Festival
Overview 2009:
“Every
year, composing a program for KINODANCE, I am rethinking both
the definition of collaboration between cinema and choreography/dance
and the festival's concept. To a degree, the theme of the festival
stays always the same – «Choreography
in cinema in all its shapes and forms».
But for every festival, I am trying to find different ways of
its interpretation both in cinema and at the intersection of different
art forms (video art, gallery installations, cyberarts, etc.).
The spectrum of KINODANCE-2009
program is very diverse. KINODANCE-2009 returns to the roots,
to the very birth of cinematograph – to choreography in
silent cinema and at the same time looks ahead into the future
to digital animation – to choreography on digital canvas.
This year KINODANCE introduces its audiences to the dance film
tradition from France. It also presents a stunning collection
of shorts from the largest short film festival in the world Clermont-Ferrand
(France) as well as new works from Jirí Kylián and
Wim Vandekeybus, the usual guests of the festival. The KINODANCE
goers will see some of the best examples of successful collaboration
between directors and choreographer, as well as a collection of
music videos and short musicals created between 1996 and 2008.
The documentaries of the festival will tell stories about world
famous choreographers such as Pina Bausch, Alain Platel, Josef
Nadj and performers – Nina Vyrubova, Jock Soto, Nora Chipaumire.
There will be many new names to discover from Austria, Germany,
Switzerland, Canada, Belgium… and Zimbabwe! The Russian
and Eastern European Dance Film Competition as well as the all-night
marathon of Encores will conclude our festival. I hope that everybody
will find and discover something inspirational for themselves.”
– Alla
Kovgan,
founder, curator and international director of KINODANCE festival
“The
significance and importance of KINODANCE grows from year to
year for both professionals and general public. Every year,
for our audiences we reveal new dimensions of the art form –
choreographing cinema and dance film. Our selection process
is very rigorous, as we are choosing the best of the best. Our
focus on collaboration between cinema and dance makes KINODANCE
one of a kind not only in St. Petersburg but also in Russia.
The festival also aspires to bring innovations in the field
of dance film education. The programming of the festival is
deservingly admired by such recognized dance film aficionados
as David Hinton (UK), Billy Cowie (UK), Liz Aggiss (UK), Charles
Atlas (USA), Victoria Marks (USA), Dierde Towers (USA) and many
others. The festival promotes Russian dance films around the
world and the art of dance film in Russia and CIS. And yet,
we are still at the very beginning of a great journey. Thanks
to all our partners, we are very happy to present KINODANCE
– 2009.” - Vadim
Kasparov, founder and director of KINODANCE
Festival, and director of Kannon Dance Center
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«ProArte
joined in as KINODANCE partner for its second edition in 2002
and since then have been active and enthusiastic about this truly
unique festival. We very much appreciate that KINODANCE brings
together interests of filmmakers, artists, dancers, musicians
and choreographers and in a sense, pushes for new kind of cinema.
In the past, ProArte, which is located at the Peter and Paul Fortress,
hosted KINODANCE festival installations, screenings, competitions
and dance film workshops. This year, in the underground exhibition
hall Poterna, we host the OpenEnded Group (Paul Kaiser and Marc
Downie) with their installation «Point A->B» as
well as two artist talks with Alloy Orchestra and the OpenEnded
Group. As always, we will grant an award to the winner of the
Russian, CIS and Eastern European Dance Film Competition. We wish
good luck and interesting experiences to all the participants
of the festival!» - Elena
Kolovskaya,
director of ProArte Institute.
KINODANCE-2009
presents 45 films from 17 countries
(USSR, France, UK, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Brazil, USA,
Belgium, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Switzerland, Austria,
Denmark, and Spain). Cinema center RODINA will host the majority
of the festival’s screenings while ProArte
Foundation, the Exhibition Hall “Poterna”, the French
Institute and iClub (Apple Café) will
hold workshops, lectures, additional screenings and an installation.
For the third time, KINODANCE will hold a Dance
Film Competition for works created by artists
from Eastern Europe, Baltic States and the CIS. The winner will
be announced at the closing ceremony.
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Thanks to
the Trust for Mutual Understanding,
for the very first time KINODANCE is presenting two evenings
with Alloy Orchestra,
a world-famous three man musical ensemble (Ken Winokur, Terry
Donahue and Roger Miller), writing and performing live accompaniment
to classic silent films. Our audiences will have a unique opportunity
to see the newly released 35mm print of “MAN
WITH A MOVIE CAMERA” by Dziga Vertov – a 1929
masterpiece of montage choreography, to the live sound-score
by Alloy Orchestra. Because of a 10-year unavailability of a
film print, Alloy has been unable to perform this score (often
cited as their best). The group has recently acquired a gorgeous
new print of the film from Gosfilmofond (the Moscow Film Archive).
The St. Petersburg concert is the premier revival performance.
Alloy Orchestra will also perform with another gem – of
the American cinema – “GENERAL”
by Buster Keaton.
With gracious
support from the Trust for Mutual
Understanding and Digital Arts Foundation, KINODANCE
is welcoming Paul Kaiser and Marc Downie (USA), members of the
OpenEnded Group –an eccentric and innovative digital artists
collective. The artists will present their installation “Point
A->B” at the exhibition hall Poterna.
“Point A->B”
is inspired by parkour – “the urban sport in which
the goal is to get from point A to point B as rapidly, as inventively,
and often as dangerously as possible”. They will also give
a workshop for artists and programmers at the iClub and present
and give a talk/screening about their creative practices at the
ProArte Foundation (check the schedule
for details).
It is for the
first time that KINODANCE is collaborating with the French
Institute, a key partner of this year’s
festival. Thanks to the French Institute, KINODANCE celebrates
French dance filmmakers and choreographers by presenting a series
of programs featuring a Retrospective
of Dance Films from France. Among the artists
featured are Josef Nadj,
Anjelin Preljocaj, Rachid
Ouramdane, Alain Platel
and many others. Together with the French Institute, KINODANCE
also presents an evening with Dominique
Delouche, one of the maîtres of French cinema, who,
for the last 30 years, has devoted all his filmmaking to ballet.
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Among other highlights
of the festival is a visit with the Calmin
Borel, one of the curators of the “Labo”
Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival (France), the largest
short film festival in the world. Mr. Borel will introduce a program
of Clermont-Ferrand shorts titled “Choreographing
Cinema: inspirations for makers and lovers of dance film”.
Films in this program do not include dance per se but are full
of choreographic and editing techniques that dance filmmakers
work with all the time.
Be it the hellish mayhem of a football
match, filmed in the spirit of Sergio Leone and Federico Fellini
(«L’Arbitro»),
an everyday choreography at the busy London street («The
Girl Chewing gum»), a ritualistic gastronomic
carnage during an opulent banquet («Next
Floor») or a concert in four movements played
on any old thing («Music for
One Apartment and Six Drummers») —
the camera and the actors’ movements are meticulously choreographed
within the frame and through editing to reach the audience at
emotional, intellectual and kinesthetic level. In the choreography
of fluids, mysterious forces twist the physical laws and affect
the behaviour of living beings in purified spaces («Coagulate»);
while a tirelss runners is destined to cross Sweden ("Sweden");
the human soul, plunged in a vacuum, fights with expanding desert
(«Muro»)
and the triumphal procession flocks after the giant haystack that
is a symbol of human vanities («Superbia»).
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Every film
in the program “Together:
Director + Choreographer – New Directions 2006-2008”
is an example of a successful collaboration between choreographer
and the director. Among the films in the program:
“Cartography 9: Golden Ball” (Switzerland) by Philippe
Saire and Bruno Deville,
“Bare-Handed” (France/Belgium) by Thierry Knauff
and Michele Noiret, “Part-Time Heroes” (Austria)
by Christopher Harding and Mara Mattushcka,
“Danse Macabre” (Canada) by Robert Lepage and Pedro
Pires.
“Tandem:
Two Stories from Zimbabwe” tells two stories of two
women from the Zimbabwe: “Mother’s
Day” by Tsitsi Dangarembga, a musical comedy
and a rarely seen gem in the spirit of magical realism by Louis
Bunuel and Alejandro Jodorowsky, screens with
“Nora” by Alla Kovgan and David Hinton with choreography
by Nora Chipaumire.
“POP
Culture: Shorts, Musicals, Eros, and Music Videos”
is a true kaleidoscope of approaches that brings art together
with popular themes and entertainment between 1996-2008.
“Flying
Lesson” (USA) by Andrea Lerner and Rosanne Chamecki,
“Silence of the Machines”
(France) by Kostia Testut and Paul Caroli, “Insyn
(Insight)” (Denmark) by Klara Elenius, “LILA”
(France) by Broadcast Club/ Nicolas Schmerkin, “Aprop
(Closer)” (Spain) by Aitor Echeverria and Carolina
Alejos, “Boot Camp”
(USA) by John Scott Mathews, “Shake-off”
(Netherlands) by Hans Beenhakker, “Orgesticulanismus”
(Belgium) by Mathieu Labaye, “Muto”
(Italy) by Blu, “Tout Morose (Very
Cold) (France) by Olivier Megaton and Dominique Hervieu,
“Feist 1, 2, 3, 4" (USA)
by Patrick Daughters and Noemie Lafrance, “Heartbeat”
(Sweden) by Martin Lima de Faria and Anette Skahlberg.
“Dance
Choreographer - Film Director in Focus” presents two
new works from Jirí Kylián
and Wim Vandekeybus. Vandekeybus’ film
“Here After” is an art-house drama while Jirí
Kylián in collaboration with Boris Paval Conen pays tribute
to silent cinema.
Three documentaries
are joined in together under the title
“Choreographer’s and Dancer’s Corner”.
“Once Pina asked…”
by famous Belgian director Chantal Akerman is a film-collage
composed of performances by the legend of German contemporary
dance Pina Bausch. “VSPRS
– show and tell” by British filmmaker Sophie Fiennes
tells a story of making “VSPRS”, a stage performance
by Alain Platel. “VSPRS” is a provocative piece ruminating
about humans’ existence in their bodies. Fiennes’
film is about how audiences find ways to relate to this performance
and how the process of making it affects the performers.
“Water flowing together” by Gwedolen Cates is
about life and times of Jock Soto.
Jock Soto, a Navajo Indian and Puerto Rican, has been a star of
the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) for 25 years and gave his last
performance in 2005. The film is incredibly touching and moving
portrait of one of the most recognized and influential modern
ballet dancers.
ENJOY!!
Please
visit
our archive for
the information about the past editions of the festival. Visit
our Russian dance films
selection to arrange screenings and
exhibitions, contact Alla Kovgan at
akovgan@kinodance.com
©
Kinodance–Russia, 2009
festival@kinodance.com
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