Dancing Through the Lens

Tamara Rojo, a former Royal Ballet principal dancer and artistic director of English National Ballet, is now forging new paths as the new artistic director of San Francisco Ballet. Over the course of her decade-long leadership of ENB, Rojo oversaw the creation of many dance films, most notably helmed by the creative team of Jess and Morgs (Jessica Wright & Morgann Runacre-Temple). These films have delighted audiences at SFDFF over the years. One of those films, An Evening with Taglioni, will screen as part of the festival kickoff Spotlight Shorts program at Lucasfilm Premiere Theater, which also has films featuring current and former San Francisco Ballet dancers.This interview was conducted by guest host and longtime SFDFF Executive Director Judy Flannery. Spotlight Shorts Screens on Friday, October 28 at the Lucasfilm Premiere Theater at 7PM. More information can be found at this link:https://sfdancefilmfest.org/fall-festival-2022/shorts-program/opening-night-salute-to-shorts/@rojotamara@jessandmorgsfilms@sfdancefilmfest

La Mezcla is a polyrhythmic San Francisco based dance and music ensemble rooted in Chicana, Latina and Indigenous traditions and social justice. Its founder, Vanessa Sanchez, spoke with us about the process of developing the company's latest work Ghostly Labor, a film and soon-to-be dance theatre piece that explores the history of labor in the US Mexico Borderlands. We spoke about the extensive research and development of the work, rhythmic crafting and hybridization and capturing clean sound when you're surrounded by traffic and farm equipment.Ghostly Labor will screen as a part of SFDFF's Raising Voices on Thursday, November 3rd at 7PM at the Roxie Theater. More information can be found at this link:https://sfdancefilmfest.org/fall-festival-2022/shorts-program/raising-voices-3/https://vanessasanchez.net/lamezcla/@sfdancefilmfest@lamezcla_sf@jjleanos@clschweitzThis episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

Steven Melendez is the artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet, a Manhattan-based ballet company dedicated to performing classic masterpieces and new contemporary works for adults and innovative hourlong ballets for young children. Steven's introduction to ballet began as a young child through the New York Theatre Ballet School's LIFT scholarship program that creates an equal opportunity and an accessible dance training environment for talented at-risk homeless and underserved children. A documentary about Steven and the program, also titled LIFT, will have its West-Coast Premiere on Saturday, November 5th at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. @sfdancefilmfest@couellette87@thestevenmelendez@liftdocumentary@nytheatreballetTickets for the 2022 San Francisco Dance Film Festival are now availablehttps://sfdancefilmfest.org/fall-festival-2022/This episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

Bella Lewitzky was a modern-dance pioneer and an outspoken politically active champion of artistic freedom. The theatrical premiere of the documentary Bella, about Lewinsky’s life, work, and activism will take place at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival this fall with director Bridget Murnane in attendance. Clare had the opportunity to speak with Bridget about her close connection with Bella throughout her life as well as the questions she hopes the audience will ask themselves when they see the film.@sfdancefilmfest@clschweitz@bridgetmurnane@bellalewitzkyfilmThis episode was recorded on the territory of xučyun (Huichin), the original land of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

Lenora Lee, artistic director of Lenora Lee Dance and Olivia Ting, multimedia graphic designer, had been collaborative partners for quite some time, and are currently working on their newest premiere "In The Movement" which will run for nearly two weeks at the beginning of September at ODC theater. Chris spoke with them about the experience of taking dance and creating an immersive environment, the importance of honoring the history of the people and the sites they choreograph and create on, and what they hope to accomplish when translating dance into film.@sfdancefilmfest@couellette87@lenoraleedance@oting1@67suenoshttp://www.lenoraleedance.com/This episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

Nadia Adame is a Spanish multidisciplinary award-winning artist with a spinal cord injury and the current artistic director of AXIS Dance Company. She studied Ballet & Flamenco at the Royal Dance Conservatory of Madrid and has a BA in Theatre from the University of Colorado. She was a company member with AXIS (2001-2003) and Candoco Dance Company (2007-2008). In 2004, she co-founded and was the Co-Artistic Director of Compañía Y in Spain, a multimedia and performance collective. Nadia’s credits include dance, theatre, commercial, and independent film projects in the UK, Spain, US, and Canada.@sfdancefilmfest@couellette87@axisdanceco@nadia_adamehttp://www.nadiaadame.com/This episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

Sean Dorsey is recognized as one of the country's first acclaimed transgender modern dance choreographers and the first transgender artist to appear on the cover of Dance Magazine. Sean not only presents his own work through Sean Dorsey dance, but is also the artistic director of  Fresh Meat Productions which invests in the creative expression and cultural leadership of transgender and gender-nonconforming communities. He was most recently featured in KQED's If Cities Could Dance series, which not only profiled his career but also presented filmic reinterpretations of his stage work. We discuss how choreographic material changes when brought from stage to film back to stage as well as his dreams for the future of trans artists in dance and dance film.@sfdancefilmfest@seandorseydance@freshmeatsfSan Francisco Transgender Film Festival Call for EntriesEarly Deadline: August 11https://sftff.org/submissions/Transgender Dancer Sean Dorsey Invites Trans and Queer People to Dream Big | If Cities Could Dancehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnP2yjqrZDg&ab_channel=KQEDArtsThis episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

If you've seen dance in the Bay Area, you've probably seen Babatunji. His extraordinarily athletic and almost superhuman movement style has captivated audiences both onstage as a longtime company member for Alonzo King Lines Ballet as well as onscreen in films by Post:Ballet, Max Savage and Kate Duhamel's Candy Bomber, among others. Clare spoke with Babatunji about his dance journey and his insight and experience as a dancer on film.@babatunji@clschweitz@sfdancefilmfest@linesballet@sfdanceworks@postballet@candybomberkateAmy Seiwert's Imagery presents Sketch 12: Dear Diary on July 15th and 16th at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason. Featuring three world premieres by Artistic Director Amy Seiwert, Imagery’s new Artistic Fellow Natasha Adorlee, and Choreographer Joshua L. Peugh.https://www.asimagery.org/sketch-12This episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

Tori Lawrence is a choreographer & filmmaker who produces immersive site-specific dances, interdisciplinary performance installations, and dance films that explore the relationship among body, landscape, and architecture. During the month of June 2022, Tori  has been in residence with Sara Shelton Mann at the Fort Mason Center of Arts & Culture on the experimental performance work 7 Excavations. In this episode, Tori offers detailed insight into the creation of the work and reflects on her own work exploring the creative potential of 8mm and 16mm film.7 Excavations culminates in a one night only Summer Solstice performance on Tuesday, June 21st at 8PM at Gallery 308 at the Fort Mason Center For Arts & Culture.https://fortmason.org/event/sara-shelton-mann-excavations-summer-solstice-performance/@sfdancefilmfest@[email protected]@fortmasoncenterThis episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Yelamu, part of the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/

This week, Chris interviewed the team of SFDFF Co-Produced film I Just Wanna Dance, which has been dancing along the festival circuit this year. The crew of Amanda Beane (director), Kristina Willemse (camera/jib operator) and Zoë Mountain (editor) reflected on how their dance backgrounds translated to the film and how it allowed for a greater creative and collaborative trust amongst the team. I Just Wanna Dance will screen as a part of the Homegrown: Perfect Day program as a part of Frameline at 8:30PM on June 21 at the New Parkway Theater in Downtown Oakland.https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline46/homegrown-perfect-day@sfdancefilmfest@framelinefest@[email protected] (Amanda Beane)@zoemountain@kristinawillemseThis episode was recorded on the ancestral lands of the Lisjan Ohlone people. Learn more at https://native-land.ca/