The magnified sounds of quotidian life create a sense of heightened reality in the new narrative dance film Waiting Places. Doors creak open; light switches flip off and on; footsteps click across the bare floor; chalk scrapes down a wall; a dancer exhales; water pours into a glass; a landline phone rings. These sharp auditory cues accompany solo dances in silence and moments of transition between scenes as dancers enter and leave the black-and-white framing of the film. In between, sections of solo piano burst forth like melodic, fanciful daydreams, encouraging them to dance in pairs or as a group. The contrast builds a mounting tension as five dancers reckon with time, suspended and interrupted, inside a sparsely furnished room.
Choreographed and directed by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, and produced by DFSF Artistic Director Garen Scribner, Waiting Places explores the multitude of emotions that liminal spaces, both physical and psychological, can induce. The film is adapted from a stage work of the same name from 2024, with a cast of current and former Royal Danish Ballet dancers, Astrid Elbo, Alexander Bozinoff and Kizzy Matiakis, collaborating and dancing alongside Smith and Schraiber.
“Waiting Places” received the 2025 SFDFF Award for Best Score. Striking dance, plus the use of natural sounds and silence, served as a unique narrative force throughout the film. Jurors were especially moved by the pianist’s onscreen presence, woven into the storyline, and praised the score’s evocative role in shaping the film’s dramatic and emotional arc, adding to its overall artistic excellence.
