Sit back, relax, and prepare to be captivated by this exciting selection of semi-finalist dance shorts! Each film offers a unique perspective on movement and storytelling, showcasing the creativity and talent of emerging filmmakers in the dance community.
Grab your ticket and join us for this diverse and inspiring collection of dance shorts that promise to ignite your imagination and evoke your emotions. Celebrate the artistry and creativity of these talented filmmakers as they take us on a captivating journey through movement and expression!
*Not in Screening Order
Dance Short
'The Box ' - 5:30 (China)
Director – Yijing Lin
In a routine morning, the girl stumbled upon her old blind box toy by accident, just like many people when they were young. She imagined that the toys in the unseen dimension communicated, fought, and danced. And thus, her fantastic world opened up again… However, what she didn’t know was that she thought she was a human, but she was actually a toy as well.
Dance Short
'Cinders' - 7:28 (Spain)
Director – Oskar Luko
A man ascends through a dry and inhospitable landscape, searching for the appropriate place to perform his intimate and personal rite of expiation, as a vital need to reconnect with his environment and his present.
Dance Short
'But I Am' - 15:09 (UK)
Directors – Luca Silvestrini & Alice Underwood
But I Am is Luca Silvestrini’s Protein latest dance film made with and for students from Newhaven School in Greenwich, London and performed alongside the company’s professional artists.
Newhaven School is a Pupil Referral Unit, an alternative education provision which is specifically organised to provide education for children who are not able to attend school and may not otherwise receive suitable education.
Part of Protein’s Real Life Real Dance inclusion programme. the film was made over a three-week intensive creation period. Influenced by Border Tales, created by Luca Silvestrini in 2013, exploring themes of multiculturalism and identity, But I Am features original music and sound by composer Andy Pink.
“The biggest thing I’ve learnt is to not listen to other people’s opinions and just be yourself.” Year 10 Student
“I cannot express how amazing this opportunity has been for our students. It has been an experience that I know they will not forget and will always talk about.” Headteacher
But I Am was filmed at Woolwich Works and in the Royal Arsenal Riverside, Woolwich in November 2013 and received support from Woolwich Works, Berkeley Group, Royal Borough of Greenwich and Arts Council England.
Dance Short
'Sonder' - 6:02 (USA)
Director – RJ Muna
In a brilliant white void, Sonder explores the multifaceted lives of passersby through individual and collective expression. Sonder references the sensation of realizing every person you encounter is living a life as complex and vivid as your own. Through abstract swirls of interlocking gestures and fluid athleticism, the dancers explore moments of epiphany and exchange. Directed by RJ Muna, choreographed by Mia J. Chong, and produced by EIGHT/MOVES.
Dance Short
'Couplet' - 9:17 (USA)
Director – Dionne Noble
Against the magnificent Texas landscape, an emotionally mature and steady relationship is revealed. As the couple moves through the open grasslands, they dynamically support one another, and their trust deepens. A moment of honest intimacy closes the film.
This film is funded by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.
Dance Short
'IN' - 7:49 (Israel)
Directors – Michal Bratt & Amnon Houri
The sensation of suffocation, whether physical or emotional, real or metaphoric, is a universal experience often triggered by traumatic events. This groundbreaking video, created by Michal Bratt in collaboration with the Spanish choreographer Israel Galván, aims to articulate this feeling through a cinematic dance medium. Depicting the struggle of coping with confinement, the protagonist embarks on a journey expressed with honesty, humour, and moments of madness, all in pursuit of inner peace and hope within the confines of a closed room. Will she find liberation? Will we?
Dance Short
'a PUSH and a PULL' - 14:32 (USA)
Directors – Kristin Alexander & Maggie M. Bailey
Created with Maggie M. Bailey, an award-winning producer and director, a PUSH and a PULL explores the idea of the push and pull we feel within ourselves, relationships, and all aspects of life through the cinematic lens of dance filmmaking. A medium where both choreography and cinematography have an equally shared relationship in the creative process, dance films allow an audience to watch a piece unfold from multiple perspectives in multiple locations. a PUSH and a PULL is a series of vignettes danced to the music of Marcus Amaker mixed with text by Lydia Brown, Ronda Taylor and Sofie Williams spoken by the writers and actor AP Hart. Filmed on the grounds of the College of Charleston Grice Marine Laboratory, Pixel Studios, and Navy Yard Charleston, the environments enhanced the movement vocabulary and inspired choices made with the camera.
Dance Short
'Organized Hope' - 6:24 (USA)
Director – Amy Seiwert
Inspired by Kintsugi, the traditional Japanese craft of repairing broken ceramics using lacquer mixed with gold and the belief that something can be more beautiful through the stresses endured. Seiwert asked herself: coming out of an era that broke many of us, can we be re-formed? Can we create something both stronger and more beautiful?
Organized Hope features dancer James Gilmer with choreography by Amy Seiwert, a libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and an original score by Daniel Bernard Roumain. Created in collaboration with filmmaker Ben Estabrook and Stop-Motion Artist Aaron Kierbel.
Dance Short
'If I Were You' - 8:44 (USA)
Directors – Margot Gelber & Rebecah Goldstone
In If I Were You a couple shares an oscillating dance of intention and disruption–their movements a continuous exchange of support and potential peril, pushing them toward self-discovery. Falling into known patterns, but desperate to shift, they beckon and reject each other, careening toward togetherness. This is a slow, exhausting, mesmerizing dance, steeped in the unknown, where souls wait patiently to be held, released, and resolved.
Dance Short
'Dust' - 10:30 (USA)
Directors – Max Zoghbi & Scarlett Wynne
DUST is an original short film from vagabondance that explores the journey we all share in our search for connection, support, and identity.
Featuring the participants of ‘project dust’, a first-of-its-kind, 12-week, research project (launched in 2023) that provides opportunities for adults (ages 20-60), with no dance training, to engage, explore, and contribute to an artistic process through movement.
Dance Short
'In Retrospect' - 11:05 (USA)
Director – Alicia Marie Steeves
The piece is about the discovery of oneself within a connection and the truths that arise from the interaction between fear and the earring for love. It investigates how we can dismantle the generational patterns ingrained into our being and how we can find forgiveness for two people who were simply not on the same timeline.