Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, SansSouciFest.org

Sans Souci at the Boe 2019
2590 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO, USA
Join us as SSF returns to the Boe for another exciting season, sure to entertain, intrigue, and challenge viewers. Two unique programs are offered twice each, full of films that feature dance and dancers across the globe, including some selections from our Premiere Weekend. NEW bonus screening this year: "Locals' Only Night" will features work by dancer/filmmakers from Colorado's front range and mountain communities. Most films are intended for adult audiences, and viewer discretion is advised.

Tickets available from the Dairy: $12 General Admission, $7.50 Student/Senior, $6.50 Boedecker Members

"Bound, Unbound, Rebound" • Oct 20 & 23 at 1 p.m.

photo by Shimmy Boyle
photo by Shimmy Boyle

REVEL IN YOUR BODY, 2018, United States, 5 min

Directed by Katherine Helen Fisher
Produced by Lisa Niedermeyer
Choreography by Alice Sheppard
Featuring Kinetic Light
Dancing by Alice Sheppard, Laurel Lawson
Music composed by Missy Mazzoli
Music performed by Roomful of Teeth
Cinematography by Shimmy Boyle
Edited by Katherine Helen Fisher
Still Photo by Shimmy Boyle
Jumps evolve into joyous flight and split-second connections are luxuriously lengthened in this short dance film featuring disabled dancers Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson.
Frame from Express

Express, 2018, United States, 4 min

Produced and Directed by Meredith Slifkin
Choreography by Aleksandar Dokuleski
Featuring Arthur Murray NYC Broadway
Dancing by Lauren Wilmore, Devin Packard
Music by Jacob Lurye
Cinematography by Lydia Lovell
Edited by Meredith Slifkin
On their daily Q train commute, two strangers form a connection.
Frame from Flight

Flight, 2018, Netherlands, 12 min

Directed by Wiam Al-Zabari
Produced by Iris Lammertsma, Boudewijn Koole
Choreography by Krisztina de Châtel
Dancing by Anna Sara Fierro, Alina Fejzo, Kirvan Fortuin, Kiyan Khoshoie, Konstantinos Kranidiotis, Martina Orlandi, Sterre Vreeker
Music composed by Juho Nurmela
Cinematography by Reinout Steenhuizen
Edited by Riekje Ziengs
Director Wiam Al-Zabari and choreographer Krisztina de Châtel, who’ve both fled their home countries, make us feel what it’s like to have to flee, by taking us from our own familiar – Dutch – environment, on a frightening journey of flight. Just like we’re one of the ones staying behind, we see a group of dancers flee from a typical Dutch village, through the woods and the dune fields into the sea, heading towards their freedom. Along the way they struggle with nature and its unpredictable forces; a symbol for the obstacles to overcome in order to see a flight through successfully.

Gravitation: Variation in Time and Space, 2015, Russian Federation, 14 min

Directed by Andrei Severny
Produced by Rem Khass
Choreography by Mauro Bigonzetti
Featuring N/A
Dancing by Diana Vishneva
Music composed by Arvo Part, Richard Garet
Music performed by Various
Cinematography by Steve Romano
Edited by Andrei Severny
Gravitation is a synergy of dance and cinema. It is shot entirely in slow motion and features Diana Vishneva, principal dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet and the American Ballet Theater. The film is the story of creation, inner struggle and transformation. Calligraphic black and white images are rich in metaphors exploring the notions of time and space, movement and light.

as·phyx·i·a·tion, 2019, United States, 6 min

Directed by Nadav Heyman
Choreography and dancing by Nadav Heyman
Featuring N/A
Music by Nadav Heyman
Cinematography by Parinda Mai
Edited by Nadav Heyman
As part of the S.A.C. Artist Residency and in collaboration with Studio 1750 (South Korea), filmmaker Nadav Heyman explores the claustrophobic limits of his physicality, set in rural Thailand.

Atena/Nets, 2019, Ghana, 6 min

Produced and Directed by Mark Freeman
Choreography and dancing by Julius Yaw Quansah and Sena Atsugah
Music composed by New Global Ensemble USA/Germany/Ghana
Music performed by New Global Ensemble USA/Germany/Ghana, Benjamin Boone, Stefan Poetzsch, Aaron Beb,e Sukura Baffour, Awuah Kyerematen
Cinematography by Jenna Castillo
Edited by Mark Freeman
A site-specific contemporary dance set in Jamestown, a traditional fishing community in Accra, the capital of Ghana, with rising stars in Ghana’s dance community, Julius Yaw Quansah and Sena Atsugah, enmeshed in the challenges of daily life. Drawing from Ghanaian customs and traditions, they cast a wide net, remaking their world.

Pooling, 2018, United States, 4 min

Produced and Directed by Dawn Westlake
Choreography and dancing by Marc Carrizo Vilarroig
Music by Joan Armand Forero
DP/Editing/VFX by Pol Carrizo Vilarroig
Animation by Dismas & GrissyG Lizarraga
When one takes an ill-advised leap of faith into the void, the body breaks. It takes a pooling of the deepest resources of the spirit to reconstruct the man.

Mami Origami, 2018, Canada, 7 min

Produced and Directed by Marites Carino
Choreography by Emmanuelle Lê Phan
Featuring Tentacle Tribe
Dancing by Emmanuelle Lê Phan, Marie-Reine Kabasha, Victoria Mackenzie
Music by Samuel Nadai Sung Productions
Cinematography by Kes Tagney
Edited by Marites Carino
Mami Origami speaks of transformation and the multi-layered, complex nature of being, and is inspired by the intricate Japanese art of Origami.
Frame from The Indexical Dance-a-Thon!

The Indexical Dance-a-Thon!, 2016, Canada, 4 min

Directed by Evann Siebens
Choreography and dancing by Cora Bos-Kroese, Justine A. Chambers, Kevin Cregan, Jane Ellison, James Gnam, Amy Raymond
Featuring N/A
Music composed by Philip Glass
Music performed by Lisa Moore
Filmmaker: Evann Siebens
Remixing her archive of 16mm film and years of dance cinematography, Siebens creates a messy yet emotional montage, using visual phasing to jump-cut across time and individual dancers. Shot in seminal dance environments Ballett Frankfurt in Germany and The Western Front in Canada, the film mixes professional and amateur dancers, probing their gaze and the search for the sublime through simple improvisational gestures.

"Locals' Only Night" • Oct 28 at 7 p.m.

Frame from MINE

MINE, 2018, United States, 8 min

Directed by Sasha Chudacoff
Produced by Sasha Chudacoff, Ian Curry
Choreography by Sasha Chudacoff
Featuring The Dancing Sisters
Dancing by Sasha Chudacoff, Sophia Chudacoff
Music by Sophia Chudacoff
Filmmaker: Ian Curry and Sasha Chudacoff
Sisters Sasha Chudacoff (developing gestures and movement using body-based dance research) and Sophia Chudacoff (creating lyrics and music) collected stories and myths on Peanut and Pershing Mines from elders in Crested Butte, CO. Filmed at a coal mining site from the 1920's where an iconic structure called the Gronk still stands, the beautiful and popular tourist sites are, sadly, still toxic. After land violence, how is spirit of place honored?
Frame from Black Lake

Black Lake, 2015, United States, 11 min

Directed by Kat Gurley, John Regalado
Choreography by Kat Gurley
Featuring Wild Heart Dance
Dancing by Hallie Bauernschmidt, Mimi Ferrie, Kat Gurley and Amanda Leise
Music composed by Black Lake
Music performed by Bjork
Filmmaker: John Regalado
A dance for camera shot at the StarHouse in Boulder, CO.
Frame from re: to resolve

re: to resolve, 2017, United States, 4 min

Directed by Olivia Dwyer
Choreography and dancing by Olivia Dwyer
Music composed by Compiled by Olivia Dwyer
Cinematography by Satchel Spencer
Edited by Olivia Dwyer
Exploring fear, doubt, and hesitation through visceral imagery, flashes of light, and a quickening of tempo, this film attempts to unveil the reality of artistry, life, and body memory.
Frame from Passage

Passage, 2018, United States, 4 min

Directed by Madison Plummer and Cindy Brandle
Choreography by Cindy Brandle
Featuring Cindy Brandle Dance Company
Dancing by Bridget Heddens, Jessica Riggs, Victoria Stone
Music by Peter Gregson
Filmmaker: Madison Plummer
Filmed in a tunnel in Colorado, Passage is an excerpt from Cindy Brandle Dance Company's concert "The Process of Navigation," which premiered in April 2018.
Frame from dis-ease(d)

dis-ease(d), 2019, United States, 3 min

Directed by Laura Malpass
Choreography and dancing by Laura Malpass
Music composed by Laura Malpass
Cinematography by Marla Schulz
Edited by Laura Malpass
An exploration of emotional and physical labor of chronic disease diagnosis.
Frame from The Sky Inside

The Sky Inside, 2019, United States, 35 min

Produced and Directed by Joanna Rotkin
Choreography by Joanna Rotkin
Featuring Joanna and The Agitators
Music composed by Iva Bittová and Vladimír Václavek
Cinematography by Julie Rooney
Edited by Joanna Rotkin, Audrey Grace, and Chris Chymiy
The Sky Inside follows 21 Boulder locals, ages 30-86, as they find their way into their dancing bodies. Throughout the course of this film, stereotypes and expectations of who gets to take up space and be seen in our world break open. New and unexpected patterns emerge that are outside of a traditional dance aesthetic as each individual dancer listens to the breath and sensation within her body, to guide her in the dancing.

"Ecstasy, Illusion, Wonder" • Nov 10 & 13 at 1 p.m.

of ECSTASY, 2019, Belgium, 7 min

Produced and Directed by Sam Asaert
Choreography by Andrew McNicol
Featuring McNicol Ballet Collective
Dancing by Delia Mathews, Giulia Frosi, William Bracewell, Teo Dubreuil, Laurie McSherry Gray
Music by Nicolas Robert Thayer
Filmmaker: Sam Asaert
Ballet dancers in a forest of optical illusion.
Frame from Anasa

Anasa, 2018, Greece, 4 min

Directed by Maja Zimmerlin, Thomas Delord
Produced by Odos Productions
Choreography by Maja Zimmerlin
Featuring Odos Productions
Dancing by Antonio Terrones, Aurore Allo, Kritonas Anastasopoulos, Lito Anastasopoulou, Zoé Leduc
Music composed by Maja Zimmerlin & Thomas Delord
Music performed by Maja Zimmerlin
Filmmaker: Thomas Delord
The right to breath and to feel the fall. Earthquake. Inside or outside. A connection through matter and its dissolution. The earth, the stone, the sand, the sea. Bodies. Connected. Dry flowers pushing out from the sand. Dissolving. Filled bodies, unstoppable. Earth bodies, floating inside or outside. The right to exist, to simply be.

MASS, 2019, France, 10 min

Directed by Fu LE, Adrien Gontier
Choreography by Fu LE
Featuring Tetrapode
Dancing by Danse en Seine Association
Music by Harun Bayraktar & Tom Jarvis
Cinematography by Adrien Gontier
Edited by Camille Guyot & Bizaroïd studio
MASS is a 10 minutes single take video-dance shot in Paris and was framed within the Danse en Seine's choreographic workshops, including 40 amateur dancers. Images of the crowd symbolize the current upheavals all over the world, evoking alternately parties, migrations of refugees, manifestations, religious gatherings, or just the daily life of big cities. We thus work on the mass, with all the drunkenness and horror it can inspire. We confront the individual with crowd movements, in order to observe how he resists or lets immerse himself.

Ordinary Place (Lugar Comum), 2018, Brazil, 2 min

Directed by Pedro Krull
Produced by Bagaceira
Choreography by Claudemir Santos
Featuring CEPEC AL
Dancing by Aldine de Souza, Claudemir Santos, Fayonnir Cabral, Tauan Pita
Music composed by Paul Desmond
Music performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Cinematography by Pedro Krull, Joaddan Campos, Octávio Lemos
Edited by Pedro Krull
Ordinary Place is a variable between time and space. Time shifts and the place is yours again. Ordinary Place, different people.

Second Illusion, 2019, Finland, 13 min

Directed by Katariina Räty, Mia Jaatinen
Produced by Katariina Räty
Choreography by Mia Jaatinen
Featuring Second Illusion
Dancing by Maria Autio, Sanni Kriikku, Hanna Ollikainen
Music by Benjamin Rogers
Filmmaker: Axel Nordman
Three women are finding their way out from spaces of stereotypical female characteristics. What lies inside of those stereotypes? Do they have to crumble in order to break free? 'Second Illusion' twists the assumptions of how women are often represented in performing arts. Change is inevitable.
Frame from Searching for Wonder

Searching for Wonder, 2018, United States, 6 min

Produced and Directed by Greg Osei
Choreography and dancing by Abdiel Jacobsen
Featuring Abdiel Jacobsen Dance Collective
Music by Greg Osei
Edited by Leonardo Schober
Cinematography by Leonardo Schober
Searching for Wonder was inspired by conversations with fellow artists who have diverse relationships to the African Diaspora. These discussions highlighted how we all feel lost in different ways, because history, slavery, colonialism & fear have left many of us feeling disconnected, searching for something we can’t fully articulate. Searching for Wonder deals with the tremendous power we have to rediscover & reimagine ourselves through our ancestors, their gods, their cultures & our interconnectedness.

SISTERS, 2018, Netherlands, 15 min

Directed by Daphne Lucker
Choreography by Emma Evelein
Dancing by Tara Punt, Dephine van Garderen, Lotte Mulder
Music composed by César Lüttger
Cinematography by Casper van Oort
Edited by Tobias Cornelisen
Three sisters grow up in a broken home. They are at each other’s mercy and survive as long as they are together. But is their loving connection strong enough to endure their surroundings?
Frame from HENK

HENK, 2018, Netherlands, 7 min

Directed by Sergio Gridelli
Produced by plan d-
Choreography and dancing by Andreas Denk, Josephine van Rheenen
Featuring Plan d-, De Dansers
Music by Guy Corneille
Filmmaker: Sergio Gridelli
Henk leads an idiosyncratic and eccentric life. When a young woman unexpectedly enters into his world, he is forced to face the confrontation.