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ScreenDance Diaries

Instinctive, Painted Dance

By Sarah Elgart on June 17, 2014 in Dance, Film, TV + Web

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A woman, a crow, and a building in decay are the principal characters in Painted, a dance short that features some beautiful moments with its exploration of movement in relation to site. It made the dance film festival circuit about two years ago, was awarded Best Dance Film at the 2012 Fastnet Short Film Festival, and also screened at Dance Camera West on a year when it seemed that every other dance film short submitted was shot on location at a building in ruin.

Dorotea Saykaly as seen through several floors in Painted

Dorotea Saykaly as seen through several floors in Painted

Painted by Duncan McDowall is the first in a trilogy of dance shorts, of which I have also seen the second, Brief Candle, and both of these seem to thematically explore the notion of decay and or the transience of the physical world in relation to nature. The dancer/choreographer of both films, Dorotea Saykaly, is strong, beautiful, and instinctive in her movement, and Painted features an original score by Simon Marcheterre and compelling cinematography by Cristophe Collette. While I like the juxtaposition of the dancer with the crow (or is it a raven?) I particularly like the shots through doorways and overhead in the stairwell, and that the building itself has an ominous and sad kind of presence that really functions like a character within the context of the short as a whole. Enjoy.

 

Top: Image from the Painted dance video

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Tagschoreographydancedance filmDorotea SaykalyDuncan McDowall

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About the author

Sarah Elgart

Sarah Elgart

Founder/Director of Dare to Dance in Public Film Festival, Sarah Elgart is a Los Angeles based choreographer and director working under the auspice of Sarah Elgart | Arrogant Elbow. Sarah creates original content for stage, screen, and site-specific venues. Her stage and site-works have been performed at alternative spaces including LAX Airport, The Skirball Center, Mark Taper Forum, Van Nuys Flyaway, The Bradbury Building, Jacob’s Pillow, INSITU Site-Specific Festival NY, and Loft Seven, where she created a rooftop work lit entirely by a hovering helicopter accompanied by Nels Cline (Wilco). Her work has been produced by venues including The Music Center, MASS MoCA, Dance Place, Los Angeles Theater Center, Mark Taper Forum and The International Women’s Theater Festival. In film Sarah has worked with noted directors including JJ Abrams, David Lynch, Catherine Hardwicke, and Anton Corbijn. Her own films include award-winning music videos, dance shorts, and an Emmy nominated PSA, and continue to be accepted into festivals internationally. In addition to teaching dance and film, Sarah writes a regular column, ScreenDance Diaries that focuses on the intersections of both genres internationally for online magazine Cultural Weekly. Sarah’s work has received support from organizations that include the Rockefeller Foundation, the NEA, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, California Arts Council and more. She is an alumna of the Sundance Institute’s Dance Film Lab, a Fellow of AFI’s Directing Women’s Workshop, and a director member of the DGA.

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