Does Dance on Camera need brand therapy?

[Deirdre Towers]

This discussion started with the March-April Dance on Camera Ezine - essays and reviews. We welcome your comments here. Thank you

[Sharon Bourke]

Perhaps Dance on Camera will have to resort to an acronym in order to encompass all the various aspects of the art, old and new, that your festivals show. I offer DAIMOS (dance and integrated movements on screen) as a possible umbrella term. I would also like to see many collaborations between the kinodance/videodance performers and the animators who participated in the Visual Music Marathon in Boston last year (see http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&article_no=3295&...) under this umbrella.

[Deirdre Towers]

Dear Sharon,

Thank you for your comments. I was trying to raise the point about marketing the art for showings of the art in any venue, not necessarily referring to any one festival.

Your comment seems to be more referring to programming ideas which are valid than about the marketing challenge.

[charlotte nichol]

What would brand therapy do? I think we need to look at where it can be shown - where platforms or arena's for dance film exist or are actually identified as such be that festivals, TV, Galleries, live performance.... In order to identify those it most certainly would depend on an imaginative understanding of viewing - and how we as makers might want this to take place. This involves branching out and being creative - thinking literally outside the frame to projection - how can we imaginatively approach projecting our work and where? Can screens be human?

[Ellen Maynard]

I think that Dance on Camera does need some brand therapy. From my experience, the general public, and even much of the dance world, does not understand what "Dance on Camera" is. People's minds drift to music videos, movie musicals, or filmed stage performances. Even between the creators of Dance on Camera there are so many names and ideas of the art form used: Dance on Camera, Dance for the Camera, Dance Film, Dance on Film, Screendance, Video Dance, Cinedance, Choreocinema, Dance on Video, etc. I know many artists who believe calling it Dance Film is misleading because we are usually shooting in digital video, but then other artists who do not want to let go of the aesthetic and nostalgic feel of the word "film." If we took a more cohesive stance on what we are called, I think that would help introduce us to the general public. 

I also think we have a great opportunity to include a larger audience and brand ourselves to them because of or medium of the screen. There is potential for international sharing which is not always possible with live performances. I recently made a series of 5 dance films, with three of them made for the Internet, and two for the theatre. I made choices according to the type of screen I would be showing the films on, either computer screen or theatre screen. I think dance film can be widely spread and integrated on the Internet if we keep in mind the "digital venue" that we are creating for. 

[Costa Contemporánea]

And what do you think about this workshop? 
This was the beginning

http://www.dance-tech.net/video/video-dance-workshops-1

Now this is the next step in the evolution:

http://www.dance-tech.net/video/making-off-video-dance-workshops-at...

I think they are really working into a new language in front of the camera

This is one of the pieces once finished

http://www.dance-tech.net/video/mercurio

[Ellen Maynard]

WOW, I agree! The workshop looks like it offered a wealth of knowledge through hands on experience. I hope I can take part in this some day and work with La Ignorancia. 

It seems like the language the participants are building is the communication between camera and dancers. The two were fiercely tied to each other, making the viewing experience very visceral! 

[Costa Contemporánea]

We are very happy to hear that from you! Thank you for you feedback! We would love to see you in Costa Contemporánea

[Costa Contemporánea]

http://vimeo.com/56445994

Yara Paz's newest videodance! It is so beautiful... This is really a new language!!