Opening Night: Spotlight Shorts

Take a tour of diverse dance styles as smoldering jazz, flamboyant drag, athletic street dance, and world-class ballet come into conversation across the globe.

Experience a selection of ten short films, including documentary shorts, narratives, and experimental screendance works, that represent a dynamic range of creativity with broad audience appeal. Take a tour of diverse dance styles as smoldering jazz, flamboyant drag, athletic street dance, and world-class ballet come into conversation across the globe. From the intimacy of dance studios to the bustling streets of Lagos, Mexico City, and San Francisco’s own soaring hilltops, dancers find poetic expression in the universal language of the body in motion.

Program Sponsor: Thomas E. Horn

 

Program Info

Runtime: 57 minutes

Friday, September 22 @ 7pm

Venue: Lucasfilm Theater

$25 GA / $40 Arts Patron / $75 VIP

Program Films

What Will They Know About Love, Yoram Savion
Featuring Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet artist Adji Cissoko, “What Will They Know About Love?” takes an introspective view on movement exploration in an intimate space.
Yoram Savion
Adji Cissoko
(United States, 2020) 3:58 minutes

What Will They Know About Love?

Lady Be Good, James Kinney, Pierre Marais
A sizzling homage to jazz music and dance past and present, “Lady Be Good” showcases the antics of a leading lady and her many suitors in a smoky barroom.
James Kinney, Pierre Marais
James Kinney
(United States, 2021) 5:57 minutes

Lady Be Good

Then Comes The Body, Jacob Krupnick
“Then Comes the Body” is a short documentary about the challenges and opportunities experienced by students at the Leap of Dance Academy, Nigeria’s first and only ballet school.
Jacob Krupnick
Daneil Owoseni Ajala
(United States, 2023) 14:44 minutes

Then Comes The Body

Wintersweet on the Snow, Cuiying Li
Set in an ice castle amid a sweeping frozen landscape, “Windersweet on the Snow” expresses spiritual longing and connection as two dancers embody the flowering of a new dawn.
Cuiying Li
Cuiying Li
(China, 2022) 4:34 minutes

Wintersweet on the Snow

The Name of a River–Mollie Moore, Eleonora Privitera
Memory and nature are pathways to self-discovery in “The Name of a River,” a short film exploring Queer visions and landscapes through dance and poetry.
Mollie Moore, Eleonora Privitera
Fabricio Seraphin
(United States, 2023) 3:23 minutes

The Name of a River

Circle–Phillip Kaminiak
With undulating athleticism, powerful unisons, and a hypnotic score, "CIRCLE" explores cosmic forces at play for people living in mass cities.
Phillip Kaminiak
Qiaoqiao Zhang
(United States, 2022) 6:10 minutes

Circle

One-Matthäus Bussmann
In a glowing, infinite space, “One” depicts the journey of an artist who faces adversity and transcends his reality to arrive at a higher consciousness of his art. Created and produced by Studio Simkin.
Matthäus Bussmann
David Dawson
(Germany, 2023) 7:25 minutes

One

Detour–Up On High (excerpt) Robbie Sweeny. EricGarcia
A selection from the nine-part dance film spectacular “Up On High,” “The Nelken Line” is a heartfelt rendition of Pina Bausch’s looping, gestural choreography by a colorful assemblage of queer artists.
Eric Garcia
Eric Garcia after Pina Bausch
(United States, 2022) 3:42 minutes

Up On High (excerpt: “The Nelken Line”)...

Heartache-Iker Karrera, Alberto D. Centeno
Set in a derelict theater, “Heartache” deploys tensely expressive movement in a darkly playful take on the dynamics of seeing and being seen.
Iker Karrera, Alberto D. Centeno
Iker Karrera
(Spain, 2021) 3:21 minutes

Heartache

Old Man at the Corner Store-Nadav Heyman, Anabella Casanova
In “Old Man at the Corner Store,” an elderly man crosses paths with young neighborhood mischief-makers and dances them through a game of “follow the leader”.
Nadav Heyman, Anabella Casanova
Nadav Heyman, Cheryl Mann
(United States, 2023, 8:10 minutes

Old Man at the Corner Store