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ScreenDance Diaires

Triumph

By Sarah Elgart on September 2, 2015 in Dance, Film, Music, TV + Web

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When I worked with Dance Camera West, we often had discussions about what constituted the difference between a dance film and a music video that featured dance. These discussions were compelling and often difficult to resolve, especially when a popular recording artist employed a well-known stage choreographer of great artistic integrity. Some felt that a music video was automatically defined by the presence of lip-syncing, while others felt the answer lay within the original intent of the film and who had underwritten it… At the end of the day, what and/or who was being promoted – the dance or the song?  And did it matter?

Dancer Nandi Bhebhe in a moment from Triumph

Dancer Nandi Bhebhe in a moment from Triumph

What is so powerful for me is when the answer lies somewhere in between – that is to say when a dance and its union with a song is so strong and so successful that you can never quite hear the one without imagining the other. This for me is the case with Triumph, a beautiful, self-proclaimed music video for Gwilym Gold, and his album A Paradise. Shot entirely in black and white with beautiful lighting, and amazing and visceral dance by Nandi Bhebhe, the framing is often centered on the dancer’s torso and core. While the dance looks to me to be at least partially choreographed, it succeeds as sheer, raw, human self-expression, completely implacable in its urgency, combining movement that seems almost African with contemporary.

Wearing a cone bra that looks like it was ripped from Madonna’s wardrobe, Behbhe’s physical prowess is both undeniable and untraditional for music videos. Of this dancer’s stunning performance, director Holly Blakely said, “I wanted to show her massive power, beauty, resilience, create something almost lucid and fertile in a way that I wish we saw women represented more often.”  

Nandi Bhebhe triumphs in "Triumph"

Nandi Bhebhe triumphs in “Triumph”

All I can say is YES.  As evidenced by its initial premiere on NOWNESS, ultimately Triumph succeeds both as a music video for a recording artist, and a gorgeous short dance film of high cinematic and conceptual integrity.

As far as I’m concerned, Triumph is a triumph.

Enjoy.

 

 

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TagsDance Camera Westgwilym goldnandi bhebhetriumph

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About the author

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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