The relationship between cinema and dance often goes further than mere documentation – yes, film can be an effective way to capture a performance, and it can certainly bring a dance piece to a much wider audience. But both modern dance and cinema were born at roughly the same time, at the end of the nineteenth century; they both reflect the wider social environment, the industrialisation and new urbanism of the west, the arrival of new technologies and new ways of thinking. There’s a real synergy at play.
Cinema was a new art form for a new age: it was not theatre or opera, not static photographs or paintings. The technological advances that made cinema possible – electricity, precision engineering, projection – were mirrored elsewhere, in photographic studies of motion, new psychological ideas and medical practices, novel theories of self-awareness.
Those were also reflected in the world of dance. Pioneers like Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan and Vaslav Nijinsky saw dance as an expressive force, independent of the other arts; classical ballet and its unwavering focus on correct form and technique no longer met the demands of the audience or of performers. In order to reclaim itself, dance had to reinvent itself.
One early result was that film and dance could be combined: as early as 1924, short pieces of avant-garde film were being inserted in Ballets Suédois’s dadaist Relâche ballet. These days we’re used to the idea of integrating multiple art forms – film and dance, music and visual art, circus arts and poetry, working together to create a kind of new language that allows artists to realise their visions. And many contemporary dance choreographers have embraced this new approach to performance: Trisha Brown, Hans Van Manen, William Forsythe, Pina Bausch.
MOVE ON SCREEN is an opportunity to explore the relationship between movement and technology generally. A collaboration between the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region and the French Institute in the UAE, this first edition of what is planned to be a regular dance festival programme is focussed on dance and film, running to a month of dance-related films with workshops.
The feature films to be screened will play with the theme of heritage through the lenses of classics, reinvention, and contemporaneity, highlighting the work of Pina Bausch and showcasing urban dance choreography. Other films touch on dance as a profession, dance in everyday life, and dance as a source of personal or social conflict – across various genres including ballet, contemporary, and hip-hop. And the first-ever programme of UAE-related short dance films will celebrate the country’s artists and creatives who are at the forefront of this niche art form.
MOVE ON SCREEN takes place in Dubai and Sharjah from October 28 to November 28, variously at Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA), Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel, and Alliance Française Dubai. All screenings are free.
Focus: Pina Bausch
Pina Bausch (1940 – 2009) is recognised as one of the most significant choreographers of our time. Noted for a stylised blend of dance movement that incorporated many expressly dramatic elements, she is widely regarded as having contributed to the post-1960s revolution in modern dance; she was certainly one of the most important contributors to the neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as Tanztheater (she created the company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, which still performs internationally).
Audiences in Dubai will have the opportunity to access the world of Pina Bausch through two compelling documentaries: Wim Wenders’ Pina and Dancing Pina, directed by Florian Heinzen-Ziob. For Sharjah Performing Arts Academy students there will also be a three-day workshop on Tanztheater and Bausch’s techniques, conducted by Jean Laurent Sasportes – a principal dancer with the Tanztheater Wuppertal from 1979 to 1997 who has continued to be involved with the Pina Bausch repertoire.
Jean Laurent Sasportes will also be giving two public talks on Pina Bausch, open to all and free to attend:
Dancing Pina dir Florian Heinzen-Ziob (2022)
Two spectacular dance projects show how a young generation of dancers from all over the world are rediscovering Pina Bausch’s choreography: the Semperoper Ballet Company in Dresden rehearses her dance opera Iphigenia in Tauris, and dancers from all over Africa rehearse Bausch’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps at the École des Sables in Senegal. Dancers from traditions street dance, classical ballet, traditional and modern African dance transform Pina Bausch’s work – and Pina’s choreography transforms the dancers. A visually intense and emotionally charged journey into the world of modern dance and beyond.
28 Oct 1.30pm SPAA, followed by a talk and Q&A with Jean Laurent Sasportes
12 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
21 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
Gallant Indies | Les Indes galantes dir Philippe Béziat (2021)
On the stage of the Opéra Bastille in Paris, 30 dancers from non-traditional genres – hip-hop, krump, break, voguing – reprise and remix Jean-Philippe Rameau’s baroque 1735 masterpiece, Les Indes galantes. It’s an opera that is somewhat offensive to modern sensibilities, reflecting French colonial expansion and the myth of the noble savage; this documentary follows the cast over the course of a year as they take the idea of reworking it from concept to stage, culminating in a performance run at the Opéra Bastille. The modern mix of urban dance and opera singing represents both a human adventure and a meeting of political realities: so can a new generation of artists storm the Bastille today?
28 Oct 5pm SPAA
9 Nov 8pm Alliance Française Dubai
Pina dir Wim Wenders (2011)
A captivating dance documentary that celebrates the life and work of the world-renowned choreographer. During the preparations for the film in 2009, Bausch died suddenly; the dancers of Bausch’s company, Tanztheater Wuppertal, convinced him to proceed as a way of memorializing Bausch and her choreography. The film has four major stage performances actually rehearsed by Bausch, interspersed with solo and duet dances from many of Bausch’s other works; many of the dancers relate their stories of working with Pina. As a result, Pina is a tribute to an extraordinary artist who redefined the boundaries of modern dance.
1 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel, followed by a talk and Q&A with Jean Laurent Sasportes
10 Nov 6pm Alliance Française Dubai
17 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil at 25H Hotel
Rookies | Allons enfants dir Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai (2021)
A prestigious Paris high school takes an audacious bet: to integrate students from working-class districts and to make them break the cycle of school failure through training in hip hop dance. Each student brings their own story: complex family relationships, social problems, difficulties in school. Through dance, the students learn to translate their experiences into physical energy. There are injuries and setbacks, but also hopes, dreams and transformations.
3 Nov 6pm Alliance Française Dubai
Call Me Dancer dir Leslie Shampaine (2023)
Charismatic, athletic Manish is a talented young street dancer from a poor Mumbai family who struggles against his parents’ insistance that he forgets his dreams of becoming a professional dancer. He meets Yehuda, a curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli ballet teacher who gives him the determination to keep going. Together, Manish and Yehuda transform each other’s lives – Yehuda seeks a purpose and a place to call home, Manish dreams of dancing on the world stage against all odds.
3 Nov 3pm Alliance Française Dubai
8 Nov 8pm Alliance Française Dubai
Hard Shell Soft Shell | Fragile dir Emma Benestan (2021)
A handsome oyster farmer from the Mediterranean port town of Sète vows to win back his actress girlfriend after a botched proposal involving a ring hidden in an oyster shell. Fortunately, his friends are ready to do anything to help him out … A film that hijacks the traditional comic tropes with a joyfully feminist take on contemporary masculinity.
5 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
24 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
Into The Beat | Dein Herz Tanzt dir Stefan Westerwelle (2020)
A great coming-of-age movie – teen destined for ballet stardom discovers hip hop dance. She finds a new passion that challenges everything she knows. Torn between ballet and hip-hop, Kaya must decide which path to follow: the one set by her family or her newfound love for dance. The feel-good vibe is matched with a strong but deftly handled ideological message: the hip hop culture is full of new age dynamism and it tears down the class barriers that still surround classical ballet.
7 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
9 Nov 3pm Alliance Française Dubai
23 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
Rise | En Corps dir Cédric Klapisch (2021)
Élise (played by real-life Paris Opera Ballet principal ballerina Marion Barbeau in her first film rôle) thought she had the perfect life: an ideal boyfriend and a promising career as a ballet dancer. It all falls apart the day she catches him cheating on her; and after she suffers an injury on stage, it seems like she might not be able to dance again. The path to physical and emotional recovery will lead her away from Paris to a picturesque location in Brittany – where her friends, a new love and the freedom of contemporary dance will help her reconnect with her father and most importantly, herself. A heartwarming and inspiring story that encapsulates the emotional and transformational power of contemporary dance.
9 Nov 8pm Alliance Française Dubai
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort dir Jacques Demy (1996)
Delphine is a dance teacher ; her sister Solange composes and teaches the piano. Maxence, a poet and a painter, is doing his military service; Simon owns a music shop. They are all looking for love, without being aware that their ideal partner is very close … Demy’s extravagant tribute to the Hollywood musicals that had so enchanted him in his youth featured not just singing, but also dancing, multiple interwoven storylines, and roles for some of his favourite actors – Michel Piccoli, Jacques Perrin, Gene Kelly, Catherine Deneuve and more. The result is regarded by many as the best French film musical ever made.
14 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
19 Nov 8pm Cinema Akil in 25hours Hotel
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