When the Martha Graham Dance Company commissions famed choreographer Andonis Foniadakis to create a new piece, his fluid, improvisational style collides with Graham’s traditional structure, and conflict ensues. An impossibly tight production schedule, injuries, and artistic temperaments only add to the tension. “Crafting an Echo” — directed by Marco Williams (“Banished,” “Tell Them We Are Rising”), winner of SLIFF’s 2017 Contemporary Cinema Award — takes the audience behind the scenes to experience firsthand the challenges of the creative process and the beauty of dance. The film bears witness to the behind-the-scenes drama that unfolds before anyone takes the stage: the dancer’s struggle with a different movement, the choreographer’s frustration when an injury requires a new performer, and the pressure that builds during rehearsals as Adonis continues to make changes and relentlessly push his dancers. Will the show actually go on?
Butoh Dance: Conan Amok
Conan Amok, a contemporary Butoh dancer, takes his traditional Japanese art onto the neon-lit and gritty streets of Shibuya, Tokyo.
Exit 12
When Roman Baca came home from Iraq, he found that dance helped him “reprogram” his mind and body, and as founder and artistic director of the Exit12 Dance Company in NYC, he and other veterans use dance to tell stories about the effects of war.
