Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, SansSouciFest.org

3rd Annual Black History Month Screenings
These two similar programs screen in very different contexts: virtually for the public, and as part of our Dance Is Like a Fine Wine program for Boulder County Older Adults.

Given the times we’re living in, we’re delighted to once again be able to offer online screening options for those who may not want or be able to attend in-person events. These films were available on our website during the screening window, free of charge for the public around the world, except where noted otherwise (some films are geographically restricted).

As part of our efforts to move toward a more racially just and socially equitable landscape for dance cinema, SSF has celebrated heritage months for the last few years with screenings highlighting artists from communities underrepresented in the field, and from marginalized communities. These screenings have always been free of charge to our local community in Boulder, Colorado, USA, but since the pandemic began, we’ve taken them online to share with the wider dance cinema community. Sans Souci presents our 3rd annual Black History Month Screening, featuring the work of directors and dancers of color, as well as films that examine or celebrate the Black experience.


In-Person Screening

Frame from Color Theory

Color Theory, 2021, United States, 3 min

Directed by Cara Hagan
Choreography and dancing by Juel D. Lane, Lindsay Fisher Viatori, Daniel B. Coleman, Cara Hagan
Camera by Cara Hagan, Robert Gelber, Ben Viatori, Shoccara Marcus
A celebration of movement, color and texture, "Color Theory" blends dance, animation, and visual art to create a joyous burst of energy on the screen.
Frame from The Wonder Years

The Wonder Years, 2020, United States, 10 min

Choreography by Elijah Motley, James Morrow
Featuring James Morrow/ THE MOVEMENT
Dancing by Elijah Motley
Cinematography by James Morrow
Set in the extraordinary years of the 2020s, “The Wonder Years” looks both back and forward through the eyes of Eli, the oldest of five children in the Motley family, on the tribulations and joys of growing up in the United States as a twenty something black male. With music by Laurence Hobgood, the low-fi anti-tech home movie style of the work is a nod to classic 80’s sitcoms with an open, unapologetic, and ultimately vulnerable journey filled with all the feels and even some much-needed levity.

This Breath Together, 2021, United States, 12 min

Directed by Michelle Bernier
Produced by Michelle Bernier, Thomas Wingerd
Dancing by Danielle Garrison, Keith Haynes, Sarah Harrison, Bridget Heddens, Vivian Kim Gina Medina, Emma Michaux, Alex Milewski, Peg Posnick, Jessica Riggs, Gwen Ritchie, Marla Shultz, Luciana da Silva, Alfred Smith, Briana Smith, Nancy Smith, Miah Yager
Music composed by Kristen Demaree, Sean Connolly, Dudu Fuentes
Edited by Michelle Bernier
Director of Photography by Jesse Rarick
Poetry by Brooke McNamara
Sans Souci’s Community Dance Film Project was created to engage Boulder artists of many genres to inspire our local community to recognize all we have to offer. Each dancer was paired one of the City of Boulder’s most iconic outdoor sites and asked to create movement responding to that location along a theme: “The first fresh breath in a long time.” Emerging from their spring 2020 quarantines, they reconnected with their own dance-deprived bodies, and brought their uniqueness and presence to each space, activating it with movement. The work encompasses ballet, tap, contemporary, house, waacking, aerial dance, and samba; artists hired included BIPOC and LGBTQ performers, those with disabilities, and dancers on the older end of the age spectrum.
Frame from This Breath Together

This Breath Together, 2021, United States, 12 min

Directed by Michelle Bernier
Produced by Michelle Bernier, Thomas Wingerd
Dancing by Danielle Garrison, Keith Haynes, Sarah Harrison, Bridget Heddens, Vivian Kim Gina Medina, Emma Michaux, Alex Milewski, Peg Posnick, Jessica Riggs, Gwen Ritchie, Marla Shultz, Luciana da Silva, Alfred Smith, Briana Smith, Nancy Smith, Miah Yager
Music composed by Kristen Demaree, Sean Connolly, Dudu Fuentes
Edited by Michelle Bernier
Director of Photography by Jesse Rarick
Poetry by Brooke McNamara
Sans Souci’s Community Dance Film Project was created to engage Boulder artists of many genres to inspire our local community to recognize all we have to offer. Each dancer was paired one of the City of Boulder’s most iconic outdoor sites and asked to create movement responding to that location along a theme: “The first fresh breath in a long time.” Emerging from their spring 2020 quarantines, they reconnected with their own dance-deprived bodies, and brought their uniqueness and presence to each space, activating it with movement. The work encompasses ballet, tap, contemporary, house, waacking, aerial dance, and samba; artists hired included BIPOC and LGBTQ performers, those with disabilities, and dancers on the older end of the age spectrum.
photo by Ross Riege
photo by Ross Riege

SAND, 2010, USA, 10 min

Produced by Kyle Ruddick, Cari Ann Shim Sham*
Choreography by Kenji Igus, Darrow Igus & Cari Ann Shim*
Dancing by Darrow and Kenji Igus
Cinematography by DP-Ross Riege, additional by Phillip Abrams & Kyle Ruddick
Edited by Cari Ann Shim Sham*
Sound Design by T.K. Broderick
"Sand," a short experimental dance-for-camera documentary, tells the story of sand dance as it is passed down from father to son.
Frame from Jontae

Jontae, 2020, Canada, 8 min

Directed by Siam Obregon, Kyana Lyne
Produced by Siam Obregon, Kyana Lyne, Festival Quartier Danses
Choreography by Kyana Lyne
Dancing by Jontae McCrory
Cinematography by Steven Turcotte
Faced by the global pandemic and reawakening of racism, a performer dedicates a moment for personal catharsis through movement.

Like Water, 2020, United Kingdom, 9 min

Directed by Mthuthuzeli November
Produced by Richard Bolton
Choreography by Mthuthuzeli November
Dancing by José Alves, Isabela Coracy, Alexander Fadayiro, Marie Astrid Mence, Ebony Thomas
Music composed by Georgina Lloyd-Owen
Cinematography by Nauris Buksevics
Artistic Direction by Cassa Pancho MBE
Written by Asisipho Malunga
"Like Water" acknowledges the resilience of our ancestors, passed down from generation to generation. A world unkind to our people, yet somehow we survive. A world that that has conditioned us to not see the beauty of our skin, hair, culture and our people. But like water we flow, like water we change shape. We remain resilient.

Virtual Screening

Frame from Jontae

Jontae, 2020, Canada, 8 min

Directed by Siam Obregon, Kyana Lyne
Produced by Siam Obregon, Kyana Lyne, Festival Quartier Danses
Choreography by Kyana Lyne
Dancing by Jontae McCrory
Cinematography by Steven Turcotte
Faced by the global pandemic and reawakening of racism, a performer dedicates a moment for personal catharsis through movement.
Frame from Color Theory

Color Theory, 2021, United States, 3 min

Directed by Cara Hagan
Choreography and dancing by Juel D. Lane, Lindsay Fisher Viatori, Daniel B. Coleman, Cara Hagan
Camera by Cara Hagan, Robert Gelber, Ben Viatori, Shoccara Marcus
A celebration of movement, color and texture, "Color Theory" blends dance, animation, and visual art to create a joyous burst of energy on the screen.
Frame from The Wonder Years

The Wonder Years, 2020, United States, 10 min

Choreography by Elijah Motley, James Morrow
Featuring James Morrow/ THE MOVEMENT
Dancing by Elijah Motley
Cinematography by James Morrow
Set in the extraordinary years of the 2020s, “The Wonder Years” looks both back and forward through the eyes of Eli, the oldest of five children in the Motley family, on the tribulations and joys of growing up in the United States as a twenty something black male. With music by Laurence Hobgood, the low-fi anti-tech home movie style of the work is a nod to classic 80’s sitcoms with an open, unapologetic, and ultimately vulnerable journey filled with all the feels and even some much-needed levity.

Like Water, 2020, United Kingdom, 9 min

Directed by Mthuthuzeli November
Produced by Richard Bolton
Choreography by Mthuthuzeli November
Dancing by José Alves, Isabela Coracy, Alexander Fadayiro, Marie Astrid Mence, Ebony Thomas
Music composed by Georgina Lloyd-Owen
Cinematography by Nauris Buksevics
Artistic Direction by Cassa Pancho MBE
Written by Asisipho Malunga
"Like Water" acknowledges the resilience of our ancestors, passed down from generation to generation. A world unkind to our people, yet somehow we survive. A world that that has conditioned us to not see the beauty of our skin, hair, culture and our people. But like water we flow, like water we change shape. We remain resilient.

EntangleMEN: From the Dugout, 2021, United States, 22 min

Directed by Helanius James Wilkins
Produced by Helanius James Wilkins, Watcheye Studios
Choreography by Helanius James Wilkins with Avery Ryder Turner
Dancing by Avery Ryder Turner, Helanius James Wilkins
Music composed by Carlos D. Flores
Filmmaker: Carlos D. Flores
"EntangleMEN: From the Dugout" centers on a male duet exploring coexistence through an exhaustive collision course of in-between states. Wheat fields, spillway infrastructures, and baseball dugouts on indigenous territories of Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute Nations set the scenes for this viscerally charged work. (This work is also a component of the evening-length live performance project The Conversation Series: Stitching the Geopolitical Quilt to Re-Body Belonging.)​