Preview-Jumping Frames- CCDC
25-7-15
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Last year CCDC brought us the Jumping Frames film festival. It’s a festival that celebrates modern dance and new choreographers through modern design and film. We had the pleasure to talk with CCDC about the festival and why exposing children to dance is important to their development…
From August 1st to 15th Jumping Frames International Dance Video Showcase will present 18 cutting edge dance videos from all over the world, over two weeks and across three venues. Screenings are held at the agnès b. CINEMA, Hong Kong Arts Centre; Broadway Cinematheque and Hong Kong Film Archive. Jumping Frames has also invited 20 dynamic screendance makers from Asia to share their experiences, investigate new creations and explore new methodologies at the “New Works Forum: Screendance” co-presented with West Kowloon Cultural District.
“We believe dance video and film arouse more attention from movie lovers and public so as to motivate them to come to theatre starting to enjoy dance performances in the future,” says Danny Wong. It’s true we’ve seen a recent surge in 3D versions of dance at the box office and theatre at the cinemas but critics and audiences haven’t always been too keen to support these ventures. Cirque du Soleil’s World’s Apart was a box office bomb and tanked with critics despite it’s high production values. Matthew Bourne’s 3D Swan Lake was the lowest grossing film for the UK in 2014. Will asian audiences who don’t have access to well known choreographers like Bourne or Cirque, embrace the ideas of seeing dance on screen?
Raymond Wong is the curator of Jumping Frames International Dance Festival. He uses the word screendance to describe the work they do for the promotion of art. “Screendance has always provided an experimental ground for choreographers and dancers with new ideas,” he says. Jumping Frames creates a place for diverse and distinctive styles of artistic expression, including themes, movement styles, exploration of sites and technology to develop through dance film commissions. The festival, created by CCDC, collaborates continually with artists who are keen on exploring the art form through different means, ranging from film productions and video design for stage productions, to promotional trailers and stage documentaries. In the past several works have debuted to the festival and gone on to critical acclaim at other dance film festivals.
Jumping Frames handpicked a selection of feature and documentary films by and about respected artists of different genres, including ballet, tap, tango and flamingo. This collection presents the artists’ pursuit of dance, their relationships and ups and downs in their life of dance. The programme including Jiří Kylián and Zugvögel about Czech choreographer and classical movies with direction that is akin to dance and choreography.
Several works are getting their premiere at the festival including A Dance Movie: In Search of the Grand View Garden and the short film Body Watch. A Dance Movie: In Search of the Grand View Garden, by the CCDC Artistic Director Willy Tsao is a stage tranformation of the stage work and Body Watch was created bylocal choreographers Frankie Ho and director Ziv Chun, It plays on the misunderstandings between men and women with dance images.
Danny encourages parents to bring youngsters out to the festival. He believes exposing children to the arts at a young age is important to their development.
“Youth would enjoy the chasing dreams in Ballet Boys, struggling for perfection in Flying Bodies, fighting for freedom in Desert Dancer… and enjoy the Korean pop stars in 3-Iron and K-pop style in Vampire’s Love.”
Prices for the festival vary from HK$60 to HK$70. For more information on the festival, please visit www.jumpingframes.com or call 2329 7803 for details. Tickets can be purchased through your nearest URBTIX box office. And don't forget that there's still time to enter the HKELD giveaway for tickets to this amazing festival. Enter now!
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