Genius on the Wrong Coast
Portrait of Lester Horton, a Los Angeles-based dancer, choreographer and teacher who trained many world-reknowned dancers and built the first American theater devoted permanently to dance. Former students and friends, including Bella Lewitzky, Alvin Ailey, and Carmen de Lavallade, help create a picture of Horton through interviews. Includes numerous dance excerpts.
Matthew Bourne's Christmas
This new Christmas ballet film was conceived by Matthew Bourne and directed by his long standing film collaborator Ross MacGibbon. The film celebrates Bourne's power to imaginatively transform ballet, taking dance and dancers off the stage into studio, bringing together projections, animation, and an intimate shooting style to produce a distinctive new way of presenting dance on screen. Those who know Bourne's stage work will spot extracts from many of his biggest hits (including Swan Lake, Edward Scissorhands, and Nutcracker!), but for audiences less familiar with his work this is simply a journey through a series of magical worlds where stories are told through dance.
Let's Dance
Choreographer Dave Gould and his students demonstrate various tap dancing steps. Also featured are an adagio and Russian sword dancers.
Connie & Sly
After their getaway goes wrong, two bank robbers (sisters Connie and Sly) set off a nearby car alarm. The siren pulls them into a trance-like state, making them perform a wild, hypnotic dance around the vehicle.
Genesis
A short story of two best friends, or at least used to be until someone close to their heart manipulated one the friends into killing each other out of bloodthirsty jealously.
Free Noir Papillon
A short dance film about a mother’s relationship to her pregnancy, as she deals with fear and hope about bringing a black baby boy into the world in 2020.
Whistle at Eight
A film crew wants to make a serious drama, but the investors agree to fund the movie only if they make something funny. Hence the drama becomes a comedy with famous singer Đorđe Marjanović in star role.
Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed
Released on DVD as part of The Criterion Collection's "Martha Graham: Dance on Film" collection.
Cycles
CYCLES is a playful, sweetheart choreography, circling through the madness of grief.
One Day Pina Asked...
Chantal Akerman followed famous Choreographer Pina Bausch and her company of dancers, The Tanzteater Wuppertal, for five weeks while they were on tour in Germany, Italy and France. Her objective was to capture Pina Bausch's unparalleled art not only on stage by behind the scenes.
Stillness in the Wave
The documentary portrayed one of the most established dance companies in Hong Kong which has a history of over four decades. With a tradition of blending Chinese dance and ballet together in the training, the dance company has set sail to re-evaluate its artistic essence by adapting new physical disciplines and philosophy, picking up different cultural traces, meditation and Chinese martial arts. Through monologues of the company members, the film unveiled their fears, self-doubts, and findings in their quest to refine their dance forms and express their cultural roots. It's an uncertain journey towards the cultivation of inner peace and the essence of movement and stillness.
Tribute to Lester Horton
A dance performance salute to choreographer-dancer Lester Horton with Alvin Ailey, Carmen de Lavallade and James Truitte, all former members of his company. They perform various works by Horton.
Three Cheers for the Girls
This short film showcases six production numbers from various Warner Bros. musicals.
Savage
On a summer day in the 1950s, a native girl watches the countryside go by from the backseat of a car. A woman at her kitchen table sings a lullaby in her Cree language. When the girl arrives at her destination, she undergoes a transformation that will turn the woman’s gentle voice into a howl of anger and pain.
Dance Rebels: A Story of Modern Dance
The mavericks whose radical ideas created modern dance in the 20th century.
Mudlove
A chance spark in a cafe sends two lovers into a surreal mud wrestling ring where they must find a common rhythm while their friends demand a fight.
Alvin Ailey: Memories and Visions
Presents selections from the major works of choreographer Alvin Ailey as performed by his City Center Dance Theater to background music ranging from modern blues to classical music to traditional spirituals. The choreography is a reflection of the many varied influences in Alvin Ailey's life, influences that are both seen and felt through the vivid performance of the company, which includes the world-renowned artist Judith Jamison.
When the Night Falls
The dance film When the Night Falls tells the story of a woman fleeing the horrors of a collapsing society in the near future. Along the way, she encounters people on whose trust her entire future depends on.
Eldorado
Olivier Assayas’ Eldorado is a riveting documentary chronicling the efforts of Ballet Preljocaj to choreograph an otherworldly icon of 21st century music: Karlheinz Stockhausen’s ethereal Sonntags-Abschied.
Good Night, Everybuds!
Good Night, Everybuds! is a healthy hippie porn. This joyful, dreamy choreography meanders around sensual love, cozy sexuality, and cuddling in the shape of an animated short film by director Benedikt Hummel.