Sans Souci at Museum of Boulder: 20th Annual Festival Premiere

In-Person Screening with Live Performance and Installations
Fri-Sun, Sept 1-3, 2023

On the Rooftop at Museum of Boulder

Join Sans Souci for a night to remember as we return to The Museum of Boulder to celebrate the opening of our 20th season!

You’ll enter like a star through a VIP red carpet photo area…it is a film festival, after all! Grab a local brew or glass of wine and check out the VR and video installations looping throughout the Museum before the screening for an intimate experience with select films. Take a peek at the Museum’s open exhibits, and delight in the surprise of live dance performance around every corner on your way to pick up your pre-purchased burrito bowls on the rooftop patio.

The main event will begin at 7:30pm as we embark on a screening of our new season’s top scoring dance films. As always, our selections are submitted from around the world and curated by a panel of professional dance filmmakers to bring you the most cutting edge work in the realm where dance and cinema collide. All these films are making their SSF debut, and tickets must be purchased in advance.

Food provided by T/ACO is available to be pre-purchased along with your ticket at checkout. Beverages will be available to be purchased onsite as well as a small concession stand.

| Festival Premiere: 20th Anniversary Installation | Festival Premiere: Local Artist Installation | Festival Premiere: Screening |

SSF 20th Anniversary Installation

Family: Portrait, 2005, USA

Choreography by Gabriel Masson

Dancing by Hamel Bloom, Toby Hankin, Bill Manka

Music composed by Graham Fitkin

Music performed by Piano Circus

In There, 2005, USA, 7 min

Directed by Michael Theodore / Michelle Ellsworth

Produced by Prarie Dog Mothers

Choreography and dancing by Michelle Ellsworth

Music by Michael Theodore

This film definitively answers the question, "What is she doing in there?"

Bleu, 2006, USA, 4 min

Produced and Directed by Cari Ann Shim Sham*

Choreography and dancing by Cari Ann Shim Sham*

Featuring Shim Sham Productions

Music composed by Low in the Sky

Music performed by Are you for real?!

"Bleu" exposes the naked moving body as an art form, as post-it notes fly onto the dancer's body to cover her up and comment on the politics of the heavy American workload. Surprise Ending.

Meaghan McHenry dancing like her old man.

Dancer Meaghan McHenry

Dance Like Your Old Man, 2006, Australia, 10 min

Directed by Gideon Obarzanek & Edwina Throsby

Produced by Chunky Move in association with Chequerboard Productions

Featuring Chunky Move

Dancing by Meaghan McHenry, Sara Black, Alexandra Dillon, Bec Reid, Penelope Bartiau & Ros Warby

Music by various artists

Cinematography by Cordelia Beresford

Editing by Simon Njoo

Six unseen fathers come to life through their dances as imitated and reflected on by their daughters.

photo by Hanna Korhonen

Animalz, 2006, UK, 3 min

Directed by Sergio Cruz

Produced by Ed Cooper

Choreography by JP Omari

Featuring B3 Brighton BBoys

Dancing by B3 Brighton BBoys

Music composed by Sergio Cruz, Filipe Galante, Christos Fanaras

Cinematography by Martin Gajewski

Sergio Cruz's film "Animalz" takes the urban B-Boy Skills of Brighton and Hove's B3 Boys into the city's surrounding natural landscapes. Co-choreographed by BBC Strictly Dance Fever's JP Omari, the sixteen 8-14 year-old dancers were encouraged to bring out the animal in themsleves. Shot on location in Brighton at Stanmer Park, Devil's Dyke and Telscombe Beach.

OF THE HEART, 2007, USA, 6 min

Directed by Douglas Rosenberg and Allen Kaeja

Produced by Douglas Rosenberg

Choreography and dancing by David Dorfman and Lisa Race

Music composed by Arvo Part

"Of The Heart" is a tender and moving duet for the camera that slowly unfolds in a windblown field in late fall. The film speaks of longing and desire and is a richly metaphoric movement portrait. The performance by Dorfman and Race is heartfelt and honest, stripped to its emotional core.

Off Ground, 2013, The Netherlands, 12 min

Directed by Boudewijn Koole

Produced by Iris Lammertsma

Choreography by Jakop Ahlbom

Featuring Jakop Ahlbom

Dancing by Louise Lecavalier, Antoine Masson

Music composed by Alex Simu

Cinematography by Melle van Essen

Edited by Boudewijn Koole

Woman and boy, table and chair, wall and water - a simple, powerful duet.

Elon + Emmanuelle, 2012, USA, 7 min

Directed by Natalie Galazka

Produced by Natalie Galazka & Melissa C. O'Brien

Choreography and dancing by Elon Höglund & Emmanuelle Lê Phan

Music by Garth Stevenson

Cinematography by Melissa C. O'Brien

Edited by Ross Baldisserotto

Charmed dancers observe their own duet in a magical street art fantasy.

View the trailer.

Outside in, 2011, Sweden, 10 min

Directed by Tove Skeidsvoll & Petrus Sjövik

Produced by Annelie Gardell

Choreography and dancing by Tover Skeidsvoll

Music by Johannes Burström

Cinematography by Petrus Sjövik

Edited by Nils Moström

Introspectively filmed by an intrusive crew, Cecilia dances inside a forest inside a studio.

View the trailer.

ME - Story of a Performance, 2013, Finland / Japan / Estonia, 7 min

Directed by Jopsu Ramu

Produced by Juha-Matti Nieminen (Directors Guild) & Timo Ramu (MUSUTA)

Choreography and dancing by Johanna Nuutinen

Music by Jukka Backlund

Cinematography by Mark Stubbs

Edited by Antony Bentley

Script by Jopsu Ramu, Timo Ramu

Styling by Minttu Vesala

An artfully rendered cinematic exploration of a dance performance.

View the trailer.

HOME ALONE, 2013, Israel, 2 min

Directed by Adi Halfin

Produced by Tamir Eting, Noam Eidelman, Adi Halfin

Featuring Batsheva Dance Company Ensemble

Dancing by Tamir Eting, Noam Eidelman, Rani Lebzelter, Shane Scopatz, Mario Bermudez Gil, Eduard Turull, Keren Lurie-Pardes, Shani Licht, Ayelet Nadav, Mariko Kakizaki, Oz Shoshan, Gil Shachar, Or Schraiber, Maya Tamir, Shaked Leibzirers, Ron Matalon, Ori Kroll

Music composed by Locust

Cinematography by Roman Linetsky

Edited by Shahar Amarilio

Combining choreography with improvisation, a company of young dancers creates an atmosphere of "parental absence" in an abandoned building.

Moving Yerevan, 2014, Armenia, 8 min

Directed by Jevan Chowdhury

Produced by Nare Aghababyan

Choreography by Jevan Chowdhury

Featuring National State Ensemble & independent artists

Music by Danny Odom

Filmmaker: Jevan Chowdhury

This short marries the people of Yerevan — the capital of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities — with the modern day metropolis. Created in public spaces in 3 days and 3 nights.

Exquisite Corps, 2016, USA, 6 min

Produced and Directed by Mitchell Rose

Choreography by 42

Dancing by Bebe Miller, David Dorfman, Victoria Marks, Kyle Abraham, Andrea Miller, Joe Goode, Sara Pearson, Pavel Zuštiak, Doug Varone, Liz Lerman, David Rousseve, Kate Weare, Ann Carlson, Stephan Koplowitz, Larry Keigwin, Mark Dendy, Sidra Bell, Vicky Shick, Susan

Music composed by Robert Een

Music performed by Robert Een, Hearn Gadbois, Carter Burwell, Anne DeMarinis

Edited by Mitchell Rose

42 American contemporary choreographers link together on a chain love letter to dance.

View the trailer.

Stopgap in Stop Motion, 2016, United Kingdom, 5 min

Produced and Directed by Stephen Featherstone

Choreography by Lucy Bennett

Featuring Stopgap Dance Company

Dancing by Amy Butler, Laura Jones, Nadenh Poan, Chris Pavia, Hannah Sampson, David Toole, David Willdridge, Tomos Young

Music by Dougie Evans

Filmmaker: Stephen Featherstone

Performers in disabled and non-disabled dance company "Stopgap" move in and out of photos and across tabletops until the whole company meet and perform in unison.

COLD STORAGE, 2016, Finland, 9 min

Directed by Thomas Freundlich

Produced by Lumikinos Production Oy

Choreography by Thomas Freundlich

Dancing by Valtteri Raekallio, Eero Vesterinen

Music by Kimmo Pohjonen

Cinematography by Thomas Freundlich

Edited by Jukka Nykänen

Cold Storage is a short dance film that pays homage to the virtuosic physical performances and melancholy comedy of the classic silent screen. On a desolate arctic shore, a lonely fisherman discovers his prehistoric counterpart frozen in the ice, and thaws him out as his newfound soul brother.

Groggy Grugg, 2018, United States, 4 min

Produced and Directed by Conor C. Long

Choreography by Brianna Lopez

Featuring University of Utah Screendance

Dancing by Grugg

Music by William Cannon

Filmmaker: Conor C. Long

A claymation screendance short film about that terrible every day struggle to get out of bed for that first delicious cup of coffee.

Frame from Never Standing Still: Hong Kong Ballet's 40th Anniversary

Never Standing Still: Hong Kong Ballet's 40th Anniversary, 2019, United States, 2 min

Directed by Dean Alexander

Produced by Mikyung Kim

Choreography by Septime Webre

Featuring Design Army

Dancing by Hong Kong Ballet

Music composed by Squeak E Clean Studios

Creative/Art Director by Pum Lefebure

Executive Producer by Jake Lefebure

After successfully redefining Hong Kong Ballet’s brand last year, our goal this year — their 40th anniversary — was to establish Hong Kong Ballet as an institution of national prestige and reach new audiences with the Ballet’s vision. the people of Hong Kong needed to see themselves reflected in the Ballet. Our strategy led us to blend traditional and pop-culture colors, tutus and street clothes, Chinese opera-inspired and contemporary makeup, and a backdrop of iconic Hong Kong landmarks to celebrate the Ballet’s heritage and its spirit of innovation. Hong Kong Ballet, like the city itself, is “Never Standing Still.” The film went viral and earned more than 2 million views.

Axis Mundi, 2020, France, 2 min

Directed by Patrick Foch

Choreography by Celine Garbay, Loriana Lorenzon

Featuring Céline Garbay, Loriana Lorenzon

Cinematography by Benjamin Ziegler

The "axis mundi" is a connection between heaven and earth, between the divine and the material. With this gravity-defying choreography, imagined and performed at the top of a mountain and on the verticality of a pole dance bar, I wanted to deliver my own vision of this "axis mundi." Two bodies merge and evolve precisely between earth and sky, in a quest for physical and spiritual elevation along this invisible thread.

Erêkauã, 2021, Brazil, 1 min

Directed by Paulo Accioly

Produced by Estranha Força

Choreography by Ernane Ferreira

Dancing by Kauã

OST by Igor Peixoto

Kauã dances in the hill, like a bird of prey.

Amser / Time, 2022, United Kingdom, 6 min

Directed by Deborah Light

Produced by Laura Drane

Choreography by Light Ladd Emberton

Featuring Light Ladd Emberton

Moving through time along Bae Ceredigion/Cardigan Bay, we arrive at today's climate crisis. Sarn Gynfelyn is revealed every low tide and looks like a road into the sea. In fact, it is a glacial moraine laid down 20,000 years ago when ice sheets melted, and it marks the beginning of the global conditions that have enabled human expansion. At Borth, a 6,000 year old forest flourished for a few thousand years. Submerged by the sea, it has since been re-exposed in recent storms. Sarn Gynfelyn and Borth’s forest are both cited as supporting the Cantre'r Gwaelod legend of lost fertile lands in Cardigan Bay, but the geology tells a different story. Moving forwards, we arrive at Fairbourne, a seaside town built on saltmarsh and English industrial wealth. It is now set to become the first UK town to be decommissioned due to sea level rise. It will be demolished and returned to salt marsh and will have existed for less than 200 years. In the intertidal zone, between land and sea, three people move, with arresting visual imagery through these three remarkable sites.

Festival Premiere Local Artist Installation

America, God Bless You (If It’s Good to You), 2023, United States, 1 min

Directed by Tanniqua-Kay Buchanan

Choreography by Tanniqua-Kay Buchanan

Featuring

Dancing by Tanniqua-Kay Buchanan, Amber Echols, Sydney Kemper, Laila May

Edited by Sabrina Leira

"America, God Bless You (If It’s Good to You)" highlights brief containers of memories from black women with diverse backgrounds. It examines their collective response to America’s inability to address and rectify the structures that create isolation in the community and its fragmented truths. The Dancer in the Black Dress calls for black women to collectively break these systems of oppression by utilizing their strengths and joining forces, echoing the message “The future is ours if you can count."

Deleite, 2023, United States, 8 min

Directed by Rosely Conz, Patrizia Herminjard

Choreography by Rosely Conz

Featuring

"Deleite" honors the delicate balance of motherhood by exploring the embodied weight of the physical and psychological consequences of maternal caregiving. The juxtaposed delight and struggle of parenting are reflected in the title, "Deleite," a play on words meaning both delight and ‘of milk’ in Brazilian Portuguese.

Two Hands, 2023, United States, 2 min

Directed by Jeanine McCain, Brian Hapcic

Featuring

Dancing by Peg Volpe Posnick

coming soon

Car Stories, 2022, United States, 6 min

Directed by L. Ashwyn Collins

Produced by Katie Elliott, L. Ashwyn Collins

Choreography by Katie Elliot, 3rd Law Dancers

Featuring 3rd Law Dance/Theater

This piece was originally part of an outdoor performance presented during the pandemic. The choreographic process involved creating movement material from stories of travel to relate to the environment where the performance took place.

Tenets, 2023, United States, 4 min

Directed by Taylor Madgett, Lawrence Beard

Produced by Taylor Madgett

Choreography by Taylor Madgett, Constance Harris

Featuring

Dancing by Constance Harris, James Solis-Gutierrez, Becca Schaff, Taylor Madgett

This high energy piece features a fusion of Afro dance, House and Hip-Hop dance styles. Through an exploration of these dance forms, this piece seeks to establish American street dance as a direct extension of West African culture.

Follow the Flow, 2022, United States, 13 min

Produced and Directed by Alexandra Lockhart

Choreography by Alexandra Lockhart

Featuring Move To Project

Music composed by Nathan Wheeler, Paul DeHaven

Filmmaker: Souki Mehdaoui

"Follow the Flow" is an environmental dance film focused on bringing awareness to the water crisis of the Colorado River. A dancer, rawly integrated into the environment, illustrates a symbiotic relationship with the river, while exemplifying how paramount it is to remember humans are intertwined with this river in everyday life. The grandeur and nuance of the river is emphasized while following it through diverse environments from the headwaters in Colorado, through Utah, and to the final stretch of the river in Yuma Valley.

Vicious Circle, 2022, Canada, 7 min

Directed by Olivia McGilchrist, Claire Sanford

Choreography by Dulcinea Langfelder, Angelica Bongiovonni

Filmmaker: Claire Sanford, Olivia McGilchrist

Lead Artist by Angelica Bongiovonni

Dramaturgy by Alice Ronfard

A duo between a woman and a circle. "Vicious Circle" is a lyrical, comical and sometimes dramatic meditation on the meaning of life. Going from a cell to an embryo to a girl to a woman, the character continually encounters the circle, which she tries to grasp. The circle surrounds her, fascinates her and seduces her. Highly metaphorical, ranging from the cosmic to the everyday, the circle is the uterus, the lover, the father, the aspiration – life – death – and the mandala (‘circle’, in Sanskrit): the one that brings everything back to oneself.

Festival Premiere Screening

View the trailer.

Handstitched, 2022, United States, 10 min

Directed by Virginia Broyles, Chris Lee

Produced by Virginia Broyles

Choreography by Virginia Broyles

Featuring

Cinematography by Alex Lee

Creator by Virginia Broyles

Five people venture to a secret meadow tucked behind snow capped mountains to participate in a ritual of their own making. Together, they delight in dream logic and ceremonial uncanny through their mischievous traditions.

Maracatu vs Passinho, 2022, Brazil, 3 min

Directed by Rodrigo Pépe, Priscila Paciência

Produced by Aline Alves

Choreography by Priscila Paciência

Featuring

Cinematography by Helder Tavares

In the videodance "Maracatu vs Passinho" we invited a Passinho dancer and a Caboclo de Lança to present some of their expressions in a friendly duel.

Endurance, 2023, Netherlands, 11 min

Directed by Imre van Opstal

Choreography by Imre van Opstal

Featuring Batsheva Dance Company

Whether it's running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or simply making it through a difficult day, endurance is what enables people to persist and succeed. Without it, people would give up at the first sign of difficulty. "Endurance" is a film about the power of perseverance and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of challenging circumstances. It examines the journey of life itself, the physical and emotional aspects of endurance, exploring the ups and downs, the triumphs and failures, and the moments of joy and sorrow that define the human experience. A testament to the idea that with hard work, determination, and the inherent drive to keep going despite adversity, anything is possible. Through the role of community and the support of others, this film aims to evoke a sense of wonder, hope, and renewal, encouraging audiences to embrace life's journey with courage and determination.'

Absent Presence, 2023, Italy, 1 min

Directed by Giorgia Ponticello

Choreography by Giorgia Ponticello

Featuring

Cinematography by Jody Hinterleitner

Sound Design by Simone Meneghelli

To perceive, from the Greek "touch at a distance." "Absent Presence" is the surreal journey of a disconnected body in an attempt to find itself in the spaces of an empty house. A game of perceptions, between the ambiguity of reflections and distorted shadows, which leads the viewers to wonder about the relativity of what they are watching: what is real to us? What can I move and what moves me?"

Offering, 2023, Canada, 5 min

Directed by Marlene Millar

Produced by Marlene Millar, Sandy Silva, Kathy Sperberg

Choreography by Sandy Silva

Featuring

Dancing by Sonia Clarke, David Cronkite, Dominic Desrochers, Omar Motion Carter, Afia Douglas, Issac Endo, Hélène Lemay, Chloe Hart, Louis Roy, Sana Hutchison, Rachel Hutchison, Edai Larobina, Kimberly Robin, Mathilde Richer, Bobby Thompson

"Offering" creates a meaningful convergence between the Migration Dance Film Project’s body percussion artists and emerging artists from dance (gigue, contemporary, street) and circus arts. The choreography uses the power of procession in Montreal’s urban borough of Little Burgundy to amplify its storyline of (re)imagined homescape in the era of mid-pandemic. The procession formed by movement artists from across communities weaves its way through urban corridors, neighbourhoods, green spaces — an uncoiled assemblage of nomadic storytellers anchored in the intimate knowledge of individual and shared experiences in unison. "Offering" imbues movement in stillness within our city and takes refuge in its powerful migratory patterns traced across our urbanscape.

Old Man At The Corner Store, 2023, United States, 8 min

Directed by Nadav Heyman, Anabella Casanova

Produced by Cheryl Mann, Collin Del Cuore

Choreography by Nadav Heyman & Cheryl Mann

Featuring

Dancing by Zoe Rawlings, Fen Del Cuore, Mher Khachatryan, Adrian Dela Rosa, Nadav Heyman, Donte Cooley

Executive Producers by Sage Price, Anabella Casanova

An elderly man crosses paths with the neighborhood mischiefs.

Intermission, 2000, USA, 15 min

Enjoy the video installations. Stretch, snack, and mingle!

Intermission, 2000, USA, 15 min

Enjoy the video installations. Stretch, snack, and mingle!

View the trailer.

La Galerie, 2021, Canada, 11 min

Directed by Loup-William Théberge

Produced by Sophie Dubé

Choreography by Loup-William Théberge

Featuring La Machine de Cirque

Cinematography by Felippe

Edited by Loup-William Théberge

During a nighttime visit to a museum, an unforeseen connection between a woman and a painting triggers an unexpected journey between the real and the unreal.

Blind Dreamers [•32°N 145°W•], 2022, France, 6 min

Produced and Directed by Sandra Geco

Choreography by Sandra Geco

Featuring

Dancing by Jean-Yves Phuong, Sandra Geco

Cinematography by David Masson

A visual fable with poetic notes that oscillate between reality and surrealism to reveals a universe mixing plastic, landscape and poetry. We discover a couple looking like René Magritte's lovers who have exchanged their veil against a plastic bag.In research of sensitivity, this video fable question our rupture with the rest of the living world and our (in)ability to identify with it.We are this living being caught in a trap: how could we forget about it?"

Balada Triste, 2022, United States, 2 min

Directed by Cristian Velasco

Produced by Bryan Berrios, Christian Velasco

Choreography and dancing by Tate Justas

Featuring

Music composed by Francisco Pisano, Ben Molar

Music performed by Raphael

Cinematography by Bryan Berrios

Executive Director by Patrick Trettenero

When I walk around in public spaces I usually want to stop and linger. In the forward motion of getting from A to Z as quickly as possible something perverted enters. A trailing finger, a hidden grip on a pole, sinking into grass like putty, kissing a probably dirty window, getting off on people watching me flout against the code. I move and dance around because I feel a charge to spaces that are loaded with rules. Rules are fun to break. Dance would have us believe there is a right and wrong way to break them, but there is something more rhythmic and primal at work in movement. It precedes dance. Dance can have profound impacts on regulating our emotions and nervous systems, however because many people think they can’t dance they then stay far away from movement. This comes at a great loss for us. Maintaining that throughline of desire to things is vital. For me it keeps things juicy and buoyant. It lets me keep something for myself. This character is for the part of us that likes to be dressed up but go off kilter. It’s the adrenaline rush of being late for the boss, or running off with a piece of fruit. There is a broken toy in this man, a last clown standing; a child that still remains intact and at large. When I have worked 9-5 jobs lunch break was a broadly erotic time because it was a chance to be a body. A gulp of possibility sandwiched in between otherwise impossible hours. He is but a momentary ant galavanting through a deserted hive.

View the trailer.

I Go Iŋdeepe/andence, 2023, Poland, 8 min

Directed by Dmytro Grynov, Daniela Komedera

Choreography by Dmytro Grynov & Daniela Komedera

Featuring

"I Go Iŋdeepe/andence" is a duet piece that raises the question of independence on a personal and global level and its impact on people. Starting from relevant political events in the cultural and social life of Poland and Ukraine, we examine phenomena of independence in these countries and how this issue affects local citizens. How much are people willing to pay for the independence of their country, for independence in decision-making and personal freedom? This performance represents a way to find harmony in boundaries and trust not only in yourself, but also in the closest people and local socio-cultural environment.

Regret To Inform You, 2022, United States, 12 min

Directed by Yusuf Nasir

Produced by Yusuf Nasir, Harvey Mason Jr.

Choreography by Yusuf Nasir

Featuring

Dancing by Yusuf Nasir, Steve Geist

Why are our fantasies so far removed from our reality? "Regret to inform You" follows a difficult day in the life of a Performer on the verge of forced obscurity and retirement. After one too many rejections, he becomes undone, retreating into a black and white dance fantasy to combat the reality of a society that has no place for him.