Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, SansSouciFest.org

SSF@MSU Denver's Performance Art Week
Dance Cinema - Small Bites
Presented in collaboration with MSU Denver Dance
April 20-23, 2026, times TBD
A selection of films from Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, a Boulder-based international dance cinema festival dedicated to a wide definition of dance and a vast array of video and performance possibilities. Films were curated from the festival's 23-year archive of thousands with a focus on ingenuity, creativity, and variety in length, format, and intention. The film "TITLE" is a community-based dance film that explores the construction of identity and democracy through navigating everyday poetics and pressures, finding belonging at intersecting social systems, and embodying artifacts of personal and collective histories. The film was created by MSU Denver Dance Faculty members Nicole Predki, Jacob Mora, and Michelle Bernier and Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, in collaboration with Bruce Tetsuya (Denver's House of Kodo), Brian O'Hara (Sociology & Anthropology), Vincent Piturro (English), and students from MSU Denver across 5 departments, with marketing support by Laurel Lane (Marketing). This selection's screening is supported by Denver Arts & Venues through the DENVER CREATES Fund.

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Chimera, 2016, France, 2 min

Directed by Steven Briand
Produced by Vast Be Mess
Choreography by Cathy Ematchoua
Featuring Cathy Ematchoua
Dancing by Aliaska HILSUM, Leonore ZURFLUH, Hajiba FAHMY, Dalila Cortes.
Music by Phazz
Cinematography by Kaname Onoyama
Edited by Nadir Cassim
Inspired by Greek mythology, the Chimera features acrobatic dance performances and highly aesthetic kaleidoscopic movements.
Frame from Groggy Grugg

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 Tide

Tide, 2020, Ireland, 6 min

Directed by Laura Murphy
Choreography by Laura Murphy
Dancing by Marion Cronin, Sarah Ryan, Kevin Coquelard
Music Composed by Melanie
Filmmaker: Luca Truffarelli
"Tide" contrasts the pace of industry with human movement, and the soft yielding nature of the body with the hard edges of manmade objects.

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?"
Frame from Flower + Dance

Flower + Dance, 2019, United States, 5 min

Directed by Jayson Tang
Produced by Taraneh Golozar, Simran Mahal
Dancing by Kimberly M. Olive, Tilt Helmets, Hansuke Yamamoto, Tessa Barbour, Steffi Cheong, Swane Mesaoudl
Music by Dos acordes/Chiaperotti
Cinematography by Andy Hoffmen
Edited by Jayson Tang
Slow motion dancers in vivid colors combined with kaleidoscope editing to form a dazzling moving geometry.

Y, 2024, Poland, 1 min

Directed by Zuza Marczak
Dancing by Nikola Palej
Music by Konrad Juszczyszyn
Edited by Zuza Marczak
Written by Zuza Marczak
Set Assistant by Mateusz Wuj
Close your eyes. You have a minute. It’s a lot and not enough. Breathe. Ask your roommate, who is an actress, to help you. 50 seconds. Arrange a barter with a friend who will be able to make music in exchange for logos. 45 seconds. There are two ways to do things quickly: short & sweet or quick & dirty and that’s always too dirty, too late, and too quick. But don’t worry, you have time. 30 seconds. Run….. a love letter to DIY films.