Dance Iconoclasts at the Hammer Museum
Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14
At Hammer Museum’s Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood
- Sat. at 7:00pm – Jerome Robbins documentary
- Sun. at 2:00pm – 4 shorts commissioned from EMPAC
- Sun. at 6:00pm – Two documentaries chronicling creative process
Saturday, June 13, 7:00pm
AMERICAN MASTERS Jerome Robbins:
Something to Dance About
- Los Angeles festival premiere of this soon-to-be-a classic American Masters doc.
- Q&A following screening with director Judy Kinberg and biographer Amanda Vaill
His was a life that inspired controversy, but no one disputes the place Jerome Robbins holds as the preeminent director/choreographer of American musical theater. He transformed Broadway with shows such as West Side Story, Gypsy and Fiddler on the Roof and he forged a career in ballet, first at American Ballet Theatre and then at New York City Ballet, with unparalleled artistry.
Directed and produced by six-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Judy Kinberg and written by best-selling Robbins biographer Amanda Vaill, it examines with candor and humor, his creative process, his perfectionism, and the controversies that plagued his life. Kinberg uncovers never-before-seen rehearsal footage and interviews many of his esteemed colleagues, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Suzanne Farrell, Jacques d'Amboise, Chita Rivera, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents. USA, 2008, 112 minutes
Sunday, June 14, 2:00pm
4 shorts commissioned from EMPAC
introduced by EMPAC curator Hélène Lesterlin
The DANCE MOViES Commission is a program launched by the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, to support the creation of new works in which dance meets the technologies of the moving image. For the U.S. this marks the first commissioning body for new dance media since the demise of Alive From Off Center over twenty-five years ago. The four videos collected here represent the first works created through the 2008 DANCE MOViES Commission Program. These experimental works for the screen vary widely in content and form, yet are united by the fact that they are crafted by a choreographer or movement-based artist. These works offer a voyeuristic view of a Russian dancer in Moscow; a testament to the invisible costs borne by veterans of the ongoing conflict in Iraq; an abstract play of movement and architecture in Argentina; and a poetic, autobiographical film shot entirely in Southern Africa by an international team. USA, 2007 - 2008, 70 minutes -
Kino-Eye – Kino-Eye shadows a dancer through contemporary Moscow. Immersed in an aesthetic of video surveillance, the dancer shifts in and out of glitches and static as video playback manipulates her image. Director Joby Emmons, Choreographer Elena
Demyanenko. USA, Russia, 2008, 8 min
Nora – Nora is a dense and swiftly moving poem of sound and image that tells the story of a dancer growing up in Zimbabwe. Choreographed by Nora Chipaumire, Directed by Alla Kovgan and David Hinton. Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, USA, UK, 2008, 35 min
Propiedad Horizontal – Dancers in a narrow passageway create an elegant, abstract, and lively piece of pure movement and form. David Fariás, Carla Schillagi and Maria Fernanda Vallejos. Argentina, 2008, 10 minutes
Veterans - With an interest in making pieces for individuals who don’t conventionally inhabit the “dance” frame, Los Angeles choreographer Victoria Marks and UK director Margaret Williams collaborate once again on this stunning short - Veterans. Five young Iraqi war veterans from the West Los Angeles VA Combat Rehab/ PTSD program explore through metaphors, dreams and magical story telling the “invisible” disabilities associated with military service. USA, UK, 2008, 18 minutes
Sunday, June 14, 6:00pm
Documenting the Creative Process
Two documentaries featuring the collaborative process of contemporary dance choreographers Akram Khan and Emio Greco (2 films = 95 minutes) contains nudity
Letters from a Bridge - This documentary closely follows the creation process of the stage performance of bahok, a collaboration with British Bengal choreographer Akram Khan and the National Ballet of China. Bringing together classical and contemporary dancers from diverse cultures, traditions and dance backgrounds – Chinese, Korean, Indian, South-African and Spanish, reveals their sense of home and belonging in a globalized world. Akram Khan studied both kathak and contemporary dance and is an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells in London. Features multi award-winning composer and musician Nitin Sawhney. Directed by Gilles Delmas. France, 2008, 50 minutes
“Through this ultimately powerful piece, Khan captures both the exhilaration and the desolation of a world on the move.” - The Guardian
Imagined Hell – (contains nudity) Imagined Hell, a documentary based on the making of HELL, the 2007 large-scale performance by the Emio Greco/ Pieter Scholten dance company, is more like paradise with its gutsy dancing and a satisfying electric guitar dual while being informed by Dante’s Inferno and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Known for highly stylized movement and phenomenal unison work Greco has taken movement to new heights with his virtuosic company of eight dancers and has emerged as one of Europe’s most electrifying dance innovators. Director Maite Bermudez (Venezuela) captures on film the creative process while the dancers search for ways to extend the boundaries and to unleash the unpredictable body as the notion of hell is broken down and deconstructed in order to build a new meaning. Netherlands, 2008, 45 minutes
“A dance experience of such creative brilliance and overwhelming emotion that even the most jaded critic could not help but be moved.” —Dance Magazine
Hammer Museum – Billy Wilder Theater
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-443-7000; www.hammer.ucla.edu
FREE admission, no reservations required
seating is first come first served
