Festival captures all of dance’s great motions

By Kelly Apter
Published on 11/11/2011 00:00

Among the DANCE:FILM festival’s host of great films are two that show radically different worlds united in passion and commitment to the art

THERE is a moment, during the opening sequence of Ron Honsa’s documentary film Never Stand Still, when the late Merce Cunningham sums up its subject matter perfectly.

“It’s a place,” he says gently, “where, quietly or not, you can think differently and act differently.” He’s talking about Jacob’s Pillow, a former farm turned dance centre in Massachusetts, and a veritable Mecca for the modern dance fraternity. Since its formation in 1930, “the Pillow”, as it is affectionately known, has welcomed countless students, professional dancers and choreographers, including some of the greatest names of the art.

Capturing the beauty of the location, the hard work that keeps the centre going, and the creativity it helps foster, Honsa’s documentary offers an insight not just into Jacob’s Pillow, but dance itself.

“I wanted to make a film that would take dance and make it a little more accessible to a broader audience,” he says. “I’ve always felt that there’s a certain lack of understanding of what these dancers actually do and why they do it. And if you have a window into something, you can start appreciating it, or at least know what you like and don’t like.”

Honsa spent three summers at the Pillow, interviewing dancers and choreographers from around the world. Modern dance giants Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Judith Jamison (of Alvin Ailey) and Suzanne Farrell (George Balanchine’s muse) sit alongside relative newcomers such as Rasta Thomas, the man behind this year’s Edinburgh Fringe hit Rock the Ballet. Without ever dumbing down, Honsa keeps the film at a level where those with only a passing interest in dance will be just as entertained as aficionados.

“One of my concerns was I didn’t want it to be too promotional about the Pillow,” says Honsa. “I really wanted it to have a subtext and be credible to the dance world and people interested in the art of dance. My real audience isn’t hardcore dance community people who may already know more than this film shares. I wanted to attract an interest, excitement and curiosity around something. As Mark Morris says in the film, the work isn’t for everyone but it is for anyone.”

Never Stand Still is just one of a plethora of documentaries, features, shorts and workshops programmed at this year’s DANCE:FILM festival in Edinburgh. From ballet to contemporary, hip hop to flamenco, the eight-day event aims to capture the diversity of dance, whilst celebrating the work of those who portray it on screen – never an easy task with such a physical pursuit.

Opening with the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers classic, Shall We Dance, the festival closes the following weekend with Dance Till Dawn, a 1980s all-nighter at the Cameo, featuring Footloose, Xanadu, and Dirty Dancing – dressing up for the occasion is positively encouraged (and they don’t mean pyjamas).

For DANCE:FILM director, Steph Wright, giving festivalgoers a behind-the-scenes insight into the dance world was one of the top priorities. As well as Never Stand Still, there are documentaries on Pina Bausch, Bill T Jones, Australian choreographer Tanja Liedtke, whose life was tragically cut short in 2007, Mariemma, the woman who shaped 20th- century Spanish dance, and Berlin-based hip hoppers the Roc Kidz Crew.

Just as Honsa shines a light on the world of modern dance in Never Stand Still, director Fabian Kimoto does the same for breakdance in his fascinating and inspiring documentary, The Rising Sun. In 2008, he and his fellow dancers in Roc Kidz Crew left their homes in Germany, packed their lives into a colourful campervan, and hit the road.

For 18 months, they travelled through France, Holland, Spain and Italy, performing their phenomenal breakdancing as street theatre, surviving on whatever onlookers threw in the hat that day. When he wasn’t dancing, Kimoto was behind the camera, capturing not just the jaw-dropping headspins and backflips, but the minutiae of daily life, from doing the laundry to rehearsing on the beach.

Most importantly for him, the film also shows audiences how much hard work and dedication goes into being part of a breakdance crew.

“There aren’t many movies that really tell the story of breakdancers,” says Kimoto. “And the big blockbusters that do show it don’t really tell you what it’s like. So we wanted to show the beauty behind this dance, and the life and the experiences that it allows you to have.”

As an observer watching their road trip progress, I couldn’t help but wonder if the film only shows one side of the story. Apart from a single injury, nothing bad ever appears to happen, and enough money is always made to eat, have fun (lots of it) and dance. Could it possibly have gone so smoothly?

“Yes,” laughs Kimoto. “Many people ask me that about the film, but the road trip was wonderful – it really was that perfect.”

• DANCE:FILM 11, 12-19 November, various venues, Edinburgh. See www.dancefilm.co.uk