Ascension(2015)

The Torch Dance(fr)

A newly discovered film showing Tamara Karsavina dancing Mikhail Fokine’s ‘La Danse du Flambeau’ (‘The Torch Dance’). This performance was filmed in 1909. Tamara Karsavina’s shoes are not reinforced at the tip like today’s pointe shoes; she may have had cotton or wool stuffed into the toes of her shoes. (https://nycdancestuff.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/tamara-karsavina-michel-fokines-la-danse-du-flambeau-1909/)

Bolshoi Babylon(en)

A behind-the-scenes look at Moscow's prestigious Bolshoi Theatre as it's rocked by an acid-attack scandal in 2013.

The Dancers(es)

People dance during a performance of the Orchestra "The Afrokán". The film was banned, at the beginning of the Cuban revolution, for depicting an unwanted image of the Havana night.

Hoppla!(xx)

In Hoppla!, two choreographies by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker are brought together and performed to the music of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók: Mikrokosmos, seven short works for two pianos, and Quatuor no. 4, Bartók’s fourth string quartet. The reading room of the Ghent University library, designed by the renowned architect Henry Van de Velde, serves as location.

5 (five)(es)

The attempt to accompany the creative process (with the inevitable difficulties and silences) of five women-dancers-choreographers, in their experience of creating a work of dance theater.

Japanese Dancers(en)

Three sisters dance the Mikado in this very early film from the Edison company.

Sharing(pt)

Sharing is a documentary that will show the process of building a video dance performed by four female artists who have a connection not only with blood, but also with dance.

Ali's Story(en)

Living as listening: For DJs, life revolves around records. Around sounds. Every life is a story, every DJ is a narrator. Every stack of records is an endless collection of stories, of myths, of memories. Can we know someone’s life through their records? For some, we can even know their impact. These records changed Ali Coleman’s life. This is Ali’s Story.

Love Parade: When Love Learned to Dance(de)

At the end of the Cold War, something new arised that should influence an entire generation and express their attitude to life. It started with an idea in the underground subculture of Berlin shortly before the fall of the Wall. With the motto "Peace, Joy, Pancakes", Club DJ Dr. Motte and companions launched the first Love Parade. A procession registered as political demonstration with only 150 colorfully dressed people dancing to house and techno. What started out small developed over the years into the largest party on the planet with visitors from all over the world. In 1999, 1.5 million people took part. With the help of interviews with important organizers and contemporary witnesses, the documentary reflects the history of the Love Parade, but also illuminates the dark side of how commerce and money business increasingly destroyed the real spirit, long before the emigration to other cities and the Love Parade disaster of Duisburg in 2010, which caused an era to end in deep grief.

Nureyev(en)

An insight into the life of the world's most famous male dancer, Rudolf Nureyev.

Meditation on Violence(en)

Chao-Li Chi shadow boxes indoors and practices with a sword outdoors. Theoretically, the film describes in a single continuous movement three degrees of traditional Chinese boxing, Wu-tang, Shao-lin, and Shao-lin with a sword. A long sequence of the ballet-like, sinuous Wu-tang becomes the more erratic Shao-lin; in the middle, there is an abrupt change to leaping sword movements, in the center of which, at the apogee of the leap, there is a long held freeze-frame.

Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra(en)

Taking us through Bangarra Dance Theatre’s spectacular growth, we follow the story of how three young Aboriginal brothers — Stephen, David and Russell Page — turned the newly born dance group into a First Nations cultural powerhouse.

Naran Ja(en)

After being invited by Benjamin Millepied to a rehearsal for the L.A Dance Project's premiere performance, Oscar-nominated director Alejandro G. Iñárritu was inspired to make a video-exercise that documents movement and dance in an experimental way, with a stream of consciousness narrative. The story takes place in a secluded, dusty space and centers around LADP dancer Julia Eichten who seems to be on an eternal search... for herself.

In Bocca al Lupo(en)

Mr. Gaga(he)

The story of Ohad Naharin, renowned choreographer and artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, an artistic genius who redefined the language of modern dance.

First Position(en)

A documentary that follows six young dancers from around the world as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world.

Argentina(es)

Argentina continues Saura’s lyrical exploration of the essence, talent and patrimony of popular dance and song in both fiction and documentary

Somber Tides(xx)

Somber tides a cry from the species, startled into survival against the elements. One last breath before being trampled by the Earth or maybe conversely a battle to wage against winds and tides clutching on before extinction.

Bumpa(en)

This documentary will explore the Afro-Caribbean dance, ‘whining’ alongside the practice of twerking to analyze respectability politics, pressures to accommodate whiteness, and gendered criticism of sexual expression within the Black diaspora. Using archival footage of West African dance, expert opinion from dancing and gender studies professors, and the active participation of partygoers in a dance experiment, Watkins will paint the picture of the defiance, autonomy, and ancestral veneration intrinsic to these traditional movement styles.

Dance Express: Hip Hop Club Dancing(en)

Go into the mind of professional dancing coach Tony Lewis as he brings us the greatest hip hop moves of the 90s.