films for
the Moscow animation studio "PILOT". In 1994, he graduated
from higher courses in scriptwriting and directing with Fjodor
Khitruk in Moscow. Bronzit's short animated films, including
"Switchcraft", "Pacifier", "Knock Knock",
"Die Hard", and "At The Ends of the Earth"
have received more than 45 prizes and awards from festivals
throughout the world including the grand prizes at ANNECY'95
and ANNECY'98.
Burdag
11min, 2002 (Poland)
Director / Choreographer: Maria
Stoklosa; Cinematographer: Jan
Cybis
In
Burdag,
dancers, their colorful outfits, dark forest and dusty fields,
multicolored striped sunbathing chairs and umbrellas conjure into
a humorous dance that is full of tricks and does not stop surprising
the viewer.
Maria
Stoklosa
was born in Poland in 1978. She graduated from the London Contemporary
Dance School at the Place in 2001. In 2001 she won the Pyramid
Award – a scholarship program created by Deutsche Bank
in London for out-coming dance makers – for her dance film
project. After returning to Poland she made movement for stage
for: Kurka Wodna directed by Lukasz Kos, Nowy Theatre, Lodz
and Obrobka by Artur Urbanski, Rozmaitosci Theatre, Warsaw.
In 2002 she also participated in an educational project in association
with Mazowieckie Centrum Kultury i Sztuki.
Vitrina
(Schaufenster)
5min, 2002 (Russia / Germany)
Director / Choreographer: Maya
Vass
A tango duet
behind the plastic veil performed by a single dancer merges the
boundaries between reality and imagination, past and present.
Maya
Vass was
born in 1970 in Vinniza, Ukraine. In 1992 she graduated from
the Kharkov Academy of Theatre Art and moved to Moscow where
she worked at the Mossovet Theatre as well as with the Theatre
of Expressive Plastic of Anatolij Vassiliyev. At the same time,
Maya have also collaborated with Vladimir Chekasin on numerous
dance projects and participated in dance, theatre and music
festivals around the world. She is currently living in Hamburg,
Germany.
Czarno-bialy
(black and white)
5min, 35mm on video, 2002 (Poland)
Director: Miachal Tywoniuk;
Choreographer:Jacek Owczarek;
Producer:
Polish National Film School in Lodz
Czarno-bialy
is an impression after reading Nizynski's diary. Dance as a movement;
camera as a dancer and as a part of the choreography; image as
an evaluation of a meaning hidden in the ambiance of the dancer's
word.
Michal
Tywoniuk
was born in 1976. He is currently studying cinematography at
the Polish National Film School in Lodz. Although currently
a student, Michal developed interest in photography ten years
ago and has been involved in film production in various capacities
for the last five years.
Since 1996, Jacek Owczarek
has been a dancer of Dance Company Alter in Kalisz, Poland.
He teaches contemporary dance and improvisation at the College
of Culture Animation in Kalisz. He lives in Warsaw and runs
the "Kino Tanca" Foundation that promotes dance film
art and multimedia dance collaborations.
KINODANCE
Festival Productions 2002, 2003
Since 2001,
St. Petersburg International Dance Film Festival KINODANCE and
Kannon Dance School (director: Vadim Kasparov) have been organizing
master-classes that allowed dancers and filmmakers from Russia,
CIS and Eastern European countries to explore dance film genre.
The selection below presents the most successful projects that
came out of these workshops (some of these projects were presented
at the festivals around the world).
Kannon Dance
Company was formed in 1999 out of a group of Natalia Kasparova's
students. Choreographer and Artistic Director of Kannon Dance,
Natalia Kasparova inspires her company members not only to perform
but also to create their own choreographies. Young dancers have
repeatedly won first prizes at the international Festivals of
Young Choreographers around the world. Besides developing their
own repertoire, the company also invites guest choreographers
(Cathy Young, Guillermo Horta, Risa Jaroslow, Maida Withers,
Sari Lievonen and others), manages Kannon Dance School and organizes
(besides KINODANCE) Modern Dance Festival "Open Look,"
"Jazz Festival" and "Festival of Young Choreographers."
http://www.kannondance.ru/
Remote
Control
1min, 2003 (Russia)
Choreographer / Director: Natalia Kasparova;
Anya Ozerskaya, Dima Burakov
An alternative
way for a couple to communicate.
Koridor
1min, 2003 (Russia)
Choreographer / Director: Natalia Kasparova
and Kannon Dance Company
You never
know what you could encounter in one of those long corridors
in the post-soviet House of Culture.
Vertical
Tango
2min, 2003 (Russia)
Choreographer / Director: Julia Kryukova
and Tanya Balashova
| Geometric
shapes of stairs, windows, tango steps and their silhouettes
weave together to evoke glimpses of tango... Vertical
Tango was part of the Liquid Bodies Program at the Moving
Pictures Festival of Dance in Toronto, Canada (October
2003). |
 .
|
Verochka
6min, 2003 (Russia)
Choreographer / Director: Natalia Kasparova
and Kannon Dance Company
|
|
This
vignette is an homage to all the cloack room ladies
who have been greeting theatre and concert audiences
at the Houses of Culture (i.e. large community art centers)
for decades during the Soviets. With the collapse of
the Soviet Union, the Houses of Culture together with
their cloak-rooms were turned into the offices, bowling
alleys, casinos, bars....
|
Eugenica
5min, 2002 (Poland)
Choreographer / Director: Theatre of
Open Creation and Igor Davletchin
" In
the 21st century a human being becomes capable of manufacturing
other human beings aspiring to use technologies to make a human
immortal. Are we wise enough to be able to handle all the power
that is given to us? EUGENICA
is not trying to give answers to this question but anxiously
(but not hopelessly) pondering over it." - Theatre of Open
Creation
Theatre
of Open Creation (TOK) was founded by
Beata Owczrek and Artur Dobranski in 1998. Among
TOK's choreographies are "And if happiness was here...,"
"to be continued," "Eugenica," "so
simple." The company received multiple awards from the
festivals around the world and is based in Krakow, Poland.
The TOK is currently led by Beata
Owczrek and Janusz Skubaczkowski.
Two
Trains
4min, 2002 (Estonia)
Director: Koit Ojaliiv, Esko Rip
Choreographer: Tiina Ollesk and René
Nõmmik (Fine 5)
A reflection
of images about traveling in time and space. Two individuals
as if connected via invisible emotional stirngs, migrate from
one surrounding to another.
Tiina
Ollesk and René Nõmmik developed Two
Trains into a 30-minute multimedia stage piece
that was highly awarded at the International Festival of Modern
Choreography (Vitebskas, Baltarusija / Vitebsk, Belarus) and
Pinerolo Contemporary Dance Contest (Italija / Italy) 2003.
Fine
5 Dance Theatre
was established as a collaboration of five dancers from Nordstar
Dance Theare in 1992. In 1998 the company was renamed Fine
5 Dance Theatre led by Tiina Ollesk and René Nõmmik.
Fine 5 has performed in USA, Sweden, Finland and Baltic States.
Narava
Beso
20 min, 35mm on video, 1995, Slovenia
Director: Patrick Otten, Iztok Kovac;
Choreographer: Iztok Kovac
"The point
of reference in Iztok Kovac's work is often his home town Trbovlje
a mining town and at the same time the Slovene symbol of gray,
polluted and forsaken landscape of socialist heavy industry. His
returns to his home-town should not be understood merely as nostalgia
or personal sentimentality, but as a return to the source of his
own physical constitution, which was formed when surrounded by
the bodies of workers and miners, in the alternating rhythm of
work and rest, in the environment constantly reminding one of
the irreconcilable conflict between civilization and nature.
Thus his film Narava Beso reveals, on one hand, his personal attitude
towards the realistic ambient of his home-town and on the other,
enriched with wider connotations and forming itself into a certain
poetical structure, his understanding of the actual world.
The film
takes place on seven different locations, having in common,
that somewhere in past in time of somebody's youth, somebody's
childhood, in time of a different social climate and past stage
of human history they were the places, where hard physical work
took place. And suddenly this site, marked with activity, which
had stopped due to certain historical necessity, is taken by
a group of dancers. Yet, surprisingly, they do not move. Instead
they are just listening to the far away sounds and rhythms.
But if or when decide to move again, they move carefully and
thoughtfully, as following the complex energetic currents, encoded
in this grounds". - En-Knap
Iztok
Kovac
is a solo dancer, choreographer and the founder of
EN-KNAP, an international dance group. En-Knap was
founded in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1994. With nine dance projects
choreographed by Iztok Kovac - “Spread Your Wings (you
clumsy Elephant),” “Sting and String – first
touch, Codes of Cobra, Far From Sleeping Dogs,” “Emanatio
Protei, The Perfect step?” “Hu Die, Met Kocke”
and “S.K.I.N.,” the company has introduced and established
its own aesthetics inside the European dance scene and formed
its own idiosyncratic identity. En-Knap have had over 300 reprises
of nine performances, held on world-known international dance
stages and festivals.
