The Emory Dance Program will present the dance-inspired film presentation Dance for Reel: An Evening of Dance on Camera, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 25), at Emory’s Oxford Presentation Room. I had a chance to discuss the program via email with Blake Beckham (pictured), who is co-curating the screenings with Malina Rodriguez of their group The Lucky Penny.
Blessed with a local flavor, the screenings feature such works as “Quarantine,” a short directed by Gabri Christa and featuring dancer-choreographer Kyle Abraham — a recent Coca-Cola artist-in-residence at Emory. “For Water” will be presented by Emory grad Natalie Metzger, an L.A.-based choreographer and filmmaker. Her film is a collaboration between dancers from Indonesia and America. Here’s what Beckham had to say about the program.
Talk about your work with Malina Rodriguez, Dance Truck, and The Lucky Penny.
I first began my collaborative relationship with Malina Rodriguez during Dance Truck’s inaugural performance at the 2009 Le Flash festival. We found that we shared an artistic kinship, and nurtured that through the vehicle of Dance Truck, while building a process that began to feed my choreographic endeavors. After a successful collaboration developing my work “American Muscle” in 2010, we embarked upon the adventure known as “PLOT”, a large scale site-specific work for The Goat Farm, in which Malina and I collaborated as both artists and producers. The success of the work emboldened us to formalize our partnership and found The Lucky Penny, the new organization to house our joint ventures. At least the ones that don’t fit inside trucks.
In brief terms, why is Atlanta’s dance scene exploding, and what do you see your role in this?
I’ve been independently producing my choreography in Atlanta for about 10 years, and have been continually inspired by mentors who have anchored this community — innovators like Nicole Livieratos and companies who have dared to persist and reinvent themselves, like Eyedrum. My growth as an artist has been made possible by them. Fresh and young voices in Atlanta’s cultural community have certainly shaken things up in recent years — from Flux, to Living Walls, the resurgence of activity at The Goat Farm, Dance Truck, WonderRoot, The Creatives Project and more. What’s exciting about this moment to me is the dogged determination. It reminds me that every creative act is an act of courage. Also, the confluence of visual and performing artists - a curiosity about movement that seems to be seeping into the consciousness of artists working in other mediums. The Lucky Penny wants to harness this potential, to deliver exceptional art experiences that embrace the experimental, advance artistry and cultivate community.
What’s the value of connecting the two forms, dance and film, in this context?
The genre known as videodance or cinedance has been evolving since silent film starts like Buster Keaton began developing an expressive physical language to communicate through the screen. Pioneers like Maya Deren pushed the form forward radically in the 1940s and ’50s, embracing the avant-garde while experimenting with shooting and editing techniques that could articulate the unique potential for movement as witnessed through the camera. Like contemporary dance, videodance takes many forms — it can be narrative or abstract, highly conceptual or vividly sensual, as unique as the artist conceiving of it.
This body of work excites me because it dares me to reconsider the fundamental choreographic elements of space and time, which the camera can so easily and magically manipulate. It challenges me to look at movement in new settings, from radically new angles, in new formulations (made possible by editing) that cannot be replicated in a theatre. There’s value for dancers and dance makers in that. I think the work appeals to a broad audience because it can present challenging ideas about movement in a form that feels familiar, perhaps more readily-digestible than the urgent demands of a live performance. The work appeals to both visual art and performing art crowds, and serves as an entry point perhaps, for us to engage in a dialogue around our shared curiosities, practices and ideas.
What else have you done at/with Emory, and is this your first involvement with film/dance programming?
I graduated from Emory in 2001 with a B.A. in English and Dance. The Emory dance faculty are the ones who empowered me to choose a life as an artist, and they remain dear mentors, trusted friends and colleagues to me. After graduation, I worked as the College’s first Arts Intern, supporting the opening of The Schwartz Center on Emory’s campus — a job that prepared me to embark on a career in arts administration. In subsequent years, I’ve returned to Emory as a guest choreographer and instructor. I’m currently teaching an Introduction to Dance Course this semester. I also sit on the advisory board for The Center for Creativity & the Arts. I have been curating the Dance for Reel program at Emory since 2008, and am now delighted that my curatorial role can fall under the umbrella of The Lucky Penny’s work.
Discuss the selection process for these films.
We selected these shorts, based in part, on their programmatic connections to Atlanta. We’re curious about building audiences, and helping viewers cultivate a relationship to the artists who share their viewpoint with our community. For example, the film “Quarantine” features choreography and performance by Kyle Abraham. He just visited Emory to create a work for the dance students, and will return in February to present his company, Abraham.In.Motion. Another piece, “Afternoon of the Chimeras” features movement by Azure Barton, who made her Atlanta premiere at the Ferst Center a few short weeks ago. “Pavillion Noir” (pictured) is a collaboration with French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, who was presented by the Rialto Center last season. We’re also sharing one work by an Emory alumna, Natalie Metzger. Emory’s Center for Creativity has programmed their work this year around the theme of water, and Metzger (based in Los Angeles) has created a contemplative, beautiful short inspired by the importance of water to both Indonesia and water-starved California.
